Need Decision Help! Mareks Confirmed.

[Tara Bear]

So sorry for your losses. Losing babies is truly heart wrenching, and then to find out on top of it that it's Marek's is quite a blow.

I personally would euthanize the partially paralyzed ones (since they're susceptible to the disease and are going to pass anyway, and suffering), and keep the rest.

Like Eggcessive said, the virus is in your environment now. No running from it, so if you have birds that can live in spite of it, more power to them. You'd have to wait years for it all to die off if you did put them all down.

And as far as minimizing risk in the future, you could order vaccinated chicks directly from a hatchery so you don't get ones that have been handled/contaminated, but you'd still be getting them at a few days old, and the vaccine probably wouldn't have a chance to work yet, as with yours. You could order started birds maybe that have been vaccinated?

Thank you very much. I really appreciate everyone's information-sharing and thoughts. Thank you for helping me become better informed!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I have no experience in this, but I wanted to say that I appreciate all the thought and research you are putting into it. And I really appreciate the painful choices you have to make. My heart goes out to you.

 

[Chickendaddy33]

I know this is an old article but I’m so thankful for being able to read this today I have also just lost 4 chicks to Merck’s as I found out by necropsy today, I am also devastated and in the exact same position and grateful for the articles to read.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I know this is an old article but I’m so thankful for being able to read this today I have also just lost 4 chicks to Merck’s as I found out by necropsy today, I am also devastated and in the exact same position and grateful for the articles to read.

Sio sorry to hear. Any idea where or how this entered your flock?

 

[Chickendaddy33]

Sio sorry to hear. Any idea where or how this entered your flock?

I am not 100% no but I have an idea, I got what was a small flock of 16, now down to 10 from 4 different locations. My birds came a day olds except 2 batches I got as week olds. I’m devastated that my first Chicken adventure has gone so sideways so fast. I just got my first egg last week and I’ve lost more chickens then got eggs at this point. It’s quite sad really.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not 100% no but I have an idea, I got what was a small flock of 16, now down to 10 from 4 different locations. My birds came a day olds except 2 batches I got as week olds. I’m devastated that my first Chicken adventure has gone so sideways so fast. I just got my first egg last week and I’ve lost more chickens then got eggs at this point. It’s quite sad really.

Sorry for your loss. What part of the US do you live? Is it a common disease in your area? What symptoms did your chickens have before they died?

 

[Chickendaddy33]

Sorry for your loss. What part of the US do you live? Is it a common disease in your area? What symptoms did your chickens have before they died?

 

[Chickendaddy33]

Sorry for your loss. What part of the US do you live? Is it a common disease in your area? What symptoms did your chickens have before they died?

I’m in Canada, apparently it’s in 80% of back yard flocks here, which is terrible. Some people don’t even know they have it in their flocks. The first chickens to show symptoms was my silkies, I didn’t realize what it was at first, my ee’s had jumped on top of one of my silkies and broke it’s leg so I took it to the vet got it splinted he did say it could be early sign of Merck’s but because I saw it happen I just passed it off as my other chickens being dicks I put the silkie in its own brooder so it could heal. Then as I was building a second run for my silkies because I thought they were clearly not as tough as my other birds, they jumped again on my paint silkie again I saw this happen so I took the second silkie to the vet did X-rays and the came back as inconclusive so I thought maybe they just pinched a nerve in the second silkie, but this one couldn’t walk. So I set up another brooder for the next injured silkie. After a week the vet took off the cast and said the leg had healed and my paint silkie started to be able to stand up again so I thought good we are getting back to good! I got another batch of spry healthy chicks I put them in their own brooder but stupidly in the same room as the silkies it was about a week and the smallest one of the new birds started to show a bit of swelling around its eyes, it’s eyes weren’t very bright and it was sleepy clearly I had a sick chick so I called a different vet and made an apt for the next day. Which by the next morning the chick was unable to stand or hold its head up the vet decided to euthanize the chick and do a necropsy found that it’s sciatic nerve had more than doubled and said it was very clear that it was Merck’s. The bird will be sent away today to a government testing site where I should receive information in the next couple of days on what strain it is and what my options are moving forward. The two silkies have since passed. And I have a rooster that started to lose his balance and is in quarantine that most likely will have to be culled. I’m sure it started with the two silkies which I got as week olds but I can’t be sure. It’s devastating.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I am not 100% no but I have an idea, I got what was a small flock of 16, now down to 10 from 4 different locations. My birds came a day olds except 2 batches I got as week olds. I’m devastated that my first Chicken adventure has gone so sideways so fast. I just got my first egg last week and I’ve lost more chickens then got eggs at this point. It’s quite sad really.

So sorry to hear. I hope you won't give up.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I’m in Canada, apparently it’s in 80% of back yard flocks here, which is terrible. Some people don’t even know they have it in their flocks. The first chickens to show symptoms was my silkies, I didn’t realize what it was at first, my ee’s had jumped on top of one of my silkies and broke it’s leg so I took it to the vet got it splinted he did say it could be early sign of Merck’s but because I saw it happen I just passed it off as my other chickens being dicks I put the silkie in its own brooder so it could heal. Then as I was building a second run for my silkies because I thought they were clearly not as tough as my other birds, they jumped again on my paint silkie again I saw this happen so I took the second silkie to the vet did X-rays and the came back as inconclusive so I thought maybe they just pinched a nerve in the second silkie, but this one couldn’t walk. So I set up another brooder for the next injured silkie. After a week the vet took off the cast and said the leg had healed and my paint silkie started to be able to stand up again so I thought good we are getting back to good! I got another batch of spry healthy chicks I put them in their own brooder but stupidly in the same room as the silkies it was about a week and the smallest one of the new birds started to show a bit of swelling around its eyes, it’s eyes weren’t very bright and it was sleepy clearly I had a sick chick so I called a different vet and made an apt for the next day. Which by the next morning the chick was unable to stand or hold its head up the vet decided to euthanize the chick and do a necropsy found that it’s sciatic nerve had more than doubled and said it was very clear that it was Merck’s. The bird will be sent away today to a government testing site where I should receive information in the next couple of days on what strain it is and what my options are moving forward. The two silkies have since passed. And I have a rooster that started to lose his balance and is in quarantine that most likely will have to be culled. I’m sure it started with the two silkies which I got as week olds but I can’t be sure. It’s devastating.

I am so, so sorry.