Not an Emergency...Marek's in the Flock

[seminolewind]

Hi!

Just wanted to share my experience with Marek's. This is the first time my husband and I owned chickens. We purchased 6 from one feed store and 3 from another. I had heard of vaccinating but everyone I knew with chickens locally never bought vaccinated birds. So April 2012 I brought these adorable Easter Egger chicks home and fell in love with owning chickens. July 2012 my first bird shows ocular symptoms. We took her to the vet and begin treatment for multiple causes. She never became paralyzed but wastes away and dies from internal tumors and aspergilloses. We had a necropsy done and at first lymphoid leukosis was the main suspicion. Further histogy revealed probable Marek's. Of the 6 from the first feed store, one is still alive. Of the 3 from the other feed store 2 of 3 are alive. So we lost 6 out of 9. They all progressed with the disease differently. Some progresses quickly and died shortly after symptoms started. Most progressed slowly and developed secondary infections which did not respond to treatments.

Hi. Marek's has lots of different progresses. It's a heartbreaking thing .

 

[seminolewind]

KAT Bird, we also have MM chicks, but I have not been as good at bio separation as you have been. They went into the coop with a symptomatic cockerel at 4 weeks, so a massive viral load instead of gradual exposure. They will be 12 weeks this weekend. So far so good.

We lost the cockerel, so if one if the chicks is not mis-sexed, I will be looking for a replacement. Either a cockerel from MM, or maybe a local roo who has had the turkey vaccine. My original flock was supposedly vaccinated but I lost 7 of 9, the first one showing symptoms within a week.

Does it seem to be in clusters?
I think I lost 2 because I most likely had them protected in the house and vaccinated day one and the house probably has had Marek's as long as my chickens have.

 

[seminolewind]

So true....our vet is wonderful but hadn't seen Marek's yet so he was trying his best to treat them. We didn't know what we were dealing with until we lost our first and got the necropsy results back. Which took several weeks. We had it done at Cornell University and I did meet a poultry specialist there who worked in the poultry production industry for many years and has seen the many ugly faces of Marek's. She has been very helpful and strongly recommends vaccination. She did admit that the virus has become more virulent and it is very unpredictable. My heart broke every time we lost a bird. A few died in my arms. But I determined not to give up because when my birds aren't sick they bring me so mucb joy!

I so agree.
I hope you can maintain communication with this specialist, or at least see if she knows of any sources of Marek's information that's recent. Not much of that around.

 

[seminolewind]

KAT Bird, it sounds like you are doing the best that one can do, outside of industry practices or clean-room-level operations! I hope that your birds develop good resistance and that you have no more losses. I'm really sorry to hear that you lost most of your first EEs... it's always so sad.

It is a good reminder that Marek's takes many forms and can be a fast or a slow killer, and in general is a virus that really suppresses the immune system, and can cause our birds to die from secondary infections/problems. IT seems that if they do not develop the aggressive lymphoma tumors that they are just as likely to die from a secondary problem as they are from direct Marek's infection. It's one thing that makes this disease so frustrating and hard to "diagnose" online when people turn to the forum for help.

SO TRUE!

 

[NJchixs]

Hello everyone and sorry for all the heartbreaks all have experienced. I have lost about 20 French black copper marans since august to Mareks. At first I wasn't sure, but the blood test was performed and proved mareks. I am down to 15 of a mixed flock or breeds and ages. As of right now they all look great and most are laying, but they are still thin. Too thin, keels are evident. Today I put a heat lamp in their coop, as the temps will be single digit, and I'm concerned for their lack of body weight and causing them stress. We know stress can trigger downfall. Is their anything I can do to help fatten them up? Otherwise they are well cared for to help make them stressful fee and happy, 8x10 new coop, free ranging and lots of goodies. Advice please. Thanks.

 

[BigECarter]

Does it seem to be in clusters?
I think I lost 2 because I most likely had them protected in the house and vaccinated day one and the house probably has had Marek's as long as my chickens have.

Mine have not been in clusters. Spaced two weeks apart, except for Apollo who died several months later. But I was expecting it because the other three lavender orps had succumbed so I didn't think he would have natural immunity, and because his poops were always loose.

 

[Frizzlefraz]

I purchased 3 18-20 week old vaccinated (Murray McMurray) pullets that we added to the remaining flock about 8 weeks ago. I also purchased 7 8-10 week old vaccinated (Murray McMurray) that I have been raising in my home and will not be adding to the flock until they are 24 weeks or older. I purchased two vaccinated by breeder (turkey Marek's vaccine) silkies. One was three months and one was ten months. They will be in my home indefinitely and I am trying to decide if I will ever take them outside. I am practicing as strict biosecurity as I can considering it is a virus. I will keep you all posted on how things are going. From my understanding getting older hatchery vaccinated birds, presuming they were not previously exposed, and waiting as long as possible to introduce them to the flock should offer the best odds? I also do a massive coop cleaning prior to introduction to try to lower the initial viral load they are exposed to.

What do you use to clean that kills the virus?

 

[KAT Bird]

I can't say for sure if this actually kills the Marek's virus, but it kills a lot of the things that cause secondary infections. Any process you use to remove the majority of feather dander from the coop, reduces the viral load since the virus is spread from inhaled dander. It would be nearly impossible for me to remove every particle so I know that my new birds will be exposed and they will become infected. Killing the majority of other bacteria/viruses/mold helps to prevent them from being immunocomprimised and hopefully gives their immune system the best chance to respond appropriately. I don't want their bodies to be overwhelmed with the disease upon intial exposure. Hopefully giving the vaccine a chance to direct their immune system to respond in the correct way.

I use KenneLSol

Germicidal Detergent & Deodorant

A multi-purpose germicidal detergent and deodorant effective in hard waters up to 400 ppm hard water
(calculated as CaCO3) plus 5 % organic serum. Disinfects, cleans, and deodorizes in one labor saving step.
For use in kennels, pet shops, tack shops, veterinary clinics, animal life science laboratories, breeding & grooming establishments, schools, colleges, equine farms, airports, hotels & motels. For use in households.
Bordetella bronchiseptica
Serratia marcescens
Escherichia coli
Staphylococcus aureus (antibiotic resistant) Fusobacterium necrophorum
Klebsiella pneumoniaea(antibiotic resistant) Streptococcus pyogenes
Proteus mirabilis
Salmonella enterica
Salmonella typhimurium Escherichia coli (antibiotic resistant)
Fungicidal against Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Candida albicans according to the AOAC fungicidal test, modified in the presense of 400 ppm hard water (calculated as CaCO3) plus 5% organic serum.
Virucidal against *Canine parvovirus, Canine distemper, Feline leukemia, Feline panleukopenia, Feline picornavirus, Influenza A/Hong Kong, Herpes simplex type 1, Herpes simplex type 2, Vaccinia, Rubella, Adenovirus type 4, Rabies, Porcine parvovirus, Pseudorabies, Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, Infectious bronchitis (Avian IBV), **Avian Influenza A (H3N2) virus (Avian Reassortant) (ATCC VR-2072), and **Avian Influenza A (H5N1) virus according to the virucidal qualification, modified in the presence of 400 ppm hard water (calculated as CaCO3) plus 5 % organic serum.
Bactericidal against the following pathogenic bacteria according to the AOAC Use-Dilution Test method, current edition, modified in the presence of 400 ppm synthetic hard water (calculated as CaCO3) plus 5% organic serum:
Proteus vulgaris
Shigella sonnei
Staphylococcus epidermidis (antibiotic resistant) Enterobacter cloacae
Pasteurella multocida
Staphylococcus aureus
Salmonella typhi
Chlamydia psittaci
Shigella flexneri
Enterobacter aerogenes
Streptococcus faecalis (antibiotic resistant) Klebsiella pneumoniae
Streptococcus faecalis.

 

[Haunted55]

A word to the wise...if it doesn't say Herpes, chances are it won't. Oxine activated is what I use or bleach and water mix. Regular Lysol spray will work on their roost if it's allowed to dry after application.

 

[KAT Bird]

The only disinfectant that I know of (could certainly be others I don't know of) that has been specifically tested on Marek's is Virkon S. It was tested at the Institute for Animal Health, Compton, UK on Marek's disease virus strain HPRS16, using the DEFRA testing method at 4°C in a 5% yeast solution organic challenge, Virkon S passed at all dilutions tested including the lowest test dilution of 1:200.

I have used bleach and still do sometimes for disinfecting household items. It is effective against bacteria, mycobacterium, enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, spores and fungi. But I don't know the correct dilution ratios to use for efficacy and bleach degrades with age. http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?6666660Zjcf6lVs6EVs66sM3hCOrrrrQ-

I tried in-activated oxine as a cleanser and vaporizer during my Marek's outbreak to try to supplement a prescription (fluconazole) that was being used to treat aspergillosis. Sadly it didn't work but that was being used before I knew the birds had Marek's and they were severely immunocomprimised anyway. I am admittedly scared to activate the oxine.