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

[Nambroth]

I think once we find a way to eliminate chicken dander from traveling anywhere, we'll be well on our way to finding a cure (or at least a way to contain the darn disease).

Please don't take this the wrong way-- I don't mean it in a rude way, but that is impossible in a backyard chicken keeping scenario. Chicken dander is very, very fine and it will travel! They will always make it. It's as much a part of their biology as humans shedding dead skin cells.

 

[seminolewind]

predictable and depressing update today on the 15 week old remaining hatchmate of the cream legbar i lost two weeks ago to marek's. she was looking great until sunday, two weeks to the day the first one presented with symptoms. sunday she was quiet and seemed depressed, but nothing else i could put my finger on. monday morning, she seemed to be struggling to breathe.... when she walked around too much, she would open mouth breathe and at one point even started gaping. after what we had just been through with the first one, i took her to the avian vet first thing monday. positive fecal for roundworms. positive sputum for bacteria. wanting to decide whether to euthanize (for suspected marek's affecting lungs) but not wanting to euthanize if it wasn't that, we x-rayed. yes, i'm the lady who x-rays a chicken. i hear what i'm saying but whatever, they're pets for me. anyway, x-ray was negative. YAY! great news. started antibiotic for the bacterial pneumonia, apparently started by the juvenile stage of roundworms that were compromising the lungs. did injectable dewormer for the rounds. all of this was at vet. vet monitored chicken overnight, gave her a 60/40% chance of making it if the drugs could start helping before breathing became more compromised. guess what? not fast enough. her breathing never improved, and she died yesterday (tuesday) afternoon, still at the vet. and it's an avian specialist, she was getting excellent care, so that was not the problem. just couldn't get enough air. sooooo, never did have a marek's diagnosis on this one. passed on the necropsy since the sister had already tested positive. but even the vet said that it was a strong possibility the marek's virus set the bird up for very low resistance to the rounds and subsequent lung infection. sigh. might have to go get myself a turkey, too. geez. no sign of anything with the remaining (and much older) flock members.

I have found that frequently with those who pass the paralysis stage. They remain immunosuppressed and vulnerable to the bacteria they would normally fight off. Worms makes it even harder. I'm sorry she couldn't be saved.

 

[seminolewind]

thank you so much! so am i. she was my favorite of my six chickens even though she was newer. super sweet and talkative and always up on my shoulder or in my lap.

You have now brought tears to my eyes. Not only is she cute, it reminds me of the looks I got from those ones who didn't make it. Can't forget.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Oh my Lord! I think the crazy ones are the people that think we're crazy!

 

[seminolewind]

I have also done some financially questionable things at the vet with my chickens. X-rays, ultrasounds, complete lab work, surgery.. you name it.

Quote:
Well we could put them all in raincoats........

 

[Haunted55]

Please don't take this the wrong way-- I don't mean it in a rude way, but that is impossible in a backyard chicken keeping scenario. Chicken dander is very, very fine and it will travel! They will always make it. It's as much a part of their biology as humans shedding dead skin cells.

Nambroth, I was reading something last year about a man who was trying to make a 'hair spray' for his infected birds from potato starch. His idea was that if the feathers could be stiffened, like women used to wear their hair, there would be a lot less sheds being put into the air. Especially in the coop. No idea if he ever perfected it or even followed up with it. At the time, I was a little bit busy and never even got a chance to contact him about it. At first it does sound just a bit off, but then when you really start to look at the process of the elimination of the dead cells...it's crazy enough to work. I don't think I'd want to go that route for myself. Any place that has the dampness we've been going through the last few years could be setting themselves up for some kind of bacterial infection and the added chance of increased feather picking. Still, if the right formula could be attained....I think the idea, as I said, is crazy enough to work by cutting the chances of it down in that respect quite nicely. I know that spraying the birds with a solution of Oxine helped, but that can get expensive. Casport, any thoughts?

 

[KAT Bird]

Please don't take this the wrong way-- I don't mean it in a rude way, but that is impossible in a backyard chicken keeping scenario. Chicken dander is very, very fine and it will travel! They will always make it. It's as much a part of their biology as humans shedding dead skin cells.

Feather dander is incredibly fine and light. I struggle to clean it from my air cleaner filter and it sticks to everything. Almost like a fuzzy film. It also seems designed to travel on the air. Blow on a clump of it and off it goes....

I don't like to think about how much of my chickens infected dander is floating around outside. I see wild birds land in their run and think to myself that they are now little assassins. But the reality is, my birds caught from someplace else. So I have come to accept that it is just out there....everywhere.

 

[lalaland]

Feather dander is incredibly fine and light. I struggle to clean it from my air cleaner filter and it sticks to everything. Almost like a fuzzy film. It also seems designed to travel on the air. Blow on a clump of it and off it goes....

I don't like to think about how much of my chickens infected dander is floating around outside. I see wild birds land in their run and think to myself that they are now little assassins. But the reality is, my birds caught from someplace else. So I have come to accept that it is just out there....everywhere.

that made me laugh. But, just this morning was cleaning in the coop - I have a dropping board which was full of feather dander and feather from molting hens. Clearing it off and dumping into the compost....thinking....this stuff is lethal and it will probably kill some birds. but what else to do?

 

[jgoldy2]

Sorry for your loss. Marek's is a heart breaking disease, especially when they are your pets.

And just so you know you aren't crazy for x-raying a chicken. I have an appt tomorrow to get one x-rayed. I've also had theraputic laser therapy done for a distended crop (it worked remarkably well).

Here is a photo of Hazel getting ready for her laser treatment with my vet. She has to wear sunglasses to protect her eyes.

Cool, so she has something treat-able

 

[KayTee]

Nambroth, I was reading something last year about a man who was trying to make a 'hair spray' for his infected birds from potato starch. His idea was that if the feathers could be stiffened, like women used to wear their hair, there would be a lot less sheds being put into the air. Especially in the coop. No idea if he ever perfected it or even followed up with it. At the time, I was a little bit busy and never even got a chance to contact him about it. At first it does sound just a bit off, but then when you really start to look at the process of the elimination of the dead cells...it's crazy enough to work. I don't think I'd want to go that route for myself. Any place that has the dampness we've been going through the last few years could be setting themselves up for some kind of bacterial infection and the added chance of increased feather picking. Still, if the right formula could be attained....I think the idea, as I said, is crazy enough to work by cutting the chances of it down in that respect quite nicely. I know that spraying the birds with a solution of Oxine helped, but that can get expensive. Casport, any thoughts?

I can't really believe that a 'hairspray' would be either effective or the right thing to do. Think about it - chickens shed dander in the same way as we shed skin cells - constantly. The product you describe seems to be aimed at preventing the dander falling out from between their feathers onto the ground. It wouldn't stop them shedding the dander in the first place, so what would happen to it? It would just build up under the feathers! You know how much dander even a small flock produces - imagine all those dead cells just sitting around stuck between the skin and the feathers of your girls.