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

[ten chicks]

I was curious if any studies have been done on administering activated charcoal to chickens with marek's? I realize that marek's is not a toxin,but there can be paralysis involved. I understand that marek's disease(virus) is air borne. Chickens inhale the dander from infected birds. If only they was some way to make the respiratory system not viable for this disease to progress. I understand that marek's is killed in cold temperatures,outside host(chickens). Is the incident of infection higher in warmer climates,or does this have no bearing on contracting mareks? Sorry if questions seem strange,but i am trying to figure out why there is no cure. It is a strange disease,part of the herpes type virus,but also seems to react like cancer in the fact that tumors are involved. Can tumors be shrunk by the use of steroids?

 

[Haunted55]

The wasting, it's so hard because you give them all these nice things to eat, and they waste anyway. It just breaks my heart.

I know Seminole, but I have to look at it this way...chickens are food motivated. What we perceive as love from them, their sitting close to us, wanting to come up on our laps, climbing onto our shoes and staying there while we walk, is really just them wanting that tasty little snack we might have just for them. You know this, I know this. Like I said though, because they are a food motivated creature, when we give them the 'special' things, they 'know' they are loved above the rest. We must seem, to them, to be the rooster that saves the tastiest bit for his favorite girl. Doing this we are giving them not only a chance of survival, but the comfort of having high status in the flock. It doesn't matter for how long. They know they are special, safe and loved, for whatever time they have.

 

[casportpony]

Looks like I have another victim, just saw her this morning... She has "drunk Marek's".

I'll see if I can catch her, then I'll weigh, dust and worm her. She'll be one that I'll try my new worming experiment on, lol. Sucks to be a chicken at my place (insert evil laugh here ).


-Kathy

 

[FeatherMom]

Looks like I have another victim, just saw her this morning... She has "drunk Marek's".

I'll see if I can catch her, then I'll weigh, dust and worm her. She'll be one that I'll try my new worming experiment on, lol. Sucks to be a chicken at my place (insert evil laugh here ).


-Kathy

So sorry to hear this!

 

[casportpony]

 

[pysankigirl]

Looks like I have another victim, just saw her this morning... She has "drunk Marek's".

I'll see if I can catch her, then I'll weigh, dust and worm her. She'll be one that I'll try my new worming experiment on, lol. Sucks to be a chicken at my place (insert evil laugh here

).


-Kathy

((((((hugs)))))))

 

[Haunted55]

Looks like I have another victim, just saw her this morning... She has "drunk Marek's".

I'll see if I can catch her, then I'll weigh, dust and worm her. She'll be one that I'll try my new worming experiment on, lol. Sucks to be a chicken at my place (insert evil laugh here

).


-Kathy

Ah Kathy...can we hope it's something else?

 

[casportpony]

We could hope, but you what what they say about denial, lol. What worries me is that I'm not bothered by the death of my animals the way I used to be, it's like a numbness. Forgot to mention that today I buried a Marek's rooster, an ascites hen, two chicks and three ducklings.

-Kathy

 

[seminolewind]

Looks like I have another victim, just saw her this morning... She has "drunk Marek's".

I'll see if I can catch her, then I'll weigh, dust and worm her. She'll be one that I'll try my new worming experiment on, lol. Sucks to be a chicken at my place (insert evil laugh here

).


-Kathy

Are you getting hit heavy again?

It's not numbness. It's brain protection. You've done everything that you possibly can, and then it is really out of your control.

 

[Haunted55]

I was curious if any studies have been done on administering activated charcoal to chickens with marek's? I realize that marek's is not a toxin,but there can be paralysis involved. I understand that marek's disease(virus) is air borne. Chickens inhale the dander from infected birds. If only they was some way to make the respiratory system not viable for this disease to progress. I understand that marek's is killed in cold temperatures,outside host(chickens). Is the incident of infection higher in warmer climates,or does this have no bearing on contracting mareks? Sorry if questions seem strange,but i am trying to figure out why there is no cure. It is a strange disease,part of the herpes type virus,but also seems to react like cancer in the fact that tumors are involved. Can tumors be shrunk by the use of steroids?

There's no cure because it's like the common cold. Clear as mud right? It keeps changing, always one step ahead of a 'cure'. there are more than 6 different accepted strains of this virus out there and this doesn't even take in the mutations that can be a regional experience, like here on the East Coast last year. Lol, trust me, I want a cure for all of us! It is cancer,by the way, chicken cancer. Herpes viruses cause cancer in all kinds of animals, us included. Charcoal doesn't work...tried that when one of my idiots got into a cleaner I was using in the yard. It did keep the bird from getting sick, but 3 months later it was paralyzed.

As for the temperature zones, I honestly don't know. It would make sense that it would be more prevalent, but then again, it can be killed by extreme heat as well. This Yankee girl thinks some of the temps y'all have down there are pretty darned extreme! Steroids...now that is an interesting thing. Caco3 posted on a thread about Marek's and the use of Lysine. I've done research into it and it may be something for all of us to try. Seems it can keep arginine activity down and thereby reducing it's chances of replicating. Steroidal? In a way...I've always know that certain nuts are a natural source of steroids. Here's the link.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/lysine-000312.htm

Here are some of the links I've found in searching for info.

http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_amino_acid.html
http://bodyecology.com/articles/avoid_seeds_nuts_virus.php
http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/nuts-high-in-lysine.php
http://www.sandiegohomeopathy.com/downloads/Lysine_Arginine_Foods.pdf

Information for humans but a lot of stuff our birds could have as well. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin, kale....From what I understand so far, this has to be done from the beginning. Not sure how that would affect vaccinated birds and aven't had a chance to make contact with the people who could answer.

As for the transfer from one bird to the next, the accepted form of infection is by dander. My own experiences make doubt this. I think there is an awful lot more to this than simple air bourne dander.

One thing I have found is this, not sure if there's enough information here for me, but it seems the Lysine didn't affect the Marek's vaccine. I question it because I don't see much info about the vaccinations used for one thing and it seemed to be more focused on their product.
http://vi-cor.com/tag/poultry/page/3/

Another...
http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/ABR-vol3-iss7/ABR-2012-3-7-3218-3224.pdf

and another...this one leaves more questions for me than it answers..
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054761