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

[schnebbles]

I lost a year old d'uccle hen yesterday. That is 5 out of my 6 girls I got last spring I get so mad at mareks, very intense anger. I thought after doing ok during the brutal winter they might be safe. Right.

I guess now I think mareks probably attacks when it's warmer but who knows. I lost one in the fall, none all winter and then no sooner does it start warming up, wham.

I love my d'uccles, am down to my roo now and 3 silkies. I wish I knew where I could get a grown out vaccinated d'uccle hen. I guess I could try the d'uccle thread.

 

[Nambroth]

Hi, new to this and have a lot of questions, as I ve had a couple of silkies with paralysis,
-if an individual shows symptoms in a flock of 15 how often can symptoms appear in other ones, I mean is it normal that you get a rooster with problems and no other shows symptoms till several months, even almost a year after that?

I wish there were 'normals' when it comes to Marek's. I know this is not very helpful: but, maybe. You may have no symptoms for months and then suddenly get problems. Anything you can to do reduce stress and secondary illness will help their immune systems.


-I had a rooster with leg paralysis and after 3 months decided to cull him, too much suffering for him and my children, how long can they survive when paralysis appears?

It depends. It depends on the cause of paralysis. If Marek's, sometimes they will die within a few weeks... and sometimes they can "recover" and live for years. Nerve repair can take a long time. I have one right now that is slowly recovering from nervous system damage and it's been three months. He's slowly getting better but it is very slow. Of course, one must always consider the quality of life for the bird and if you felt he was suffering, putting him down is the most humane thing to do. There is no 'one size fits all' solution for Marek's problems unless the bird is obviously suffering.

-Can a hen have paralysis and the chickens kept with her in the same coop have no signal of the disease and grow up, or would be more likely some of them will show symptoms and die?

Yes, a bird can have Marek's symptoms and her coop-mates might not. It all depends on which chickens develop resistance to the disease, and which do not. All will carry it for the rest of their lives, though, and a carrier bird that later becomes stressed, weakened, or ill from a secondary problem may suddenly "develop" Marek's symptoms as the latent virus becomes active once again.

Sorry if silly questions but Im really concerned about this and tryin to figure out if my flock could have Marek, anyway I will read this whole thread to get as much info as possible, also would appreciate suggestion on related readings, threads or forums.

I also have a link in my signature that might help you.

 

[seminolewind]

Hi, new to this and have a lot of questions, as I ve had a couple of silkies with paralysis,
-if an individual shows symptoms in a flock of 15 how often can symptoms appear in other ones, I mean is it normal that you get a rooster with problems and no other shows symptoms till several months, even almost a year after that?
-I had a rooster with leg paralysis and after 3 months decided to cull him, too much suffering for him and my children, how long can they survive when paralysis appears?
-Can a hen have paralysis and the chickens kept with her in the same coop have no signal of the disease and grow up, or would be more likely some of them will show symptoms and die?

Sorry if silly questions but Im really concerned about this and tryin to figure out if my flock could have Marek, anyway I will read this whole thread to get as much info as possible, also would appreciate suggestion on related readings, threads or forums.

I think Nambroth covered everything, but I have Marek's in my flock too. You can have one get symptoms or one every few months, or none. I really think that the worst is spring and fall for victims. Most of my losses were chickens under 8 months old. A few were older. Like Nambroth said, it's all generalities. There's more common symptoms and less common symptoms. Two of those more common symptoms I've had is paralysis in young , and wasting away in older chickens. Others may have different common symptoms.

 

[KAT Bird]

I lost a year old d'uccle hen yesterday.  That is 5 out of my 6 girls I got last spring  I get so mad at mareks, very intense anger.  I thought after doing ok during the brutal winter they might be safe.  Right.

I guess now I think mareks probably attacks when it's warmer but who knows.  I lost one in the fall, none all winter and then no sooner does it start warming up, wham.

I love my d'uccles, am down to my roo now and 3 silkies.  I wish I knew where I could get a grown out vaccinated d'uccle hen.  I guess I could try the d'uccle thread.

I know how you feel. I have two unvaccinated hens left and they turned one this month. I recently added seven more vaccinated pullets that I had in my house since October of 2013. I waited till they all (except one) were laying for a month or more to put them out with the survivors. I had hoped the same thing, that these two survived the winter and made it to one year old, maybe they would be OK. Now one unvaccinated hen has stopped eating and spends most if her day separated from the flock just standing around. It just breaks my heart.

 

[schnebbles]

I got to wondering and hoping it's not the case, but I added a new 9 month old vaccinated pullet a month ago. Could this possibly have stressed my d'uccle? I need to find more hens because I'm down to 2 and 2 roos. SUCKS!

Now that you mention standing around, my silkie hen is always standing under the deck steps. She is usually out and about. I'll have to check her now...I hope not!

 

[seminolewind]

It's spring and unfortunately Marek's symptoms seem to be more in the spring. Schnebbles, just order some chicks from a hatchery already vaccinated. That's the easiest way to go.

 

[schnebbles]

Karen - well that sucks about it being common to show back up in spring. I am back down to 4 chickens. 1 is new and she's 10 months vaccinated so I hope she's ok. I like the grown out ones just because I feel safer and I don't need to have chicks in the house. I have found several people in the state who vaccinate so I'm going to see if I can somehow find something a little older thru them. I wish the breeder I got my d'uccles from did it, she's only a couple hours away. I worry about everyones birds.

 

[BigECarter]

There's a farm in Texas that sells pullets and cockerels. His chicks come from Murray McMurray, who offer the newer vaccination. Shipping is very expensive, since the birds are older. After losing 7 of 9 supposedly vaccinated pullets/cockerels from a local breeder, I bought 9 chicks from MM. Of those, I have 8 healthy pullets and one recovering from Marek's.

If you are interested in the farm in Texas, I can dig up the contact info. I plan to buy a cockerel from him - I think it will cost ~$80 by the time I pay for shipping. Multiple birds would drive the cost down some.

 

[silkiefive]

I think Nambroth covered everything, but I have Marek's in my flock too. You can have one get symptoms or one every few months, or none. I really think that the worst is spring and fall for victims. Most of my losses were chickens under 8 months old. A few were older. Like Nambroth said, it's all generalities. There's more common symptoms and less common symptoms. Two of those more common symptoms I've had is paralysis in young , and wasting away in older chickens. Others may have different common symptoms.

I also have a link in my signature that might help you.

Thanks a lot, great info!!!, now I see this is a pretty complicated situation, I ll keep on reading to learn more just in case, if any of my chickens dies will take it to the vet for a necropsy to have a definitive diagnose, in the meantime I will keep my fingers crossed it was just a case of neurological problems caused by something else as you mentioned, like vitamins deficiency, which I believe is more likely as she began recovering (not fully yet) as soon as I provided her with vitamins, what makes me suspect of mareks is that this is the second case in one year, anyway I know the more I learn the more questions will have, so will problably show up around here soon again, specially if some kind of symptom appears...
Thanks a lot once more, I really appreciate your comments, having found this forum is a big relief to me!!!

 

[schnebbles]

BigE - thanks and actually, I'd been in contact with him a few months ago, I was going to get a couple EE's. He doesn't sell any bantam birds and I'd like to stick wtih the small ones. I'm glad your birds are doing well!