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

[Raphire]

Hello. I joined this site after a blood test from my sick little mille fluer d'uccle cockerel came back positive for mareks just yesterday. This is my first year with chickens, only started in March. Same day the test was positive, another mille fluer girl, sibling, showed the same signs, only much faster and worse. I am thinking that the 3 siblings will be the first to go as she can't even eat. I have one other little roo that is related, that is housed closeby, but separate. Am hoping he is more resistant as he was always the fastest and 'most lively' of the 3. I have 12 more roughly same age housed close and 9 older free range full sized that have all been symptom free. I am hoping they stay that way.

For those saying that you can 'try' to breed resistance, I know, multiple strains and all. But I was wondering how you go about that. I am guessing no broody hens allowed, the eggs need to be incubated away from them, then chicks introduced later. I am going to 'close' my flock, but I don't want to 'never' have baby chickies again.

There has been so much good info on this thread, really helped calm my fears, my biggest fear is watching them get sick and flop and just be miserable. Like the two I have already had. We culled the first little roo after his blood was taken. Poor guy was almost skin and bones. I am considering culling the girl today as she is so sick from it. I hate seeing my animals suffer. Ugh.

 

[lalaland]

Kathy, I'm so sorry about your hen, and Raphire, I am sorry to welcome you to the thread .

 

[mightymax]

@semimolewind...surprisingly enough, Yes she can! She's always been a scrappy little thing that Pear-Pear of mine! Don't know how she does it though, can't weigh more than 10 - 12 ounces soaking wet, yet she eats as if both her legs were hollow. She's always the first one to greet me when I have a bag of romaine lettuce in my hand, yet she's sooo skinny, sits in one place all day with her eyes closed and now with the poopy butt thing...I don't know how much longer she's going to last. I'll be amazed if she makes it through the winter. But then again, I guess I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch ??? (sorry, I couldn't resist...lol !!! gotta keep my sense of humor! )
-kim-

@Raphire...I'm torn...on the one hand, I'm sorry to see you here...but on the other, I'm glad you came. There's a good group of people here, many of which have a wealth of knowledge that they're willing to share (all for the price of your internet connection fee. Can't beat that...lol !!!)
WELCOME !!!

 

[seminolewind]

Hello. I joined this site after a blood test from my sick little mille fluer d'uccle cockerel came back positive for mareks just yesterday. This is my first year with chickens, only started in March. Same day the test was positive, another mille fluer girl, sibling, showed the same signs, only much faster and worse. I am thinking that the 3 siblings will be the first to go as she can't even eat. I have one other little roo that is related, that is housed closeby, but separate. Am hoping he is more resistant as he was always the fastest and 'most lively' of the 3. I have 12 more roughly same age housed close and 9 older free range full sized that have all been symptom free. I am hoping they stay that way.

For those saying that you can 'try' to breed resistance, I know, multiple strains and all. But I was wondering how you go about that. I am guessing no broody hens allowed, the eggs need to be incubated away from them, then chicks introduced later. I am going to 'close' my flock, but I don't want to 'never' have baby chickies again.

There has been so much good info on this thread, really helped calm my fears, my biggest fear is watching them get sick and flop and just be miserable. Like the two I have already had. We culled the first little roo after his blood was taken. Poor guy was almost skin and bones. I am considering culling the girl today as she is so sick from it. I hate seeing my animals suffer. Ugh.

I just can't deal with a new owner having to just go thru this so early on. I had 10 chicks prior to knowing about Marek's in my flock. 5 eggs were in the bator, and 5 eggs were under a broody. At about 3 days old, I combined them. They all got paralysis (at 6 weeks+) and were put down.

 

[Raphire]

@mightymax ...yes I am glad to join in with others dealing with the same. It's tough and disheartening so early on. But reading, it looks like mareks can travel a huge distance on the wind. Theres really no way I could have prevented it. Lots of chickens and other fowl that walk/fly around here.

@seminolewind...wow that is really early. I am so sorry to hear that.

 

[Tamara119]

Hi everyone. I'd like to join this thread and ask for advice. It's a long intro, but here goes. (I live very far from any vet capable of doing necroscopies and blood tests, so I'm hoping I can explain my situation well enough to get some accurate feedback.)

In total, over the last 2 1/2 years, I have had 56 chickens, 36 of which are with me now. I have had the following four cases that resemble Marek's:

- about 2 years ago, a 3 or 4 month old male chick started resting on its hocks while eating, over the course of three weeks the chick lost the ability to walk and rested on its hocks all the time, eventually laying down with its legs out straight. The wings and neck were fine, it had no outward look of sickliness, wanted to eat and drink and its eye were bright and normal. I put this chick down.

- about 1 1/2 years ago, a 6 month old rooster (related to the one above), had progressive wry neck. When he tried to crow his neck would twist fully around and he couldn't undo it. As a month-old chick he was trampled by a larger chick and temporarily held his head turned to one side. That seemed to heal, but the later wry-neck might have been related to this initial injury. My friend sacrificed him and said his neck tendons were atypical. She isn't a vet or anything and didn't know to look for anything suggesting Marek's but she probably would have told me if she saw what looked like tumours. The roo ate and drank normally and his eyes were normal. At one point I had even put polysporin in his ears thinking it was related to an ear infection. I also had him on extra B-vitamins and other supplements said to help wry neck.

- about 9 months ago a 2 month old female chick was unable to straighten one leg and walked with a waddle. This happened basically overnight. Perhaps there was swelling. Soon it appeared that the wing on the same side was also affected. I was fearful of paralysis and had her sacrificed right away. Afterwards, it occurred to me that she might have been caught by a cat and have infected puncture wounds. Had I tried antibiotics I might have known for sure.

- about 3 months ago I had a 3 month old male blue copper marans. At first I noticed him sitting a lot; I figured he was enjoying the sun. Then I noticed he was unbalanced when walking, like a stiffening in his pelvis. He couldn't run quickly, when he wanted to run he ended up flopping around or trying to hop while flapping. Basically, he looked like there's some paralysis starting in his legs/hips. He didn't fall on his hocks like the first chick above. He ate and drank well and had no outwardly sickly signs. Eyes were bright and normal. I put him down.

So, these are the four cases I have had that in some way resemble Marek's. My flocks get balanced pellets free-choice and my homemade mix of grains and seeds (with Brewer's yeast) twice a day. They also free-range in a huge yard, so I really doubt there are any vitamin deficiencies. There is also no respiratory distress. All the rest of my flock are healthy and gorgeous. Could I be experiencing a low-level occurrence of Marek's? This is 4 birds in 56, that's only about 7% infection rate over 2 years. Right now I have 6 chicks between between 7 and 10 weeks (not included in my total of 56), and I'm watching everyday for the slightest indication of stiffness. One of them is a much needed Welsummer cockerel, and I'll be devastated if he shows signs. What do you think, could I be dealing with Marek's?

 

[seminolewind]

It's possible that it is Marek's, but the only way to be sure is to send the youngster for a necropsy. You are much better off in accuracy if you send a bird suffering from paralysis and culled. There is absolutely NO way to say it's Marek's except by a pathologist who can test for it. Your vet can't.

At the bottom of my posts there's a link on how to send a necropsy, and addresses . It's better than anyone's guessing.

And you've lost 20 chickens? How did they die?

In the mean time, know that you can't do anything about it if they've been exposed, and any chicks you get in the future need to be vaccinated day one of life and quarantined for at least 3 weeks. Just in case.

 

[Nambroth]

@Tamara119 , I'm afraid it's as seminolewind said. None of us here can diagnose it for you, and there are so many OTHER things it might be that I hate to even guess. The only way to know is to read about similar diseases, see if anything lines up, and even then you may not know. A full necropsy with testing of a bird that dies of the symptoms you describe above is the only thing that might give you a better answer. I'm sorry if this is frustrating. We all feel the frustration well. All we want are clear, black and white answers, and they simply do not exist.

Please remember that vitamin deficiencies can occur even in animals on the best of the best diet-- deficiency does not just mean that they aren't getting the vitamin. It can also that something is wrong in their system to either prevent or mess up absorption.

There are "look alike" diseases in my signature, the "Great Big Giant Marek's FAQ". I tried to be as complete as I could, but there are probably other things that can cause these symptoms that I didn't include just because I don't know about them yet.

 

[lalaland]

Nambroth, I didn't get pics of the first hen with grey eyes, but here is a pic of my second hen with funny eyes. You can see she is still molting, has little pinfeathers around her neck and head.



I know it isn't a great pic, but....I took a zillion and she just wouldn't hold still. The paneling in the back is the coop - it is an old construction site trailer and this was the "office' part.

 

[Tamara119]

Thanks for the info. The other 'lost' chickens are roosters that I grew out and gave to friends (for meat) and 2 hens that came to me badly lame and never healed so I put them down. The only cases that resemble Marek's are those that I explained. I've read absolutely everything I can find about Marek's, on BYC and elsewhere. I've also read about other diseases with similar symptoms and vitamin deficiencies. I know Marek's cannot really be diagnosed without a necropsy, but I was hoping that those of you who are confirmed with Marek's would know if such a low level occurrence as what I'm experiencing is possible. Of the 56 chickens, only 10 came to me as adults, the rest hatched here. The vast majority of my chicks grow out without any health problems. Those cases I've described are only 1 chick/bird out of many in that season. I really don't live close to anywhere that can do the testing. I live in Patagonia, the very southern tip of South America. There are no vets here who know about chickens and I also cannot get the vaccine. So basically I go with what I can read!