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

[Nambroth]

Does the mareks virus survive hot composting? I am not positive my chicken has mareks and it didn't spread to the others but I am getting new chicks in a month and I already piled all old beddings to compost

It matters how hot your compost gets.

That said, if it was Marek's, the virus is possibly now in every square inch that your chicken has been in... so it's very likely that it is in places other than the bedding. This is why it can be important to try to puzzle out if it is Marek's or not. Vaccinating your new chicks is a good idea if you are suspicious of Marek's.

Can you tell us why you feel your chicken might have Marek's? Maybe we can puzzle it out.

 

[ochochicas]

I probably won't send any more in for necropsy unless I suspect something other than mareks or immunosuppression - so maybe if i thought botulism or whatever, maybe I would go for necropsy.

What are the enteritis type symptoms you are seeing? I had phenomenal luck with corid followed by heavy probiotics in the water for a couple of weeks, and liberal doseage of garlic (free fed every other day for a week). What I was seeing was an awful lot of intestinal sloughing and abnormal droppings., and the droppings have been totally normal for a couple of weeks or more now.

The hen is passing undigested food. She eats like a horse though. She is the full sister to my first hen to die from Marek's. She was passing undigested food right before the end. I treated her with corid, Tylan and tetracycline to no avail. The hen I have now coughs when she eats and sometimes food will fly out of her mouth. Makes me think she has a tumor someplace in her throat. She was looking a little better after a 7 day course of tylan, but has recently stopped laying eggs and has lost weight in the last week. No other signs of Marek's though (no limping, no pupil changes, etc.)

 

[lalaland]

that does not sound good, and it doesn't sound like enteritis to me.. I"m sorry.

 

[seminolewind]

I think they can pass undigested food from enteritis or even a gizzard that's not working well. Who knows. With the supposed enteritis I had, the only symptoms on 7 of them were not laying all that much, not eating a lot and skinny. I treated them for enteritis and they are all fat pigs now-just the way I like my chickens. Even my Polish walk around with a big bulging crop.

So far I've sent 4 chickens for necropsy. This last one was positive for Marek's and had tumors. She wasted and died and I never even knew because she was fluffy. The other 3 had various problems, e.coli, worms, cocci, aspergillosis. All sounds opportunistic. I think about them and past other chickens that wasted and died and wonder if they could have had something that could have been treated. So now any skinny birds get " the treatment " and worming if due.

 

[casportpony]

I think they can pass undigested food from enteritis or even a gizzard that's not working well. Who knows. With the supposed enteritis I had, the only symptoms on 7 of them were not laying all that much, not eating a lot and skinny. I treated them for enteritis and they are all fat pigs now-just the way I like my chickens. Even my Polish walk around with a big bulging crop.

So far I've sent 4 chickens for necropsy. This last one was positive for Marek's and had tumors. She wasted and died and I never even knew because she was fluffy. The other 3 had various problems, e.coli, worms, cocci, aspergillosis. All sounds opportunistic. I think about them and past other chickens that wasted and died and wonder if they could have had something that could have been treated. So now any skinny birds get " the treatment " and worming if due.

X2! I now treat using the shotgun approach and treat for worms (capillary), coccidiosis, E. coli, enteritis and blackhead.

-Kathy

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: Ya know Kathy, I feel like I have nothing to lose, so I might as well treat for everything. I don't know much about blackhead. Is it common? I know there's alot of sub clinical ailment out there where chickens are not exactly sick, but no matter what you feed them they still look undernourished, and should lay a few more eggs than they do,

Speaking of which, my 7 1/2 year old JG has been laying! What a girl! I also have 5 Polish that are 6-7 years old and they are laying too.

 

[ochochicas]

My two sick chickens have been granted some more time to see if they can get better. I'm torn because I have chicks hatching in a week, so I don't want the sick chickens anywhere near the house. We have a back room in the house that we don't use because it has not heated. In a "compromise" the sick chickens are in there now. I've already treated both of them for worms and also with tylan. The younger one had Corid and the older one had oxytetracycline. I will treat the older one with Corid for 5 days and see if that helps. The younger pullet was eating on her own today, so maybe she is feeling better. They have not lost more weight this week.

Meanwhile there is a 3rd pullet (sister to the 4 month old) who sometimes seems slow and puffed up but will be normal the next day. I check her crop daily and she is a good eater. However, she has no meat on her and only weighs 1.8 pounds. I'm thinking she is sick too. Her healthy sisters are around 3 pounds or more. I know I worry too much, but it is so hard to see them sick. It would be better if they would just quickly pass in the middle of the night and not have to suffer or waste away!

If I've learned anything at all through this ordeal, it is to let them go when it is time. There comes a point when it is obvious that they are not going to get better. I need to be the one to make the call and let the chickens go peacefully and not let them suffer anymore. I guess with each one it gets a little easier, but it is still sad.

 

[mightymax]

I've had at least two Marek's chickens suffer with, and then reportedly die from, the neurological form of this disease. Both of them walked backwards and at times even in circles. They would suddenly be that way for a day or two and then just as suddenly, they'd go back to being 'normal'. Another one of mine, a roo, had the ocular form and went blind before he died (he also got bats**t crazy towards the end too) and yet another hen had the severe paralysis form. Currently it appears as if a good number of them are starting to whither away on the vine, leading me to believe that there will be more deaths by wasting and opportunistic diseases (from immuno-suppression) in my not so distant future.

Do you ever get the thought that it's just never going to end? I know I sure do...

-kim-

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Ya know Kathy, I feel like I have nothing to lose, so I might as well treat for everything. I don't know much about blackhead. Is it common? I know there's alot of sub clinical ailment out there where chickens are not exactly sick, but no matter what you feed them they still look undernourished, and should lay a few more eggs than they do,

Speaking of which, my 7 1/2 year old JG has been laying! What a girl! I also have 5 Polish that are 6-7 years old and they are laying too.

I don't worry too much about blackhead in chickens, but I do with the peas and turkeys, so they get metronidazole, which can also be used to treat enteritis caused by clostridium.

-Kathy

 

[fordguy32]

My chicken has been laying like this for a couple days now. Could anyone tell me what is wrong and what I could do to help her?