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

[seminolewind]

Sorry to hear about your sick chicks. It sounds like Marek's to me as well. My only advice, like the others, is to send your pullet in for necropsy to find our for sure. You'll have peace of mind afterwards and can move forward with out the "mystery" looming over everything.

Your older birds may be OK. That said, I did have one 11 month old hen that started limping slightly. I found her dead in the coop a few days later. No doubt in my mind that it was Marek's. I also had a 9 month old that we culled in December due to wry neck. We assumed she got into a toxin of some sort, but now I'm wondering if she didn't have a Marek's tumor in her brain or something.

I, too, had a beloved pullet that I treated in the house for over 2 months before sending her for necropsy. Now my whole house is infected with Marek's. I don't regret trying to save her initially, but I do regret not making the decision sooner to end her battle. I currently have three more sick pullets. Two I'm pretty sure are sick with Marek's and the third seems to have something else. The older one gets to spend one more day basking in spring sunshine before we cull her. The smaller one we will probably cull as soon as the healthier one is ready to rejoin the flock. When they have lost so much weight and have not energy to even walk outside for scratch grains, it it time to let them go.

You will still be able to get more chicks in the future, but make sure they are vaccinated and that you keep them isolated for at least 6 weeks when you get them. Marek's is horrible, but you'll learn to deal with it and move forward. It is devastating at first, but it gets a bit easier as time goes on.

I hope you get thru this quickly , because the time will come when the deaths slow down or stop. Sorry you're going thru it.

 

[mightymax]

I'm sorry too! For all of us that have to go through this. At least we can go through it together.
I also was an eager and willing nursemaid to a total of 3 chickens that I tried to imbue life back into inside of my house. Until, that is, I 'came to terms' with the fact that since it
was Marek's we were dealing with and they wouldn't just 'get over it' like the common cold and I built 'Chick-Acres'. A retirement home of sorts, for the rapidly declining denizens of
our chicken coop, so that they could finish out there waning days in the peace and tranquility of a fairly large portion of our two car garage (and so I could have my office back for my
own peace and tranquility...lol !!!)

-kim-

 

[seminolewind]

Well I got 10 cute little munchkin tribbles hatched last night. I showered and changed my clothes last night so I was free to take care of everything . They're in the spare room (the room least traveled). This afternoon they all get their vaccine. Then there will be 3 weeks of quarantine. I use a shirt put on backwards and wash up to the elbow.

 

[suliah]

Yes i also currently have chicks in my house (basement, far away and 2 closed doors) from my sick stella. I wash super well and change my clothes before going into the basement. They are also vaccinated, since i suspected mareks. Im doing my best to keep them safe, so i guess time will tell.

 

[seminolewind]

Yea I don't want to contaminate for 3-6 weeks to give that vaccine time to work. But I think the first 3 weeks are the most important.

 

[ochochicas]

I want to thank all of you that post here to share stories and help others that are in the same boat with Marek's. I don't know how I would get through this without all of you!

It does give me some peace of mind and hope for the future knowing that all of you have survived the same thing.


Yesterday I put down little Almond Roca. The lethargy, droopy wing, and not showing any interested in wanting to eat made it clear it was time. I tubed her with the vodka and waited an hour and a half for her to go to sleep. She never did go to sleep, but she was very quiet and didn't struggle when it was time to let her go. It seemed very peaceful for her, although I was ball my eyes out as I kissed her on the head and said good-bye. I'm not sure why I thought it would be easier this time - it wasn't.

Looking back at the photos of Roca, I realized that while she was not sickly as a chick, she was always quieter than the others. I'm sure she was exposed to the virus at a very young age, even before she was put outside in the barn. Her sister, who I sent for necropsy last month, was probably exposed at the same time but succumbed quicker for whatever reason. They would have been 20 weeks old today. I'm really looking forward to the juvenile birds growing up so I can stop wondering who will get sick next. There are seven pullets and two cockerels left, plus two other pullets that were raised by a broody. All the new chicks have been vaccinated. I hope they stay healthy - knock on wood!

 

[rebrascora]

So very sorry to hear you had to call time on your little girl. I really feel your pain, having been there myself and no doubt will be in that position again at some point..
Thankfully my two Marek's girls are still holding their own and eating well despite their physical disabilities and laying me the odd egg! Hopity even has a go at my favourite olive egger pullet today when she dared set foot in the sick bay to scrounge goodies. I've never known her be confident enough to stand her ground with another hen let alone take the initiative so I was quite impressed especially as the olive egger has a high status in the flock. I was able to leave them out in a pen in the sunshine all day yesterday which they really enjoyed, but it was too wild and windy today.
I have a welsummer that started to look poorly (hunched and not eating for a few days) and I thought I was going to lose her but she has picked up and is now eating a bit on her own. Not sure if her immune system is compromised with Marek's or it's something else. She did go lame a few weeks ago but it looked more like an injury as her shank was noticeably discoloured and her action was different to the Marek's lameness the others have shown where they go down onto their hock. Anyway, she is one of my shyest hens and is terrified of being handled, so after two attempts to confine her, I've decided that she is less stressed remaining with the flock and as I said, she seems to be picking up. Fingers crossed it is just an injury and she continues to improve. The lameness seems to have gone completely, but the not eating for 3 days was scary.

Anyway, I just wanted to offer a little moral support and sympathy for your loss. You know it is the right thing to do, when quality of life is so limited,

Regards

Barbara

 

[seminolewind]

Barbara, not for nothing, if your Welsummer seems to be in that "iffy" area, I have been giving the "cocktail" with a good result twice. Seems that Marek's exposed chickens can be immunosuppressed and have less resistance against the things that most chickens grow a resistance to. So if mine haven't looked up to snuff, I worm mine, then give them sulfadimethoxine and Tylan for 5-7 days. I feel I have nothing to lose and might be wiping out any nasty bacteria. The other thing is that those Marek's exposed chickens can carry sub clinical infections which is like being just a little sick for a long period of time.

Amongst other reasons, one thing that happened stuck with me. A few years ago, a friend sent me 8 Crele Polish eggs and another friend sent me some. So I had 13 chicks. 3 Dropped dead overnight with no symptoms and blood poured out when I picked them up. I strongly think enteritis. Then a few more died from a one eye infection. One eye would look infected, three days later, dead. I put them all on Tylan and sulfadimethoxine because that's all I had here. The deaths stopped. A year later, 2 wasted away, and last summer, one rooster just flipped over and died right in front of me. Out of the 13, I have 4 left. And that's a Marek's vaccinated bunch. I hate this disease.

Ocho, sorry she lost the battle, you did everything you could. How much vodka did you give her?

 

[ochochicas]

I gave her 15 ml vodka (she only weighs 2 pounds). Maybe I need to check the strength on the bottle. I have another hen 25 CC yesterday and she didn't fall asleep either. I really hope this is the end of it (although I know it isn't).

Tomorrow I'll be vaccinating the new chicks and re-vaccinating the older ones.

 

[seminolewind]

I gave her 15 ml vodka (she only weighs 2 pounds). Maybe I need to check the strength on the bottle. I have another hen 25 CC yesterday and she didn't fall asleep either. I really hope this is the end of it (although I know it isn't).

Tomorrow I'll be vaccinating the new chicks and re-vaccinating the older ones.

That's good to know. I've done 2 , can't remember how much vodka, but both ended up really sedated but not unconscious. So maybe it doesn't work that well? Or maybe it works well enough to sedate.