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

[ochochicas]

My hen has gone broody again. She is such a great mom so I want to let her hatch some eggs. Chicken eggs are out of the question. Would it be better to give her pheasant eggs or turkey? I have both available to me and they are about the same price. It would be nice to have some babies running around the farm this summer.

 

[seminolewind]

My hen has gone broody again. She is such a great mom so I want to let her hatch some eggs. Chicken eggs are out of the question. Would it be better to give her pheasant eggs or turkey? I have both available to me and they are about the same price. It would be nice to have some babies running around the farm this summer.

You could. But as I found with geese, they are not chickens. But Casportpony loves Peas . If you are looking for something.

 

[seminolewind]

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[seminolewind]

I would appreciate if some statements have documentation to back it up. It makes things a lot less confusing. Some of us have obsessed and tortured ourselves to find the most accurate information available for years. Most of what I have read comes from a University research book called Diseases of Poultry , Chief Editor Saif. It's has a lengthy Marek's section but covers everything down to DNA, and the book gets updated every few years.

There are also 2 research scientists who were cited by either Nambroth or Casportpony who write documents on their research.

I also get some info from World Poultry, but most info I like there is the problems that are caused by illness that should be resistant to but are caused by immunosuppression caused by Marek's exposure.

Marek's, like Herpes , can lie dormant for long periods of time. Marek's, like Herpes, uses parts of the body's producers of antibody material to spew out more virus.

, Quoting what's been posted by kayakfish and Jerryse is they may have been fed material that has translated information that is "most commonly, most likely" and "less commonly, less likely" into statements that are not correct thru no fault of their own. Everyone is an "expert" out there. There is so much we don't know and it's been over a hundred years! Being so much info out there, we've used this thread to compare our own experiences and how that affects what we've researched.

 

[kayakfish]

The documentation I have is the face to face conversation with a DR. Reddy at the Harrisonburg AG Disease Lab, He is the Virginia Merecks professional, here. I took some chicks to him that had been showing signs of paralysis, there were 3 I took him in different stages, as I had lost already 5-6 chicks between the ages of 4-8 weeks of age. I was concerned about my entire flock even though they had been in separate pens.
He confirmed they were indeed Merecks chicks, and also had Coccidosis, which was a secondary issue to the Merecks, due to a comprised immune system.
I asked him did I need to cull my entre flock, and this is what he told me word for word. Merecks is everywhere, wild birds carry it, waterfowl especially are bad for transporting it. He told me to cull any that showed the signs, but as far as the others they will be immune to the virus, and that there are very few adults that will be effected by this unless their immune systems are weak already. It can not be transported thru eggs, it is carried in the wind and only chickens with a slight immune issue will get the virus, which is why you don't see adult birds that are already matured getting this disease. That vaccinating chicks is the best way to try to keep it from effecting your flocks in the future but still not a guarantee.
I was so scared I was going to have to kill off over 5000.00 worth of breeding stock , I was really relieved to hear someone explain this to me in layman terms, I am sure you can call your area AG Dept and get someone to confirm this.
I have had 3 sets of different chicks go thru the same brooding, grow-out pens, and into the coops that those chicks came out of, and so far no issues. With that said I do clean in between each and every litter, with OXINE, to keep the areas as clean as possible for the next group. That also had been done with those chicks that came down with the virus,, that I hatched from eggs, and never had , had that on my farm, in any of my other chickens, chicks, quail, etc. So it had to have been brought in by a wild bird maybe one of the crows, doves, hawks, eagles, etc etc.

I am no longer scared of this particular virus, due to the clear and common language that it was described to me. If I get chicks come up with it again they will be immediately culled, I am sure it will happen again in my lifetime, don't sell anything that that is any way or form sick, and separate them from the rest of the flock until you can confirm what you are dealing with. Use your AG Depts and be sure of illnesses before treating at home unless you know for sure what you are treating. Using antibiotics and drugs that are not needed only makes viruses that are immune to anything that can cure them. Practice clean farm practices by not letting new fowl on your farm until you have set it in a quarantined area away from all your other flocks at least 2 weeks I do 4.
Don't allow folks on your farm without making them use a antibacterial on their footwear, and even then they can carry on their clothing, skin, hair, etc to your farm.

I just tell people I will meet them to sell chicks off the farm somewhere, and don't allow strangers with chickens on your property, just a suggestion.

Dr Reddy was very impressed that I drove over 3 hours each way to bring my chicks in to find out what was going on , on my farm, as most people wont or don't because they are worried about others finding out they have some sort of issue on their farm. He also suggested since I had such great concern and willingness to learn more that I take the NPIP certification class in which I indeed did do. Knowing the real information of the professionals that deal with these issues on a daily basis is much more important to me that of people who do a little research online then inturpit it in their own words. I am not here to argue about this virus, just to give the information that was given to me by the Dr that did the autopsies on my birds. There are different opinions I am sure , but this is what I was told, and have no reason to not believe what he has told me.

 

[lalaland]

kayakfish, would you mind explaining how you clean your coops with oxine? Since you have had such good results, I would like to replicate your process.

Good news is that on day 4 of corid, the little cream legbar hen is doing much better. Yesterday her appetite was still depressed, but by late afternoon she gobbled down a scrambled egg with two cloves of chopped garlic. Today, Showing no signs of muscular distress or problems, and she came running with the rest of the flock when I got home and went to let them out in the field. This even though she usually doesn't venture out with the group.

Tomorrow I am home and will be able to observer her better, but I am so surprised. I thought she was a goner for sure.

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: Definitely not interested in anything that swims (ducks, geese) LOL I'm leaning towards turkeys right now.

 

[Nambroth]

It can not be transported thru eggs, it is carried in the wind and only chickens with a slight immune issue will get the virus, which is why you don't see adult birds that are already matured getting this disease

Just a note. This may generally be true but isn't accurate 100% of the time. The last rooster that I lost showed classic visceral signs just after his 11-month-old-mark, and died shortly thereafter. I couldn't believe I was seeing classic Marek's at this age. I had extensive and expensive examinations run on him not only by my avian veterinarian but the GA state vet along with the University of Georgia's pathology and virology labs, including 3 PCR sequences. He died from Marek's.
In conversing with my vet in years since, she indicated that she was seeing an uptick on confirmed classic Marek's disease in chickens over 8 months old.
What the Dr. told you is undoubtedly true; most of the time this is a disease of younger birds. I thought that after 6 months any of my healthy birds were "safe" (hallelujah!!), based on all of the older literature out there. But as I and others have discovered, sometimes it seems to "break the rules" as we tend to say in this thread.

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Yikes.

 

[seminolewind]

kayakfish, would you mind explaining how you clean your coops with oxine? Since you have had such good results, I would like to replicate your process.

Good news is that on day 4 of corid, the little cream legbar hen is doing much better. Yesterday her appetite was still depressed, but by late afternoon she gobbled down a scrambled egg with two cloves of chopped garlic. Today, Showing no signs of muscular distress or problems, and she came running with the rest of the flock when I got home and went to let them out in the field. This even though she usually doesn't venture out with the group.

Tomorrow I am home and will be able to observer her better, but I am so surprised. I thought she was a goner for sure.

I'm glad your little one is coming thru this.

Oxine is great but it's only Oxine if it's activated. Unactivated Oxine does nothing much. Even with a different name for soaking horse hooves. It's got to be activated. We have much better luck with Virkon. I mix it in a hose sprayer and spray everything. And it's one of the few you can actually use on wood. Most others won't work on a porous surface.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote: Definitely not interested in anything that swims (ducks, geese) LOL I'm leaning towards turkeys right now.

I think Peacocks are much more attractive than turkeys. Turkeys are so ugly it's no wonder that we eat them and so dumb they ran toward the Pilgrims instead of away and that's why they became Thanksgiving dinner.