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

[rebrascora]

I really hope I'm not tempting fate but I'm finding the same as Sonya9.

I've had 4 broody reared clutches within the flock this year, all cross bred mutts and none vaccinated.
The oldest are 3 cockerels that are very hale and hearty at 6 months old and will sadly be going in the pot soon but all 3 are serious eye candy at a time when my stalwart cocks are looking very sorry for themselves in moult!.
The second clutch is about 18 weeks old and consists of 5 pullets and 4 cockerels and all looking good so far. I've had a respiratory infection going through the flock and one of these pullets was looking dodgy for a couple of days with that (swollen, bubbly/closed eyes and hunched up and not eating much and sneezing) but she has come through it with no more than a bit of scrambled egg and some natural yoghurt, which suggests her immune system is pretty strong to shrug it off so quickly and easily. The others from that clutch are all fine and I'm hoping to see some eggs from those girls before the end of the year although I'm conscious that will be a risk time for Marek's to strike.
Then I have a clutch of 4 leghorn crosses... there were 5 but one died on day 4 (so I think I can discount Marek's from that). They are 6.5 weeks old and one has persistent pasty butt, which is pretty unusual for broody reared chicks, so I'm a little suspicious there. It's a cockerel though so I'm less concerned. The cockerels that showed classic Marek's symptoms last year, all fully recovered.
The final one is a clutch of 8 that are also 6 weeks and they all appear fine so far.

Apart from going through a heavy moult at the moment and the odd one with slight respiratory symptoms, my original flock are all fine. They all free range together through the day and are locked in a stone stable at night.

Every morning when I let them out and feed them, I brace myself for the sight of one of them limping, but so far I'm delighted to say it hasn't happened. Will be hugely relieved if/when I've had a full year without a Marek's outbreak but maybe that's too optimistic a goal. Happy to count my chickens and my luck on a day by day basis at the moment.

Really feel for those of you who are still losing birds to it and hope your flocks develop some sort of immunity/tolerance to it like mine and Sonya9's seem to be doing.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Sonya9]

Really feel for those of you who are still losing birds to it and hope your flocks develop some sort of immunity/tolerance to it like mine and Sonya9's seem to be doing.

I think there are different strains of Marek's and that may play into this. I do not believe any of the ones I lost to the disease had tumors (the first was necropsied and showed no tumors).

I did see my 7 month old bantam pullet "puffed" the other evening, I was giving them corn before bed and she wasn't joining in. When I saw her puffed up I was ready to start her on Valtrex (anti-herpes med) that night, fortunately she seemed fine an hour later

It isn't an antibiotic so using it as a preventative won't cause resistance, humans stay on the drug for years as a preventative. There is no clinical data on it's use in chickens but it seems to have worked the two times I used it before at the first hint of limping, and it gives me hope.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm sure you are right that there are different and more virulent strains and I'm pretty sure my flock has a milder one than many on this thread although I have had birds with tumours. The first pullet I had with it started with lameness and got worse pretty rapidly and then wry neck also developed at which point quality of life was too poor to prolong and I culled her. She had large intramuscular tumours on one leg and one side of her lower breast/abdomen. I also had one that developed a tumour on her head which despite being really scary looking, seemed not to cause her any problems for several months until she suddenly succumbed.

Once you have this disease, it's easy to see it develop in all it's many facets but also perhaps easy to blame it for any rogue deaths that don't show the "usual symptoms". I certainly can't afford to have professional post mortems done on every bird that dies but now I know I have Marek's I examine the occasional carcasses I have, to try to establish the cause of death and if possible confirm my suspicions.

 

[ochochicas]

I agree that there are more virulent strains. Unfortunately the one my birds have is pretty nasty. It has even killed a double-vaccinated cockerel. In addition to the strain, I think the dosage of exposure has a lot to do with birds getting sick or not. If they just randomly come into contact with the virus a few times perhaps the dose is small enough to elicit an immune reaction rather than developing disease. My chicks were raised in the barn that was full of Marek's dander. They breathed it in for hours a day, repeatedly. Based on this I don't think they stood a chance.

 

[lalaland]

I think there are different strains of Marek's and that may play into this. I do not believe any of the ones I lost to the disease had tumors (the first was necropsied and showed no tumors).

I did see my 7 month old bantam pullet "puffed" the other evening, I was giving them corn before bed and she wasn't joining in. When I saw her puffed up I was ready to start her on Valtrex (anti-herpes med) that night, fortunately she seemed fine an hour later

It isn't an antibiotic so using it as a preventative won't cause resistance, humans stay on the drug for years as a preventative. There is no clinical data on it's use in chickens but it seems to have worked the two times I used it before at the first hint of limping, and it gives me hope.

I know that feeling where you are watching and think, oh no, that one is sick, only to have it behave perfectly normally a few minutes later. I get a little jumpy....but so far so good for the past few months.

 

[saltandpepper2]

Update: little sebright hen has moved into the basement. Labored breathing, repeated gassing and sneezing, losing weigh dramatically. Eats a lot, but not gaining it back. Went lame a few days ago, but regained her ability to walk. Put her on Baytril, slightly higher dosage with no results. Guessing she's fading due to mareks... And here I thought I wasn't going to lose any from this batch! On the bright side, all birds that I hatched from my flock are completely healthy

 

[casportpony]

Update: little sebright hen has moved into the basement. Labored breathing, repeated gassing and sneezing, losing weigh dramatically. Eats a lot, but not gaining it back. Went lame a few days ago, but regained her ability to walk. Put her on Baytril, slightly higher dosage with no results. Guessing she's fading due to mareks... And here I thought I wasn't going to lose any from this batch! On the bright side, all birds that I hatched from my flock are completely healthy

So sorry!

-Kathy

 

[pulp2paper]

I am a first time chicken owner. All my chicks were hatched this spring. About 2 months into my adventure, I had a chick act like it had a stroke and was paralyzed on one side. Bed time, I checked on chicks and all on roots and fine, next morning she was under the roost paralyzed. Seperated her I to a pen away from the others. In 2 days she was dead. Before 7 days was up, I had 3 more dead. Started antibiotics and the rest seemed to do fine. 3 weeks after antibiotics, another limping chick. Then another in less than a week. And signs from a few others of standing off by themselves. And not feeling well. And runny poop.
I started out with almost 100 chicks. Some hatched under hens, some incubated. Lost 3 a week for several weeks. Only to lose none for about 4 weeks after a round of antibiotics. Then the cycle would start over. Various symptoms, various lengths from sick to dead.
Called Alabama state vets office and asked for my birds to be tested.
Mareks!
My had free ranged, therefore my entire property is contaminated. Was told that my birds would continue to die as it is not curable and is very easily transmitted. The birds that didn't die within a few months would not live past 2 yrs old typically. As they would developed a resistance to it, but a still be carriers and that the damage would already be done to the little bodies. I was also told that nothing will kill it once in my soil. Not bleach nor anything else I could buy.
I chose to keep my birds and not cull the few that remained.
I have 13 left. All doing well. All pets and love to be held and fed treats. (I have lost 10 to preditors, snake, hawk, stray dog)
I will continue to love and baby the ones I have left until I have none. Then I will burn the chicken house and remove all signs that I had chickens.

 

[lalaland]

pulpaper, I'm so sorry you have mareks in your flock.

I found I had mareks last October, and it was devastating news. I was told pretty much the same thing you were told . I thought I would never be able to add any chickens, but I was wrong.

I added 5 pullets at point of lay, and all are fine a year later. This spring I am going to let the broodies hatch chicks and I will see how that goes. I believe I have a milder strain of mareks. Chicks are very vulnerable, which could explain why you had such high mortality. Do some reading on this thread, and you might decide to try to continue keeping chickens.

Its a hard decision because it is painful to lose them to mareks (or anything), but it might be possible to keep going and add new birds to your flock as time goes on - there are steps you can take to increase the odds that you will have successful outcomes.

welcome to the thread

 

[ochochicas]

I had a very bad strain of Mareks as well. You can still get more birds if that is what you want to do. Vacinated birds survive quite well. How old are your birds now, Pulp? I lost over two dozen birds to Mareks, but now have 20 new birds that are vaccinated raznging in age from 5 - 40 weeks. Some were even raised by broody hens. They are all doing great. Don't feel you have to give up.