One Eye Closed?

[EurekaPaprika]

Is Mareks contagious? I had to put down my BuffO after a few days in solitary, she couldn't keep her head up at all. And now all of a sudden one of my roosters is laying exactly the same way and breathing heavy! It hit him very quickly, even yesterday he was acting fine. Now he's just as bad as she was when I decided she needed to go to heaven.

 

[EurekaPaprika]

Ok so I read up on Mareks disease. But I do have more questions:
Are all my birds infected even if they don't get sick? Have any birds who do get sick been able to recover?

 

[Eggcessive]

All birds exposed to Mareks in a flock are considered infected and are carriers. Some may be resistant and not succumb to the disease, and any vaccinated birds may be resistant, but still carriers. Sorry that you are dealing with such a serious problem. I would try to get one tested during a necropsy by your state vet or poultry lab, just to confirm the disease. Here is a link to contact yours:
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Eggcessive]

This is a good article with a lot of info on Mareks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

I'm sorry you lost your Buff Orp and now the rooster is displaying symptoms. Yes it is contagious but it takes a minimum of 3 weeks from infection to the first symptoms appearing..... it can be significantly longer. Outbreak of symptoms is usually triggered by stress. That can be integration into a new flock or surge of hormones during adolescence or change of hormones at moult or a bad storm or a predator attack. Because the disease has dormant phases, it is very difficult to know which birds have been infected and which have not, but you have to assume all your birds have been exposed. The disease is caused by a Herpes virus similar in some respects to cold sores in humans. You cannot tell who carries the virus and who doesn't until they have a cold sore break out and they actively shed the virus whilst they are having an outbreak. I have had quite a few birds recover from an outbreak but they will always be at risk of further outbreaks because they will always have the virus. I had one very special pullet recover from two outbreaks of the disease. The first time she was fine one day, lame the next and floundering on her side in the classic Marek's splits position unable to get up. 2 days later you would not know there had ever been anything wrong. A month or so later she had her second attack and it took several months of supportive care some of which she was nest bound for but she eventually regained enough mobility to return to free ranging with the flock and had a good quality of life until she very sadly fell victim to a fox
It depends on the severity of the strain of Marek's you have. I am fortunate to have a milder one but @Nambroth who wrote the article linked by Excessive above, has a more aggressive strain. You will only figure out how hot your strain is (if in fact you do have Marek's, although it seems pretty likely) by the number of birds it kills. I find the most beneficial things are a good quality poultry vitamin supplement like Nutri Drench or Poultry Cell to support the immune system and probiotics or fermented feed to support the gut. Keeping them as happy and stress free is also extremely important..... ensuring plenty of space if they are penned and lots of things to do to keep them occupied.

Once they lose interest in food, that is when I euthanize but as long as they are bright eyed and eating and prepared to fight it, I give supportive care. Others cull at the first sign of symptoms to prevent an increase in the reservoir of infected material in the flock's environment.... which is probably very wise .... but I can't do it to a bird that in my experience might recover from an outbreak. Once they stop eating, they decline pretty rapidly, so that is my cut off point.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.