Please tell me it's not Mereks

[GermanKennhuhn]

They’re 13 days old. I’ll get some pictures and post them.
Ok, I’ll go check the temperature.
They have plenty of natural light. Two medium windows, and one big one. It’s about the same as outside the brooder.
Thank you for replying! I appreciate it.

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

Here’s the pictures:

The temperature under the lamp was 86f, and the cool side was 80-81.
These are the smaller/weaker ones I separated:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

That's a nice big space!
I think I would also provide some more light (not heat, just light) in there, I would also add some more water and feed stations.
I highly recommend that you provide chick grit as well.

Make sure they have good air flow in there. Ideally they should have a cooler area, but with it being summer, that can be a challenge. So as long as you have some air moving, that may work o.k.

Are the weaker ones bantams? Hard to know if the loss is from them piling up at night. Sometimes some chicks are a bit shier and won't push in for food or water like the others and become dehydrated - they can go down fast.

Hydro Hen is electrolytes so for the weak ones, I would get some poultry vitamins or vitamin/electrolytes. I usually prefer to direct dose weak chicks with Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell at 2-3 drops twice a day.

I don't believe you are dealing with Marek's. They are too young. Do some reading up on Marek's and the vaccine to determine if vaccinating is something you want to add on next time you get chicks. It's a personal preference I suppose. While the vaccine can help stop the formation of tumors, it does not prevent infection from the virus - so....birds can still become ill and shed the virus even if vaccinated.

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

That's a nice big space!
I think I would also provide some more light (not heat, just light) in there, I would also add some more water and feed stations.
I highly recommend that you provide chick grit as well.

Make sure they have good air flow in there. Ideally they should have a cooler area, but with it being summer, that can be a challenge. So as long as you have some air moving, that may work o.k.

Are the weaker ones bantams? Hard to know if the loss is from them piling up at night. Sometimes some chicks are a bit shier and won't push in for food or water like the others and become dehydrated - they can go down fast.

Hydro Hen is electrolytes so for the weak ones, I would get some poultry vitamins or vitamin/electrolytes. I usually prefer to direct dose weak chicks with Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell at 2-3 drops twice a day.

I don't believe you are dealing with Marek's. They are too young. Do some reading up on Marek's and the vaccine to determine if vaccinating is something you want to add on next time you get chicks. It's a personal preference I suppose. While the vaccine can help stop the formation of tumors, it does not prevent infection from the virus - so....birds can still become ill and shed the virus even if vaccinated.

Thank you for replying. I’ll try to provide some more light. I’ll have to see if I have a normal bulb.
Maybe I could put a fan in there? I wish it was cooler, but unfortunately the windows don’t open. I do open the door as often as possible to let some cooler air in.

The weaker ones aren’t bantams. One is a Light Brahma from TSC, and the other is a Welsummer from Meyers.

I’ll look for some vitamins, thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate your advice!

Oh thank goodness! I was so worried I will, thanks. I’ve never vaccinated before because of that.
thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for replying. I’ll try to provide some more light. I’ll have to see if I have a normal bulb.
Maybe I could put a fan in there? I wish it was cooler, but unfortunately the windows don’t open. I do open the door as often as possible to let some cooler air in.

The weaker ones aren’t bantams. One is a Light Brahma from TSC, and the other is a Welsummer from Meyers.

I’ll look for some vitamins, thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate your advice!

Oh thank goodness! I was so worried I will, thanks. I’ve never vaccinated before because of that.
thank you!

Oh dear! The windows don't open? Yes, I would try putting a fan in there and get some more ventilation going. Are you planning on keeping them in the building from now on?
Personally, I would add ventilation. I understand your winters would be cold, but even then, you need fresh air coming in.
While they do need heat - you have the lamp and it looks to me like they are avoiding it - watch behavior - if they are all staying away from the heat lamp, it's too warm under it. If they are all piled up, then they need more heat.

I am no coop designer so this article can explain ventilation much better than I can
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Do some reading up on Marek's and the vaccine to determine if vaccinating is something you want to add on next time you get chicks. It's a personal preference I suppose. While the vaccine can help stop the formation of tumors, it does not prevent infection from the virus - so....birds can still become ill and shed the virus even if vaccinated.

From what I’ve read chickens vaccinated from Marek’s only have a roughly 10% chance of developing Marek’s.

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

Oh dear! The windows don't open? Yes, I would try putting a fan in there and get some more ventilation going. Are you planning on keeping them in the building from now on?
Personally, I would add ventilation. I understand your winters would be cold, but even then, you need fresh air coming in.
While they do need heat - you have the lamp and it looks to me like they are avoiding it - watch behavior - if they are all staying away from the heat lamp, it's too warm under it. If they are all piled up, then they need more heat.

I am no coop designer so this article can explain ventilation much better than I can
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/

Yeah.. I do plan to keep them in there, but only 25 or so. They’ll have a huge run too. Ok, I’ll add more ventilation. I can open up the gables.
They do seem to avoid the light, so when it’s in the 80s l turn it off during the day.
Thanks for the link! It’ll be very helpful.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks does not ever show up until chickens are at least 3 weeks old, and usually it happens later than that. Even an older chicken exposed would not have symptoms for at least 3 weeks. I have both vaccinated chickens and later unvaccinated ones, and have never had Mareks in my flock.

That is a lot of chicks that you have. I am not sure that I could handle and check out so many at first. Shipped chicks may suffer from shipping stress, have pasty butt, become dehydrated, get overheated in hot weather, and too cold in cool weather. Sometimes there can be a weak hatch that might cause some losses. When I first get them I offer GroGel or give them a drop of Poultry NutriDrench, dip beaks in the water and food to show them where it is, and look for any stuck droppings on the vent. The ones who have pasty butt may have it more than once for the first 7-10 days.

I agee with Wyorp Rock that you need multiple feeders and waterers, and some overhead ventilation. If you make windows, cover them with 1/2 inch hardware cloth to keep out weasels and other predators. Hopefully, you won’t have any more losses. Good luck.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

From what I’ve read chickens vaccinated from Marek’s only have a roughly 10% chance of developing Marek’s.

While the vaccine can help stop the formation of tumors, it does not prevent infection from the virus - so....birds can still become ill and shed the virus even if vaccinated.

Marek's is thought to be widespread.
As stated, the vaccine can help to stop the formation of tumors, but does not prevent infection from the virus - birds can still become ill and shed the virus.

And 10% may very well be true. The vaccine may help mask or prevent some symptoms from showing, but birds can still shed the virus and/or spread infection.

This is why research/reading is encouraged. The reader needs to come to their own opinion/conclusion whether vaccinating their flock is something they want to do. There are benefits as well. If adding chicks to a Marek's confirmed flock, the vaccine can offer some form of protection, but those chicks need to be quarantined and good bio-security observed so their immune system can respond to the vaccine.

Again - it's a personal choice/decision that every backyard flock keeper must make for themselves after careful consideration of all the information they can find.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Though the MD vaccines are capable of preventing lymphoma formation and clinical disease, do not prevent superinfection by pathogenic MDV strains [15]. Therefore, detection and elimination of infected birds form the basis for diagnosis and eradication programmes for oncogenic viruses
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6003054/

vaccination does not prevent infection with the virus, Mareks is still transmissible from vaccinated flocks to other birds, including the wild bird population. The first Marek's disease vaccine was introduced in 1970. The disease would cause mild paralysis, with the only identifiable lesions being in neural tissue. Mortality of chickens infected with Marek's disease was quite low. Decades after the first vaccine was introduced, current strains of Marek Virus cause lymphoma formation on throughout the chicken's body and mortality rates have reached 100% in unvaccinated chickens. The Marek's disease vaccine is a leaky vaccine, which means that only the symptoms of the disease are prevented.[11] Infection of the host and the transmission of the virus are not inhibited by the vaccine. This contrasts with most other vaccines, where infection of the host is prevented.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek's_disease
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...s-enhance-spread-of-deadlier-chicken-viruses/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/tthis-chicken-vaccine-makes-virus-dangerous

Vaccines that keep hosts alive but still allow transmission could thus allow very virulent strains to circulate in a population. Here we show experimentally that immunization of chickens against Marek's disease virus enhances the fitness of more virulent strains, making it possible for hyperpathogenic strains to transmit. Immunity elicited by direct vaccination or by maternal vaccination prolongs host survival but does not prevent infection, viral replication or transmission, thus extending the infectious periods of strains otherwise too lethal to persist. Our data show that anti-disease vaccines that do not prevent transmission can create conditions that promote the emergence of pathogen strains that cause more severe disease in unvaccinated hosts.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4516275/


MD vaccines are considered imperfect because they neither stop infection nor shed-ding of pathogenic MDV from feathers [9–12]. Because MDV remains infectious for weeks in the litters [13], pathogenic viruses can accumulate in the environment of vaccinated birds [12]. Despite the undeniable benefit of current vaccines for chicken health and welfare, the inability of these vaccines to protect from infection and shedding explains the endemic feature of this infection and the difficulty in eradicating it.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ile_still_carrying_vaccine-induced_antibodies

Any birds who have not received the MD vaccine should never be combined with any chickens who have been vaccinated. This is because the vaccine prevents the formation of tumors, but it does not prevent the chicken from getting infected and shedding the virus into their environment.
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/mareks-disease

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

Mareks does not ever show up until chickens are at least 3 weeks old, and usually it happens later than that. Even an older chicken exposed would not have symptoms for at least 3 weeks. I have both vaccinated chickens and later unvaccinated ones, and have never had Mareks in my flock.

That is a lot of chicks that you have. I am not sure that I could handle and check out so many at first. Shipped chicks may suffer from shipping stress, have pasty butt, become dehydrated, get overheated in hot weather, and too cold in cool weather. Sometimes there can be a weak hatch that might cause some losses. When I first get them I offer GroGel or give them a drop of Poultry NutriDrench, dip beaks in the water and food to show them where it is, and look for any stuck droppings on the vent. The ones who have pasty butt may have it more than once for the first 7-10 days.

I agee with Wyorp Rock that you need multiple feeders and waterers, and some overhead ventilation. If you make windows, cover them with 1/2 inch hardware cloth to keep out weasels and other predators. Hopefully, you won’t have any more losses. Good luck.

Thank you! That’s a relief.

It is a lot of chicks, but I have two others helping me care for them. Thank you for the info. I did provide them with Gro-Gel and chopped boiled egg( in addition to feed and water) when they arrived.

Ok, thank you both. I’m on my way to pick up more feeders and waterers now, along with vitamins. I appreciate everyone’s advice!