Flock Care and Maintenance with Marek's

[igorsMistress]

Hi all,

This Spring we had an experience with what I strongly believe was Marek's. I don't have a pathology report and I was quite upset so my husband said no home necropsy. I'm not going to rehash it all but if you're interested here's my post about the chain of events https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ard-in-progress.1160614/page-12#post-21372950

I've done a ton of reading but what I'm not finding is whether anyone has changed their maintenance routine or made any changes to flock care going forward. Maybe I'm not reading the right threads/posts or doing the right search.

I'm wondering if anyone routinely sanitizes their coop, and if so how often? What about supportive care for your birds? Immune enhancing herbs? Do you worm? If so, how often? What about feeders and waterers?

I have 12 chicks, almost 5 weeks old and hatched here. No vaccinations and exposed since they were 3 days old. No issues with the littles at this time. All birds positive for sympotims have been put down.

Thanks for your help!

 

[TRThompson]

I believe if what you had was Marek’s that it is still their. I deep clean my sleeping area once a year by spraying bleach and water mix and then repaint the inside. I change the bedding out every couple of weeks and sprinkle poultry dust on the floor before putting down new bedding . Every couple of mounts while doing regular cleaning I spray liquid seven on all surfaces . I have poop boards under the roost that I clean weekly. I also rake the run every couple of mounts just to get ride of build up. Others might have different ideas. This is just what I do. Hope this helps.

 

[igorsMistress]

I believe if what you had was Marek’s that it is still their. I deep clean my sleeping area once a year by spraying bleach and water mix and then repaint the inside. I change the bedding out every couple of weeks and sprinkle poultry dust on the floor before putting down new bedding . Every couple of mounts while doing regular cleaning I spray liquid seven on all surfaces . I have poop boards under the roost that I clean weekly. I also rake the run every couple of mounts just to get ride of build up. Others might have different ideas. This is just what I do. Hope this helps.

Thank you for taking the time to reply TRT.

I've come up with a similar plan. I'm eliminating pdz from the poop board and using something I can fully remove weekly. I've already been spraying the coop quarterly with permethrin and am planning to whitewash the interior. I'm reluctant to to put anything on the coop floor because our dust here is terrible. Not sure how I'm going to deal with that yet.

Good to know an annual deep clean is likely enough! I was thinking 6 to 12 months.

 

[TRThompson]

My sleeping area is raised and has a painted plywood floor. I sprinkle poultry dust on it then pine shavings.

 

[igorsMistress]

This is our coop. There's a roost across the back wall with poop board underneath. The floor is bare dirt and the front panels are off right now.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

@igorsMistress how’s your flock doing? I have suspected Marek’s in my flock. From what I’ve read, the best thing to do is to reduce stress in your flock as much as possible, since stress can lower the immune system and that can trigger Marek’s. I’ve also kept a strictly closed flock. If I wanted to get more chicks I’d get them vaccinated.

 

[igorsMistress]

@igorsMistress how’s your flock doing? I have suspected Marek’s in my flock. From what I’ve read, the best thing to do is to reduce stress in your flock as much as possible, since stress can lower the immune system and that can trigger Marek’s. I’ve also kept a strictly closed flock. If I wanted to get more chicks I’d get them vaccinated.

Oh no! I sure hope that's not the case but you know, it's everywhere and I suspect more birds die from it than most people think. Yes, stress can certainly have an impact, but the silver lining is that you find the weak link and can take action which will help keep the others healthy. The vaccine doesn't keep your birds from getting Marek's, it just masks the symptoms and can be leaky, meaning make your unvaccinated birds sick.

My flock is doing well. I have 19 birds out there right now but there's ample room, so the heat is the only thing that is bothersome. I lost one pullet last week but that's all in a few months. Before then I lost a few when they were younger but I hatched eggs from the birds that remained healthy and those are doing great, 100% hatch and no losses.

If you suspect Marek's then it's a good idea to scrub your coop with soap and water, then sanitize with Virkon S. You'll do well to keep dust down as much as you can and do the clean and sanitize routine every year, especially before adding chicks. I took everything but the roost and nest box out of the coop to reduce dust, but I'm still using deep litter. I use a shop vac to remove dust about once a month because they shed the virus in their dander.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Oh no! I sure hope that's not the case but you know, it's everywhere and I suspect more birds die from it than most people think. Yes, stress can certainly have an impact, but the silver lining is that you find the weak link and can take action which will help keep the others healthy. The vaccine doesn't keep your birds from getting Marek's, it just masks the symptoms and can be leaky, meaning make your unvaccinated birds sick.

My flock is doing well. I have 19 birds out there right now but there's ample room, so the heat is the only thing that is bothersome. I lost one pullet last week but that's all in a few months. Before then I lost a few when they were younger but I hatched eggs from the birds that remained healthy and those are doing great, 100% hatch and no losses.

If you suspect Marek's then it's a good idea to scrub your coop with soap and water, then sanitize with Virkon S. You'll do well to keep dust down as much as you can and do the clean and sanitize routine every year, especially before adding chicks. I took everything but the roost and nest box out of the coop to reduce dust, but I'm still using deep litter. I use a shop vac to remove dust about once a month because they shed the virus in their dander.

Thanks for the advice! I’m sorry for the late reply. I’m glad your birds are doing well. It gives me hope that my hens won’t develop symptoms.
The more I’ve read about Marek’s the more I am convinced that it’s probably responsible for many of the unknown/“random” deaths that chicken keepers experience. I myself have had unknown deaths in my flock for years before I realized that they weren’t just random. I really regret not getting a necropsy done before so I would’ve known sooner.
I occasionally exposed my chickens to other people’s flocks in the past and now I feel really bad about it. I know my flock has probably had Marek’s for a long time, so I’m sad to think about the other chickens I’ve accidentally exposed.
From the knowledge I’ve gathered, if a few of the flocks with Marek’s made sure not to expose their birds to others, it wouldn’t make much of a difference because the virus would still occasionally manage to get out, wild birds would still carry it, and all the people who don’t know they have Marek’s would spread it too. However, I will still be vigilant about keeping the virus contained, because if enough people with Marek’s in their flocks did that, I believe that there would be a lot less infected flocks.
I think it’s interesting how having Marek’s in their flock can affect people so differently. If the strain is mild and the keeper has a big dual purpose flock, it’s not likely to be a problem at all. The same thing is true if they have a large breeding flock of a relatively common breed. Or a flock that is mostly self-sufficient likely won’t have a problem either, because the most strongly affected birds would die out and more resistant ones would continue to breed. However, someone with a small pet flock would definitely be affected strongly by Marek’s, even a mild strain. As well as someone with a lot of birds that are genetically weaker to Marek’s (like Seramas and silkies). Or someone who keeps a small amount of several uncommon breeds, is doing a breeding project with a small amount of stock, or has a rare breed which already is very few in number. Someone like that could have their entire breeding stock wiped out. That’s why I think it’s important for anyone, even people who Marek’s doesn’t affect as much, to contain their flock. One infected chicken who is sold/given away could easily infect many other flocks.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks for the advice! I’m sorry for the late reply. I’m glad your birds are doing well. It gives me hope that my hens won’t develop symptoms.
The more I’ve read about Marek’s the more I am convinced that it’s probably responsible for many of the unknown/“random” deaths that chicken keepers experience. I myself have had unknown deaths in my flock for years before I realized that they weren’t just random. I really regret not getting a necropsy done before so I would’ve known sooner.
I occasionally exposed my chickens to other people’s flocks in the past and now I feel really bad about it. I know my flock has probably had Marek’s for a long time, so I’m sad to think about the other chickens I’ve accidentally exposed.
From the knowledge I’ve gathered, if a few of the flocks with Marek’s made sure not to expose their birds to others, it wouldn’t make much of a difference because the virus would still occasionally manage to get out, wild birds would still carry it, and all the people who don’t know they have Marek’s would spread it too. However, I will still be vigilant about keeping the virus contained, because if enough people with Marek’s in their flocks did that, I believe that there would be a lot less infected flocks.
I think it’s interesting how having Marek’s in their flock can affect people so differently. If the strain is mild and the keeper has a big dual purpose flock, it’s not likely to be a problem at all. The same thing is true if they have a large breeding flock of a relatively common breed. Or a flock that is mostly self-sufficient likely won’t have a problem either, because the most strongly affected birds would die out and more resistant ones would continue to breed. However, someone with a small pet flock would definitely be affected strongly by Marek’s, even a mild strain. As well as someone with a lot of birds that are genetically weaker to Marek’s (like Seramas and silkies). Or someone who keeps a small amount of several uncommon breeds, is doing a breeding project with a small amount of stock, or has a rare breed which already is very few in number. Someone like that could have their entire breeding stock wiped out. That’s why I think it’s important for anyone, even people who Marek’s doesn’t affect as much, to contain their flock. One infected chicken who is sold/given away could easily infect many other flocks.

Very well said. I’ve done all those things as well. It’s difficult when you deal with it and it’s very frustrating, and can even hurt your heart. I really don’t see being able to eliminate it completely, particularly with wild birds and vermin around. Chickens are very popular in so many places now, and we all need feed and stuff for our flocks. Plus people who have them as pets are typically more inclined to baby along the sick and weak. I don’t, but that’s my choice and nobody has to abide by that; it’s not easy though! Good luck with your flock, I hope you can build them up and keep them healthy.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Very well said. I’ve done all those things as well. It’s difficult when you deal with it and it’s very frustrating, and can even hurt your heart. I really don’t see being able to eliminate it completely, particularly with wild birds and vermin around. Chickens are very popular in so many places now, and we all need feed and stuff for our flocks. Plus people who have them as pets are typically more inclined to baby along the sick and weak. I don’t, but that’s my choice and nobody has to abide by that; it’s not easy though! Good luck with your flock, I hope you can build them up and keep them healthy.

I agree. Unless a vaccine that actually eliminates the virus is created, I don’t think Marek’s will ever go away.
Thank you!