Pupil not dilating, ocular mareks?

[3xhhheather]

Grabbed one of my girls this morning to give her a bit of love and noticed her eye immediately. She’s from Meyer Hatchery and I thought I had purchased the mareks vaccine, taking a second look it’s not there on the invoice. She is blind in the eye, showing no reaction. Is this ocular mareks? And if so, what is the outlook for my flock?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, it is possible that she could have the ocular/eye form of Mareks. There are 3 other types of Mareks that cause tumors in the organs, on the skin, and nerves. If you should lose her one day, I would contact your state vet at Cornell for a necropsy and Mareks testing. Here is a list of state vets including Cornell:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
Here are some pictures of ocular Mareks compared with a normal eye in the center:
https://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/content/md-024ajpg

 

[TillyPeeps]

Does she have any other symptoms? If you didn't bring chickens in from someone else other than hatchery or feed store, chance of Marek's is low. Her eye pupils look much better than my hen with ocular Marek's. Maybe consider to give her some vitamin B to see if it helps.

I have a vaccinated chicken from Meyer having ocular Marek's, but she's not blind. Her eye pupils are like pin point size and never change size. She also has difficulty to walk and looses balance easily. She started showing the symptoms last summer and stopped eating at fall. I tube fed her for a half year. She started to get better this spring and even started to lay eggs. I had many chickens with or without vaccination died from Marek's and she's the only one recovered. Good luck with your girl and hopefully it's not Marek's.

 

[3xhhheather]

Yes, it is possible that she could have the ocular/eye form of Mareks. There are 3 other types of Mareks that cause tumors in the organs, on the skin, and nerves. If you should lose her one day, I would contact your state vet at Cornell for a necropsy and Mareks testing. Here is a list of state vets including Cornell:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html
Here are some pictures of ocular Mareks compared with a normal eye in the center:
https://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/content/md-024ajpg

Thanks for the info! Cornell is right down the road, will be giving them a call today.

 

[3xhhheather]

Does she have any other symptoms? If you didn't bring chickens in from someone else other than hatchery or feed store, chance of Marek's is low. Her eye pupils look much better than my hen with ocular Marek's. Maybe consider to give her some vitamin B to see if it helps.

I have a vaccinated chicken from Meyer having ocular Marek's, but she's not blind. Her eye pupils are like pin point size and never change size. She also has difficulty to walk and looses balance easily. She started showing the symptoms last summer and stopped eating at fall. I tube fed her for a half year. She started to get better this spring and even started to lay eggs. I had many chickens with or without vaccination died from Marek's and she's the only one recovered. Good luck with your girl and hopefully it's not Marek's.

No other symptoms yet, of course she’s one of my favorites so I’d like to see her through whatever this is, but does keeping her around increase the odds of others showing signs? Or it’s like already out there so whoever’s gonna get it, will get it?

Glad to hear your girl pulled through, this seems to be such a weird coin flip for them.

 

[coach723]

Here are a few of pictures of a couple of my birds with occular Marek's, pretty similar. Testing is the best way to know for sure.
Birds with occular Marek's can often live for quite some time, it tends to be slow progression, at least in my flock. How long you keep them is entirely up to you, since they are infected. If that is what it is, all of your birds have been exposed already.

 

[TillyPeeps]

No other symptoms yet, of course she’s one of my favorites so I’d like to see her through whatever this is, but does keeping her around increase the odds of others showing signs? Or it’s like already out there so whoever’s gonna get it, will get it?

Glad to hear your girl pulled through, this seems to be such a weird coin flip for them.

You can keep her with the flock if she's not bullied. If it's Marek's, everyone in you flock already got it. The virus could survive in environments for up to a couple years. Hope it's not Marek's.

 

[Aoife123]

Hi I think I have a mereks positive flock.
I suspect that it is my rescue ex battery hens that were carrying the mereks. They themselves don't show symptoms so far as they were vaccinated. But I have noticed symptoms in my cream legbar hens. I believe it's occular variant that my flock has based on what I've read. I can find bo other reason to explain the pin size not dilating pupils.
I have about 25 birds at any one time and so far I have lost one legbar hen thatbwas badly affect just as she came into lay. She only laid 3 eggs in her lifetime. She became almost fully blind and near the end of her life I contemplated giving her her own little run with another hen as I feared that she would soon be completely blind and muggy struggle to roost and find her feeder. She wasn't even a year old when she died. She was roost8ng with the rest, I went in one evening to clean off the roosts as I done every evening and I noticed nothing out of the ordinary and just as I was leaving the run i herd banging and squaking. She fell off the roost flapped a bit and died.

I have two more legbar hens that I got with her. One has had digestive issues a few months back. She stopped laying and lost loads of weigh and she weighed nothing by the time I noticed. Her crop wasn't emptying atva normal rate. Then out of nowhere she just started to thrive again and put back on Weight, started laying again and has been doing fine ever since. She does has the odd shaped pupils and I think her sight is starting to fail.

The other hen has been fine so far with no issues.

I don't intend on getting anymore legbars as I read somewhere that certain breeds and more susceptible to mereks such as legbars, silkies, Polish and wyndottes. How true this is I don't know but I don't intend of finding out.

The only other hen that has shown signs recently is a arucana. I've noticed her pupils look like stars . But health wise she's been fine so far.

It's very sad that my birds lives are cut short because of the mareks. But there is nothing that can be done. Culling my birds or even testing them and risking the department of argiculture culling them is out of the question. My birds are my pets. I suppose I sould be thankful that it is the less severe occular strain and not a more deadly strain.

For now I stay away from the more fragile breeds. I don't sell birds or sells eggs and I don't wish to pass mareks on to someone elses flock.

There is very little known about mareks in Ireland that I have found to be true. Even the vets don't know anything about it. Some people believe that I could not have mareks in my flock because there is no mareks in Ireland.

Some believe that mareks only affects the left leg

Some believe that you just get rid of the sick bird and the rest is fine. Chances are that you have had mareks in your flock for months before you realise it and at that stage they are all carriers.

Others believe that it is the rescues that carry it here. I am inclined to believe it now as the most instances of people suspecting mareks have a flock that consists of ex battery hens and normal hens.

I wish people cared enough to do more research on chickens but obviously it wouldn't make them any money so why bother. The lack of knowledge on all things bird health related is disappointing.

You can read all you want in mareks and it's just the same generic shit repeated over and over. But the point made above is correct that mareks does not always look the same.

My experience is that mareks is not very prominent in Ireland based on the poultry markets full of healthy silkies. I imagine if nareks was around they would be the first to show symptoms.

I believe that rooster are somehow not affected the way hens are. I had two legbar roosters that showed no symptoms not even a misshapen pupil.

I do believe that that certain breeds are more likely to suffer with it. I have maran, pekins, naked necks and other breeds showing no symptoms at all.

I believe that ex battery hens are carriers. I love my rescues but it is completely plausible that they are carriers. Keeping large numbers of animals always cause outbreaks of disease.

All we can do is live with the hand we are dealt and act responsibly to make sure that we keep a closed flock so as not to move carriers to healthy flocks