Questions about Mareks

[AtlantaChick]

Hoping to consult the wisdom of the folks who have dealt with Mareks. I've read the giant FAQ, and I'm fairly sure some of my questions are going to go beyond what is generally known.

I own a small farm in Atlanta with about 200 hens and a rotating cast of 25 meat birds at any given time. The birds share 3 acres free range with a few pigs and a handful of muscovy ducks, with two livestock guardian dogs watching over everyone. I'm installing the fencing for rotational grazing this winter, and will have 15 small pastures so that the birds can move to fresh pasture every few days.

I discovered Mareks in the flock this summer and am in the process of raising vaccinated chicks and culling unvaccinated older birds.

First question - before discovering Mareks, I'd planned to start a broody mama brigade of cochins and let them hatch and brood my replacement layers and meat birds. I can source vaccine and probably stagger my hatches to make best use of the vaccine, but I've read in some places that exposure to Mareks in the first few weeks can lessen the effectiveness of the vaccine. I didn't observe excessive mortality in the 200 vaccinated chicks I'm currently brooding, but I'm also not keeping those with the adult birds. Does anyone have insight into this and whether I can still implement my broody mama brigade?

Second question - I have requests from my customers for different meats, so I'm considering expanding the varieties of birds that I'm raising. I'm researching quail, pigeons, turkeys and pekin ducks, with the intent of maybe choosing one to add. I've found conflicting information on whether Mareks will affect these species. Has anyone successfully raised any of these in a location where Mareks is present? Can the dose of the chicken vaccine be adjusted for administration to new hatchlings of different species? (Obviously not to the turkey poults, if I go that direction, since the vaccine is based on a turkey virus. And I'm aware of blackhead as a possible issue with turkeys.)

 

[Pennys Mama]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @MROO @Texas Kiki @R2elk @BantyChooks
I don't know but maybe these will either know or know someone else who might know.

 

[MROO]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @MROO @Texas Kiki @R2elk @BantyChooks
I don't know but maybe these will either know or know someone else who might know.

I haven't had personal experience with Marek's (yet ... hopefully never, but we all know how that goes, right?!) but I've had a lot of questions answered through our local Ag Extension Service. Since you're in the commercial end, you're probably best off consulting the "official" people, as well as those here who have tons of experience. Sometimes real life doesn't carry nearly as much weight as regulations do ... go figure ... and Good Luck!

 

[AtlantaChick]

@MROO, yeah, I've talked with a few of them but as soon as I mention that I free range multiple species, their heads tend to explode. I've got a public health background, I get it, but I also believe that keeping animals in a healthy environment goes a long way towards combatting disease. I've yet to find an extension agent that doesn't push me to put each species in its own building and lock down the doors, cause most/all of the research has been done in that environment and most of the folks they deal with are larger scale than I am.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

@MROO, yeah, I've talked with a few of them but as soon as I mention that I free range multiple species, their heads tend to explode. I've got a public health background, I get it, but I also believe that keeping animals in a healthy environment goes a long way towards combatting disease. I've yet to find an extension agent that doesn't push me to put each species in its own building and lock down the doors, cause most/all of the research has been done in that environment and most of the folks they deal with are larger scale than I am.

Do you mean you free range them together? Just curious

 

[Eggcessive]

I don‘t know that I would be spending all the money with fencing and having so many birds with a commercial operation, having Mareks in my environment. I also would not let any birds off my property unless they were butchered because of the way Mareks is spread—through feather dust and dander. Quail can get Mareks, and turkeys have been intentionally infected with it in experiments.

Many people get into raising chickens wanting to purchase rarer breeds, and sometimes accidentally bring diseases such as respiratory and others, into their flocks by buying chicks or started birds from a breeder with carriers. Then they find themselves with dozens of expensive birds who are carriers, and they cannot sell birds or chicks.

I guess what I am trying to say is, that it is difficult to make money on chickens due to the problems with infectious diseases. With a respiratory disease, you can depopulate and clean very well, and after waiting a period of time, get healthy chicks and you should not have the disease any more. But with Mareks, the disease can remain in your environment for years after the last bird is there. It can be spread on your clothes, shoes, hair, the tires of your car, and so on. I would probably close my flock, check out the disinfectant Virkon-S tablets in water, and concentrate on raising chickens for my own use. Here is a link about Virkon-S, the most common disinfectant for use with Mareks and other diseases:
https://www.qcsupply.com/virkon-s-disinfectant-tablets.html

 

[AtlantaChick]

@FarmerGirl101 Yeah, they all free range together. The pigs are behind a single strand of electric fence, and the chickens and muscovies wander in and out. I have Idaho Pasture Pigs and Berkshires, and they've never shown any aggression towards the birds. Once the fences are up, I'll be able to direct all the animals into one paddock on a given day, with the goal of letting them disrupt the soil and then give the space a month or so to regrow. It's very much a marketing thing - my customers are buying a level of nostalgia for their image of the family farm.

@Eggcessive, I'm definitely not selling any live birds. I keep the flock for eggs and meat, and my market is a step below the "spend a summer yachting in France" crowd. Even with the losses from Mareks in the past year, I've made a profit. Hence why I'm considering expanding to another species. Closing down the poultry would mean leaving $20-30k on the table, and in a farm business that's a significant chunk of change.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

@FarmerGirl101 Yeah, they all free range together. The pigs are behind a single strand of electric fence, and the chickens and muscovies wander in and out. I have Idaho Pasture Pigs and Berkshires, and they've never shown any aggression towards the birds. Once the fences are up, I'll be able to direct all the animals into one paddock on a given day, with the goal of letting them disrupt the soil and then give the space a month or so to regrow. It's very much a marketing thing - my customers are buying a level of nostalgia for their image of the family farm.

@Eggcessive, I'm definitely not selling any live birds. I keep the flock for eggs and meat, and my market is a step below the "spend a summer yachting in France" crowd. Even with the losses from Mareks in the past year, I've made a profit. Hence why I'm considering expanding to another species. Closing down the poultry would mean leaving $20-30k on the table, and in a farm business that's a significant chunk of change.

oh wow! I thought you meant bird species! I like it as long as they don't attack each other.