Repopulating after hot mareks??

[Sseckel]

I have heard that Fayoumis are very resistant to Mareks. I wonder if this is true. I know some breeders have brought them in hopes of bringing some resistance into their lines.

On the opposite end have heard seramas & silkies are especially prone to Mareks. My friend had 3 house chickens 2 serama hens -one silky hen all about 5 years old. The silky was the only one let out in the yard because she didn't fly. One by one they couldn't stand up but ate well if hand fed.

A serama died, a day later the silkie died, next day the last serama. Friend just found them dead. It was very hard for her to take. So far she hasn't gotten any new birds.I hope she doesn't.

Have no idea if it was truly Mareks. She has never taken any of her birds (over a 25-30 year span of house chickens) to a vet. The vet for her dog actually HAS chickens. But my friend won't spend a dime on them. She , herself will not see a doctor or a dentist so I guess this is her way of life.

Oh that is so sad. For her and her flock.

 

[drumstick diva]

A former BYCer that lived in Canada said she had Mareks in her flock but, bred survivors until she had eliminated it from her chickens. She didn't go into specifics. Followed her for years till she jumped ship and went to Face Book. I would not use Facebook IF they paid me. So no further contact with her.

 

[drumstick diva]

The loss was very hard on her dog. He had lived with her various chickens for 12 years. When the last 3 died, she said he searched all over the house for them. When the silkie was outside, she would stay right next to him

 

[chickendreams24]

I have heard that Fayoumis are very resistant to Mareks. I wonder if this is true. I know some breeders have brought them in hopes of bringing some resistance into their lines.

On the opposite end have heard seramas & silkies are especially prone to Mareks. My friend had 3 house chickens 2 serama hens -one silky hen all about 5 years old. The silky was the only one let out in the yard because she didn't fly. One by one they couldn't stand up but ate well if hand fed.

A serama died, a day later the silkie died, next day the last serama. Friend just found them dead. It was very hard for her to take. So far she hasn't gotten any new birds.I hope she doesn't.

Have no idea if it was truly Mareks. She has never taken any of her birds (over a 25-30 year span of house chickens) to a vet. The vet for her dog actually HAS chickens. But my friend won't spend a dime on them. She , herself will not see a doctor or a dentist so I guess this is her way of life.

I have read many many articles about Marek's. When we found out it was in our flock I read everything I could find on the subject.

I have read that silkies are especially prone to it but we have never had a confirmed loss of a silkie or any bantam to Marek's. That said we did have one silkie that died from unknown causes. Unfortunately I didn't hear back from the lab in time to send the body out before it was too far gone.

 

[MROO]

So my husband has graciously agreed to let me put a hutch style coop in a corner of his workshop to help give an extra layer of protection to the replacements. This way they will be inside and away from the wind and soil where most of the virus is present.
I'm so excited!! I know there is still a risk but I feel like this helps mitigate it a little more.

 

[Sseckel]

So since you didn't have it diagnosed it is possible you don't even have the disease on your land.
They could have had something completely different.

I agree it is possible but there wasn't anything that matched the signs quite as well as Marek's. We did do some vitamin supplements and general antibiotics but they died so fast nothing helped. Maybe it could have but as fast as they died I'm not sure the vitamins or meds even had a chance to work if they could have helped. I definitely hope it was something else but that is equally scary.

 

[Steve777]

Just some thoughts on Marek's. Last summer I lost several hens, never knew what it was. Then a neighbor who also keeps chickens told me she lost several also and the vet diagnosed it as Marek's, said there was quite a bit of it going around. The symptoms matched what I saw in my flock, so I assumed Marek's was the likely cause.

Did some research and found out Marek's is cause by the herpes simplex virus, same one as causes cold sores and the like in humans. I recalled from the 1970's that some people used BHT as a remedy for herpes in humans (used to be able to buy the stuff at health food stores, now online mostly). So I started adding some BHT to the chicken food for my two remaining birds who were having some symptoms. Well they got better, and went from having balance/walking problems and feather loss and no laying, to able to walk and run, regrew their feathers, and are now laying normally (for 3yr old birds).

I can't say that it was the BHT, nor do I know that it was Marek's which was causing the problems, but the results were very good. Given that BHT has a history of working on this virus in humans, and is relatively cheap, I thought I would pass along my experience. FWIW, the dose I used was roughly (very roughly) 20mg per bird per day, mixed with their treat (sprouted grain).

BTW, There is nothing which will eliminate the virus once it is in an animal (human, bird, whatever). At best BHT or prescription meds will halt the virus and allow the body to do its cleanup, but the virus always remains, dormant until it gets an opportunity for another outbreak (in whatever animal host). So if BHT works it is not going to make your birds virus free nor eliminate the virus in your yard. But it may be a very inexpensive way of saving exposed birds and keeping the disease at bay.

 

[Kiki]

Just some thoughts on Marek's. Last summer I lost several hens, never knew what it was. Then a neighbor who also keeps chickens told me she lost several also and the vet diagnosed it as Marek's, said there was quite a bit of it going around. The symptoms matched what I saw in my flock, so I assumed Marek's was the likely cause.

Did some research and found out Marek's is cause by the herpes simplex virus, same one as causes cold sores and the like in humans. I recalled from the 1970's that some people used BHT as a remedy for herpes in humans (used to be able to buy the stuff at health food stores, now online mostly). So I started adding some BHT to the chicken food for my two remaining birds who were having some symptoms. Well they got better, and went from having balance/walking problems and feather loss and no laying, to able to walk and run, regrew their feathers, and are now laying normally (for 3yr old birds).

I can't say that it was the BHT, nor do I know that it was Marek's which was causing the problems, but the results were very good. Given that BHT has a history of working on this virus in humans, and is relatively cheap, I thought I would pass along my experience. FWIW, the dose I used was roughly (very roughly) 20mg per bird per day, mixed with their treat (sprouted grain).

BTW, There is nothing which will eliminate the virus once it is in an animal (human, bird, whatever). At best BHT or prescription meds will halt the virus and allow the body to do its cleanup, but the virus always remains, dormant until it gets an opportunity for another outbreak (in whatever animal host). So if BHT works it is not going to make your birds virus free nor eliminate the virus in your yard. But it may be a very inexpensive way of saving exposed birds and keeping the disease at bay.

What is BHT?

 

[Steve777]

BHT is Butylated HydroxyToluene, a fat soluble antioxidant, FDA approved for use in food. It is often used in oils and also in food containers to perserve freshness and extend shelf life.

It is believed that its effectiveness on herpes is due to it combining with the virus's lipid (fat) coating and making it more visible to the immune system. But I don't know that there have been conclusive studies of the exact mechanism.

It is available on Amazon and ebay, either in capsules or bulk powder.

 

[Kiki]

BHT is Butylated HydroxyToluene, a fat soluble antioxidant, FDA approved for use in food. It is often used in oils and also in food containers to perserve freshness and extend shelf life.

It is believed that its effectiveness on herpes is due to it combining with the virus's lipid (fat) coating and making it more visible to the immune system. But I don't know that there have been conclusive studies of the exact mechanism.

It is available on Amazon and ebay, either in capsules or bulk powder.

Thank you!