Rooster with mass in neck, possible tumor, thymus response -- Marek's

[cluckcluckluke]

WOW, sorry don't understand any of this

. Lots of big words and small symbols!

 

[kitmarlowescot2]

Well I hope that report will help to convince the breeder you got Trousers from to start to vaccinate her chicks, and to let her it to know to her customers that she has had at least one bird who grew up on her property that died from a confirmed case of Marek's. I wish Trousers could have been like Lucy the only other chicken who has survived Marek's, she can't walk to well and carried by her owner all over the place. But she has just turned five years old and while at least one of her other flock mates has died from Marek's she keeps a going. I hope her story might help you Nambroth, you might already follow her owner's blog. She just came out with a published book about her flock.
http://scratchandpeck.blogspot.com/

 

[Nambroth]

Thank you. I just want to clarify that the person that I got Trousers from is not his breeder, but someone that bought hatching eggs from a breeder and raised them under a broody. Like many of us, she did not fully understand Marek's (I certainly did not, before) and even though she was careful... well, you have heard my story. She is taking this seriously.

 

[Nambroth]

I wish Trousers could have been like Lucy the only other chicken who has survived Marek's, she can't walk to well and carried by her owner all over the place. But she has just turned five years old and while at least one of her other flock mates has died from Marek's she keeps a going. [/URL]

Several others have had chickens develop symptoms but go on to survive Marek's. Sometimes they live only a few months, sometimes they live for years. Check out the other threads about Marek's here on byc to read their stories.

 

[seminolewind]

I think a lot of people sell birds that were either vaccinated against Marek's and it never did show symptoms, or just plain didn't show symptoms. That's what's so hard about not spreading it. A lot of times you just don't know it's there.

 

[CherylR]

Thank you Nambroth, I appreciate your clarification. Let me just say right off to everyone here that Nambroth adopted Trousers from me. He was hatched here at my place under a broody hen from eggs that I bought from a fellow BYCer. You need to know that I've spent much time and energy feeling terrible that she had to go through all of this heartache. It is an awful feeling when you are responsible for another person's grief, trust me, as yes, it is most likely that Trousers was infected with Marek's at my place before he was adopted. We have talked it over at length and feel that it makes the most sense, though it has not been identified officially yet in my flock. Let me assure everyone that I am taking this situation very seriously and no one needs to convince me to vaccinate chicks. Hind sight is 20/20 and I now know that it is important. I also know that I can never share birds with anyone...ever...without risking the spread of the disease. In addition, just to clear up any misunderstanding, I am not nor was I ever in the business of selling birds...they are a hobby to me-not a business.
This whole experience has been a real eye opener and I feel that this thread is a great tribute to a very sweet and well-loved roo. Trousers really was a very special bird and I still have his two brothers and 4 sisters and who are still very healthy at this point. I hope that maybe by reading this thread, others may learn from my and other's mistakes as comments are made and questions are asked. There are many of us on BYC that are living with this disease and I think I can speak for most of us in saying that we all want others to know that Marek's can happen to ANYONE- it is a very ubiquitous disease. It is important to become educated about it because I suspect that many people have some strain of the disease in their flock/environment, but just don't know it yet. The two poultry experts I have talked to say that it is everywhere and the best thing you can do is to keep bio-security rules in place, don't bring in birds from the outside, and vaccinate your day old chicks.
Over the years, I have tried to take very good care of my birds and would have never thought I'd have something like Marek's. I have a small flock of 22 birds-17 hens and 5 roos. I really enjoy caring for them, watching them free range around the yard, and pretty much consider them pets. I have tried to follow all the recommendations to ensure happy, healthy birds and have had very few problems within my flock - certainly nothing that ever made me suspicious of Marek's, and I've had chickens for 6, going on 7 years. Five of my girls are almost 7 years old! However, I broke a 'little' rule a several years ago and brought in 3 mixed breed bantam hens from my neighbor, figuring it wouldn't hurt anything since all her birds were very healthy. I knew that bringing in birds from outside was not recommended but wasn't completely sure why. I just thought, what the heck...they're healthy, right?? Well, maybe that was where the virus came from...but then again, maybe it was already in the environment...I don't know. It's important to note that I didn't experience any problems after bringing in these birds. So again...not suspecting Marek's at this point...not suspicious.
Another mistake I made is not vaccinating any of my flock. I just didn't know that it was important even if you only have a small flock. Now I know better. I don't know if i'll ever hatch anymore chicks ever again, as I can't share chicks with others and I don't think I could eat one of my birds if it should turn out to be a roo....just not 'wired' that way....and I have absolutely no room for another rooster. However, if I ever changed my mind, I would definitely vaccinate against Marek's. Live and learn.
So, I guess my whole point of writing and commenting in this thread is to say that if Nambroth had not let me know about this situation, I never would have realized that I had a problem in my flock. Seminolewind pretty much summed this up in that last post, saying that sometimes they just don't show signs and you just don't know it's there. I certainly didn't set out to infect other flocks or cause anyone grief, and am very thankful that Jennifer (Nambroth) has been so understanding in this whole ordeal. Sometimes this disease just hangs out in the bird, waiting for the right time to strike (stress, another illness, etc...), as we have experienced; and sometimes it sweeps right through, resulting in high flock mortality. It seems that it just depends on several factors and the strain of the disease that is in your flock. I hope that others can see that it could happen to them no matter how well they take care of their birds - please be aware, educate yourself, and try to share the knowledge, making sure your sources are reputable. Sorry this is so long but I really felt I needed to share my story.

 

[Nambroth]

Thank you Cheryl! I have never been upset with you. I'm glad to have had Trousers in my life honestly! If it wasn't one of your birds, I could have brought in a bird from someone else and had the same problem. I just wasn't educated well enough despite my research. I had incorrectly thought that Marek's "always" shows up by a certain age (and that as Trousers was over that age it was "safe" and that he was fine) as I had read it in some poultry handbooks. I thought that my 60 day full quarantine would show any problems. My mistake!


Well, a new development today. I had to travel last weekend and had someone else come once a day to feed, water, collect eggs, and check on the birds. I got home at 3am and just was doing my very thorough check on the girls this morning as I didn't want to disturb their sleep last night. Our dear Derperella has something wrong with her. It looks like wry neck, as she has her head cast to her left side. She is very (very!) active still, eating like a little pig, and has normal poop. I am so frustrated that this happened while I was away... of course I am nervous about Marek's. She was vaccinated as a day-old chick from Meyer hatchery. She is just turning two years old on May 9th.

I figure it could be:
1. Wry neck from a deficiency (could it come on in the period of 5 days if she was not eating well while I was gone?)
2. Injury to head or neck (she gets picked on sometimes, especially if I am not home, and could have had a blow to the head)
3. Marek's, brought on by the stress of me not being around or something else.

 

[kitmarlowescot2]

Oh lord, I am sorry if I caused a fuss. I didn't mean to upset anyone with my post. And I hope I didn't upset you CherylR, I am sorry this has hurt you with finding out about Marek's. I wrote this post dead tired while studying for my exams. I need to think more before I post.

 

[Nambroth]

Oh lord, I am sorry if I caused a fuss. I didn't mean to upset anyone with my post. And I hope I didn't upset you CherylR, I am sorry this has hurt you with finding out about Marek's. I wrote this post dead tired while studying for my exams. I need to think more before I post.

It is a very valid concern! I am sure there are many people out there that are not very careful about selling birds that might have disease.

 

[CherylR]

Oh no, Kitmarlowescot2, I'm not angry with you even though my tone may have sounded that way. I just don't want people to think that I'm some uncaring and irresponsible person that is carelessly spreading around this disease. I am lucky that Jennifer has been wonderful to me from the beginning of this ordeal, trying to make ME feel better, and blames herself for not being more vigilant when adopting Trousers. Unfortunately, there are no winners here...and plenty of blame to go around, I'm afraid...
Anyway, like I said before, I have felt terrible about not realizing that I had this disease in my flock and want to make sure people know that it is very easy to end up with this disease even if you are trying to do the best by your birds. Marek's doesn't always manifest itself according to the most common signs (paralysis, etc) and if I, as someone who is trying to do well by her flock could have it and not know, imagine what could be happening out there with those who are not as careful.... I felt it important to give my back ground as others may be able to learn from it. Hope I didn't ruffle too many feathers! Pls don't let this keep you from posting... we all need to keep learning here!