Rx for Marek's Disease

[seminolewind]

pips&peeps :

Generally an older bird will not get mareks like you are describing. The young birds get the paralysis and if an older bird gets it (which is rare) they usually waste away.

I would think your bird may have botchulism instead. Is there anything that she could have gotten into? Old rotting leaves, compost, wet food?????

You're right, my older birds wasted, and the chicks had paralysis.
Marek's can have many different symptoms , not just "one leg forward, one back". The classic symptoms are the easy ones to spot. Other symptoms could be from Marek's, or a hundred other illnesses.

I hope she's getting better. I think your vet probably made a good guess, I would keep on the meds.​

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
Do you have other chickens?

If so it was not MD (Marek's Disease), MD is highly contagious and your other fowl would be showing some signs of the disease.

Chris

 

[novatobones]

Grace isn't getting better. She hardly eats. I don't want her to suffer. I'm going to take her somewhere to have her euthanized today.

I have 8 other chickens. So far they all seem fine.

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
Do you have other chickens?

If so it was not MD (Marek's Disease), MD is highly contagious and your other fowl would be showing some signs of the disease.

Chris

Chris is right. Although when some of my adults succumbed to it, they each got it months apart, so I never connected the dots.

 

[Chris Herzog]

I have to assume that everyone that is posting about this, vaccinates their chickens for it? I say this because I initially ordered 25 chicks, my first chickens and paid for the vaccine. I then order 6 more chicks and got them vaccinated as well. I am about to hatch my first set of eggs (38) and I went to 4 different feed stores today in my area looking for it and they looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them if they sold this vaccine. Half of them had no idea what I was talking about. I plan on ordering the vaccine on line but I’m just curious if you all vaccinate for this?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[leadwolf1]

Quote:
Do you have other chickens?

If so it was not MD (Marek's Disease), MD is highly contagious and your other fowl would be showing some signs of the disease.

Chris

Chris is right. Although when some of my adults succumbed to it, they each got it months apart, so I never connected the dots.

Interesting...since a top poultry vet told me that if I could keep my flock stress free I might never see another fatality. It is in stressful situations that you see Marek's take hold. Marek's is everywhere. I was told that if your chickens breath, they have been exposed to Marek's. Some will get it, while others will not. Good luck with your hen. Keep treating her and I hope she gets better soon.

 

[ChicKat]

Quote:
Very sorry to hear about Grace.

One place on the internet said that the incubation period for Mareks is 4 to 12 weeks. Keep a close eye on your other chickens during that time. Some chickens do have resistance to Mareks. If it is/was Mareks, then I hope the rest of your flock is resistant. Will you get a Necropsy to confirm if it was or was not Mareks?

 

[novatobones]

Waiting for the next shoe (or chicken) to drop is the worst thing about this. It's bad enough losing Gracie, who I took from a cold, standoff-ish chicken and after five years finally made her into a cuddlebunny. She was wonderful.

No on the necropsy. I took Grace to the Humane Society for euthanization - they were very, very nice. When they took her from me I could definitely see one foot forward, one foot back. The aviary specialist thought it was Marek's and from everything I saw in my extensive research I had to agree. I thought Grace was starting to feel some pain and I've never heard of a successful recovery from Marek's so I had to do it. It's really hard deciding when an innocent, feeling, living being would be better off dead.

Supposedly, the eight feed store bought chickens I had (3 different batches) - including Grace - were vaccinated. The new Silver-Laced Wyandotte hen we found wandering the neighborhood on 8/28/11, I don't know. I kept her in
the garage for a few days and she seemed healthy and I felt sorry for her stuck in the garage by herself and one of the neighborhood chicken people said she'd never had a problem with new-found chickens and against my better judgement, I let Bessie in with my girls.

That's when the stress began. I was worried the old gals would pick on Bessie but she came out fighting. She was top dog right away. I witnessed a big confrontation between Grace and Bessie (Grace lost). Bessie still chases most of the chickens. Only one other chicken is above her in the ground pecking order (Chip, who was broody when Bessie first came to town so she hadn't challenged her yet). Now all the girls are picking on each other. Lots of screaming and feather pulling. Very stressful. It was very peaceful before. (All girls)

I do remember though that when we got our first batch - with Grace - there was a chicken who had a wing problem for a couple of days, Chickadee. From my research, it sounds like that was a mild form of Marek's that can be overcome (and was) so I'm not so sure that chicken supplier vaccinated them properly. The only other remaining chicken from that batch is Romie, my precious White Crested Black Polish who can't see because of the feathers in her face and is tiny to boot (and totally, totally adorable). Romie is chased relentlessly by a couple of the chickens. I hear her screaming all the time and she jumps straight up - like in cartoons - a foot or so. All of this started now that bossy Bessie is around. I thought it was so funny and good exercise before but now I'm worried about Romie's stress level.

Also, there was a distinct smell to Gracie at the end which I now smell on Chickadee. And I noticed today that Chickadee is sometimes acting a little psycho - like something is chasing her or she's chasing something. We'll see how that goes.

Man, I hate loving pets. Very painful.

 

[leadwolf1]

I don't want to stress you any further but keep a really close eye on the Polish. For some reason, they, along with silkies, seem to be affected worse than other breeds. So sorry for your loss...I'm going through the same thing right now and it's terrible to say the least

I would take Bessie away....she is causing way too much stress in the rest of your chickens.

 

[novatobones]

Yes, I've heard that Polish are susceptible too. That's a big worry. Where would I go with Bessie though? I don't want to pass on a Marek's carrier (if she even is one). She is almost starting to fit in. Nice to me, mean to the girls.

Is this your first time with Marek's too? What's your story?