Terribly sorry you had such a wide-spread experience but I still hold out hope for a future flock for you - just maybe on a smaller scale. I had a Marek's survivor chick but she developed the cancerous symptoms in her adult life and the vet had to put her down at 3 yrs old. I panicked about the health of my other 3 hens but the vet said exposure to Marek's does not necessarily mean other birds in the flock will ever come down with Marek's. I have 2 older Silkies (Partridge almost 6 yrs and Black about 51/2 yrs) that have been exposed to our Marek's survivor Blue Wheaten Ameraucana for 3 yrs and are still toodling around -- Silkies -- my first and longest-lived birds. The toxoplasmosis is 17% to 100% of chicken flocks who are exposed to it and don't succumb. Our forestry rangers are always bringing injured wild animals and birds to our vet because he is that well respected in the community and I just wish every chicken owner could be as fortunate as I in having such a worthy vet for my chickens. He has done much to educate me on my birds but in kind I've shared my knowledge with him too. CRD issues like Mycoplasma panicked me when I first took my little Black Silkie who I thought was dying to the vet. I learned that 98% of USA backyard flocks are CRD carriers but not every chicken will ever exhibit or succumb to symptoms because they will be that hardy to never develop symptoms even though they may be carriers. Chicks are delicate but once they are adult survivors will usually be hardy for a good long time by our adding good nutrition and health care. Every time I have a vet visit he always ends the visit with "be sure you are feeding vitamins extra to the flock".
So true -- Marek's and toxoplasmosis don't have to be a death sentence. My vet has educated me about that. We have two older Silkies that have been toodling around with our 3-yr-old Ameraucana who had been a Marek's chick survivor (her sister didn't make it) and I believe she would easily have continued a good adult life if she hadn't been weakened/health-compromised by our sudden intense State emergency drought and intense long heatwave summers which she couldn't handle (EEs and Amer's don't do well in humid climate). All my flock is exposed to the Black Silkie w/CRD issues and they never succumbed to her symptoms even though she seems to be prone to once-a-year CRD attacks from mild sniffles/sneezing to suffocating gasping/wheezing, the others never had any symptoms. I follow my vet's advice and add extra vitamins in the form of Rooster Booster products and Poly-Vi-Sol no-iron (which my Silkies will drink the Poly right out of the palm of my hand they like it so much) and have an assortment of feeds available at-will -- organic Scratch & Peck no soy/no corn/no GMO 18% layer, Turkey grow 21%, organic Scratch & Peck 3-grain scratch, no corn wild bird seed, fish flakes, Rooster Booster vitamins, multi-wormer vitamins, Poly-Vi-Sol, Brewer's Yeast, Selenium, Bee Pollen, Oyster Shell, Calcium Carbonate, and other stuff I can't remember now. It sucks to lose a bird and I've lost some to seizure, Marek's, suspected FLHS (fatty liver) usually a symptom of a prolific laying breed, and yearly nursing our CRD issues Silkie. Chicken ranchers can't afford to pamper chickens or feel sorry for them but we backyarders grow an attachment to our birds beyond utility and it breaks our heart to re-home extra cockerels or send them to the freezer. The first time I lost a bird I wanted to give up especially since it was from Marek's. And the first time I had to re-home bully hens or not zoned to keep a couple of our sweetest cockerels, I thought it was the end of the world for my flock. But chickens go on in spite of my fears. I never thought I'd have a Silkie live to 5 yrs and here I am with TWO Sllkies past that range. Nature somehow weeds out the weak and the fittest survive although sometimes the ones we lose might've been our favourites.
