St. John's Wort

[seminolewind]

Mythiclabs, get the vaccine, I use Twincitiespoultry. Vaccinate those day olds and keep them separate-quarantine for a few weeks.

Your Cornish sound like it's right out of a book. You can see it at 4 weeks. I read it takes only 2 weeks to multiply, most get it 6 weeks and up. But there's no rule.

It will be safe to eat them.

You may lose all of them. Or a few. It's up to the disease.

 

[Haveandtohold]

Nice to see anyone taking steps that sound like they might alleviate some of the suffering of sick birds but if you care at all about your birds, even just as an investment vaccination is the only way to go.

 

[malaryush]

I'm new here so I apologize if this has been addressed in this thread and I missed it. I bought some hyperium perforatum 30c (vial contains 80 small pellets) to give to a hen with possible Marek's. Am I supposed to dissolve 1 single pellet in a Tbsp of distilled water or 5 pellets? On the vial it says 5 pellets for adult humans but I wasn't sure for poultry. I'm not sure if 5 pellets equals 30c or just one pellet. Thanks.

 

[ChickieG'ma]

If the container says 30c then it's one pellet in one tbsp. of distilled water. Be sure to use a glass or plastic bowl and utensil as metal will react with the mixture and distilled water as tap water will ruin it also. Mix a new solution for each dosing.

 

[malaryush]

Thanks ChickieG'ma. I'm about to give my RIR her second dose. She's hanging in there so far. I made a sling for her out of a Publix re-usable shopping bag but I worry about the leg holes (which I made large) pressing and continuing to cut off circulation so instead I just exercise her legs several times a day. Not sure which is the best to do but doing my best. I hope she pulls through.

 

[ChickieG'ma]

How's your hen doing?

 

[summermarie94]

This post has helped so much. My hen Bertha couldn't walked around Wednesday night and I'm pretty sure it was mareks disease. I gave her st. Johns wort ( hypericum) since night and morning and today she is putting pressure on legs and slowing moving around her cage. I'm so Happy she's fighting through this though we still have a lot of recovery to do. I have two questions though.. I heard chickens can catch it from quail because they carry Marek's ..is that true? because that's the only way I can think she caught it because I had two by her. My second question is onced my hen is recovered how can I prevent this from happening again? Is it to late to get vaccine afterword its gone?? And she is probley 6 months old.

 

[chickbird]

This post has helped so much. My hen Bertha couldn't walked around Wednesday night and I'm pretty sure it was mareks disease. I gave her st. Johns wort ( hypericum) since night and morning and today she is putting pressure on legs and slowing moving around her cage. I'm so Happy she's fighting through this though we still have a lot of recovery to do. I have two questions though.. I heard chickens can catch it from quail because they carry Marek's ..is that true? because that's the only way I can think she caught it because I had two by her. My second question is onced my hen is recovered how can I prevent this from happening again? Is it to late to get vaccine afterword its gone?? And she is probley 6 months old.

you give the vaccine usually to day old chicks, mareks now has exposed the chickens in your flock, some may or may not come down with it, i have raised quail for several years side by side and i do not believe based on my experience that they give mareks to chickens, in my case i bought 5 hens from what i thought was a reputable breeder and three had mareks, after that i began to vaccinate new chicks, and now my own have not had mareks for several years, several months ago, i was given 3 seramas and one had mareks, i brought him up to a pen near the house, he could not walk was laying on his side, i began to give him table food mixed with milk or cottage cheeze,crushed pineapple and any good thing i could think of, i would place it in a flat dish near him and he would eat, i would have to pick him up and hold him to get water throughout the day, after his strength began to come back, i began to hold him and i would push him up and down to keep his legs exercised, i then took two bricks and placed on either side of him and he could sit and eat and drink, after about 6 weeks, i went out one day and he was wobbly but standing up and walking on his own, he is now back with his other little seramas , i think the most important thing, if they survive mareks is keeping them hydrated and eating and exercizing to keep the legs from stiffen. i think you need to vaccinate young chicks for a few years and slowly your flock will become healthier and less susceptible to mareks, coccidosis and other diseases, i remember when i first started with chickens i was so disappointed , but don't give up, just continue to learn what works with your own flock, for me the st john's wart never worked, but if you think it does, continue.

 

[Columbus]

Hi, I have read a lot of this post too and am now trying the hypericum on my Wellsomer chicken who is 6 months old.
I have tried Melloxicam, collodial silver, frankincense and she is still alive but inside in a box in the lounge and eating a whole corn a day, but not walking again. I will try the hypericum every 12 hours and see how I go. I am hoping it is not too late, as she hasn't walked for about 4 days now. She began limping, putting a wing out, till she was lying there and not moving. I thought she had sprained her leg in the beginning jumping off the perch. I called the breeder I bought her off, and she was not vaccinated, but I had thought she was, as large business selling a range of birds. Anyway, thankyou to everyone who has input, as breeder and vet say euthanize and I would like to keep trying, as she is eating, drinking and chatting away in the lounge room. She is quieter this morning after two doses of the St Johns Wort, so I am hoping I haven't overdosed or anything.

 

[Uncle Dude]

Howdy,

I found your article very interesting. I've had three or four cases of Marek's disease in my flock over the past ten years. Surprisingly, every case was in a bird that was supposedly vaccinated at the hatchery, either Murray McMurray or Cackle. I assume that even vaccinated birds have a small percentage that still come down with disease, so I'm not placing blame, just stating the facts; don't assume vaccination is 100%.

As for the holistic approach to Marek's; I've recently been treating a spangled hamburg with a mixture of dandelion and milk thistle tinctures. Both herbs are great for cleansing in the digestive tract and especially the liver and kidneys. Frankly, I'm trying this out because the bird that's currently ill is about two years old and was in good health prior to the onset of Mareks. This is purely experimental, however, since Marek's is more often fatal than not, I figure neither the Hamburg nor I have much to lose with my experimet

You appear to have used your approach a number of times, so I will keep your info and try it on my birds if any more come down with Mareks in the future.