I didn't really think it would work.....
Last summer I moved my small flock of bantam cochins to our new house in the country. A small chicken coop and run appeared to be in good shape, so we cleaned and disinfected it as best we knew how. We painted the inside and out, filled it with new bedding and perches. 4 or 5 months later, in November, our first bird showed the symptoms of Marek's Disease. We separated him from the flock (a difficult thing to do, as he was our beloved rooster and we wanted our flock to be able to free range), and kept him in a sterile environment in our basement. He deteriorated daily, leading me to finally take him to our vet (it was the very first time they had ever treated a rooster, haha). Her opinion was Marek's, and I agree with her based on the symptoms and everything I've researched on my own. Their was nothing we could do, he could never rejoin the flock and would most likely become more and more paralyzed until death. A grim diagnosis, and a hopeless one. The disease was likely on our new property where we let our chickens free range, and the probability of them all being silently infected was extremely high.
We strive to treat our animals with respect, and though we all loved our Rooster, we saw no alternative but to cull him.
The next month, a hen started showing signs of the disease. I quickly separated her from the flock and watched for only a few days to see if we were imagining it. We weren't, and so we culled her.
Another month, another chicken. This time, it was another favorite, our Mama hen who had only 4 weeks prior hatched 4 chicks. They were all separated from the flock for observation, and we were sad to see her only hen chick show symptoms.
I was looking for an answer everywhere, I was willing to try anything. I only had 14 chickens when this all began, and I was becoming depressed at the thought of them each dying, one by one. I always check Backyard Chicken's forums for chicken advice, and this time I found your post. It was the only thing I had left, so I bought the little tiny $18 bottle at my local health food store. I got a slightly diluted liquid form with a dropper, and the directions said a child dose was 4-8 drops morning and evening.
I had nothing to lose, so I began treating Mama and chick with 1 drop hypericum followed by a dropperfull of water morning and evening. I was vigilant. And I can't believe it, I didn't really believe it for a long time, but Mama slowly got better! She was almost half paralyzed when I started treating her, and within 4 weeks was walking with a limp, and after 6 weeks was walking and eating and drinking like normal. The little chick did not improve with treatment, unfortunately, and died.
Since the whole flock was likely infected, I also put a few drops in their drinking water daily, for the whole 4 weeks.
I'm afraid to say we're in the clear, but 4 months later none of the other chickens have come down with symptoms. We're watching them and hoping that we never see that droopy wing or telltale sideways walk again.
Thank you for your wise advice!
