The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

there are immunizations for it, I've always gotten immunized chicks but I didn't immunize the chicks that hatched out this spring, and I got the three legbar chicks from a byc'er north of me and I am sure that she didn't immunize. One of chicks from her died a month ago suddenly. could have been mareks. maybe not.

roughly 4 months old.

yes to it being everywhere, and from wild birds....most common cause of death in poultry. Has 6 viral forms. From what I am reading, the split leg posture and paralysis is mareks. Struggling with learnng more and hearing from some that if he pulls through, great, and from others to cull him and the ones that show serious problems, on the grounds that active virus sheds prolificially. I have the three pullets that were hatched this spring who weren't vacinated. If I cull him I probably will take him to the U for a necropsy/testing.

He is definitely paralyzed - talking away though and just powered through another egg. apparently extreme hunger is another symptom. might not make it on his own.

am working my way through this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741957/not-an-emergency-mareks-in-the-flock/90 and the op sounds like she is in the same emotional bitter state that I am in right now.

I haven't seen anything that suggests that leg and wing paralysis could be anything but mareks....

 

[Leahs Mom]

Very frustrating.

I think I've read that if you have immunized birds, they can give it to the non-immunized.

 

[lalaland]

I do hope it's not Marek's. But, there are immunizations for it. My understanding is that the immunizations don't keep the birds from getting it, but make the disease less symptomatic. There's a guy who is raising Dominiques who has it attack his flock every fall, and he is seeing increasing resistance within his flock. I don't believe he's immunizing. He blames it on wild migratory birds passing through. Centrarchid is his name, I think.

yeah, supposedly it is everywhere and spread by birds/turkeys/other fowl. there is some stuff out there about the vacines not really working as well because of the virus mutating, and there are those who say build the flock immunity.

IF this is Mareks, and I think there is a 98% probability that it is, it means that I couldn't ever give or sell chicks or hatching eggs - it isn't carried via egg but the virus would be on the egg shell, the egg carton, the packing materials....and it means higher mortality for the flock as a whole. its complicated.

 

[LindaB220]

I was saying if I were to do a routine worming plan it would either be basic H or grapefruit seed extract in the water for one month, twice a year.

Bwahahahahaha My bad. My memory is getting worse.

 

[LindaB220]

I should probably go back and do an edit on my original post saying that they're not advised. After looking closer I agree.

I live with my DD and her family. All three of them said no crowing at all, then when I said I was going to get velcro and make one they all said, "It's not so bad. " I had 10 three month old cockerels and 4 were crowing at 8 wks. Got rid of them the other day. The only one I have left is my good White Plymouth Rock and he's 6 mo old and still a teen.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote: "Chicken Health for Dummies" Book by Julie Gauthier, DVM, MPH, Dipl. ACVPM and Rob Ludlow Page 230



Edited to add page number.

 

[LindaB220]

lalaland, it could be Mareks. He is at the correct age... it strikes fairly young. It's not hereditary.

There is a cure... now lets see if I can remember what it is.

St. Johns Wort. The tiny little pills (about 1/8" diameter) in a small blue vial that you can find at a health food store. You don't ever touch the pill. The cap on the blue vial is a dispenser of sorts, you turn it and it will allow one pill into the cap, turn it again to close the slot, then remove the cap with the pill in it. You let that pill soak til its disintegrated in a teaspoon of water that you have ready and waiting for it. Once it has disintegrated, you take an eye dropper and suck up some of the fluid. With somebody helping you, you drip 5 or drips into the crack on the roof of his mouth. That's it. The person holding him should have him secured and then open his beak and tip his head way back so that the roof of his mouth is facing completely up. If you have no one to help, wrapping him up firmly in a large towel with his legs out behind him so he cannot struggle is the only way to do it. Hopefully he won't struggle. Make sure he's calm before attempting the drops so they don't get spilled/wasted.

They say to do this once per day but I did it twice per day and my bird showed dramatic improvement in only a few days. I would continue the treatment though for a week after he is back on his feet but only once per day at this point.

Hope you can get all the items he needs and that he makes a speedy recovery.

What an incredible cure!!!! I have never heard of this before. Downloading this page.

Edited to add: lalaland, so sorry for this drastic set back. Hang in there.

 

[armorfirelady]

I think the only way you can CONFIRM that's it's Merek's is with necropsy and real testing.  There are other things that have many of the same symptoms too so I wouldn't resign that it's Mericks untill the fat lady sings (sorry..I'm fat and I'm a lady and I do occasionally sing, so I mean no put down by that).

I'm going to go have a look at my med book and see if I see anything encouraging.

Please tell me his age.

Also, did your other ccl come from the same place and what were her symptoms?  And at what age?

Where did you get your birds?

I have to say I agree with LM about having testing done if the Roo passes. It would be he only way to positively. Especially since you have more chickens.

Fingers crossed it's not mareks or something else that is contagious.

 

[Lacy Blues]

oh ****. I just read the great big mareks info page and I can't tell you how upset I am. He just started the classic mareks split position, one leg stuck in front one in back.
that means he has already exposed the entire flock. and the virus lives for years and years in the dirt, etc. Now way to eradicate. If he recovers he will be a carrier if I understand it right. And anyone coming to my place can bring home the virus, and I can bring the virus if I go to the feed store, etc.
Dang Dang Dang.

I will try the st johns wort but this a hard blow.

lucyblues, you have mareks in your flock/flocks?

As with any virus and/or immunization, you just need to tell the prospective buyers that they are vaccinated against Mareks. As long as you are up front about it, you can still sell chicks.

Change your shoes when you leave to go places.

If your other birds have been vaccinated against Mareks and he has not, he probably got it from them. It's not a dead end situation. I would get any other chicks that came with him and start treatment on them before they show symptoms.

I don't know if my birds have Mareks or not. I'll tell you what I have experienced.

Years ago, when I first started breeding, I lost almost an entire hatch to Mareks. I haven't lost any to it since. I have never vaccinated for it. This is what I did:

I've read that turkeys carry a very mild form of Mareks disease and if you can get a bunch of turkey manure with its bedding (shavings, feathers, etc.) and dump it in the yard where your birds spend a lot of time pecking and scratching, you can "immunize" your birds this way. Your birds will catch the turkey Mareks but the symptoms are so mild that you will likely not even notice any symptoms at all. This is what I did. I can tell you, I was pretty nervous about doing it, with biosecurity concerns and all but I bit the bullet and did it. I was afraid I'd come down in the morning to a lot of dead birds. Didn't happen. I only did it the one year and I haven't seen Mareks since.

I sourced some 4H kids that were raising turkeys for their local fair exhibition. The kids got their turkeys from a hatchery which was NPIP approved.

I don't know why you drip the drops into the groove in his upper beak. That's what I was told.

http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf


they say cull.....and that the paralysis could go away in one or two days but then the bird will die with tumors in the near future.

I think the birds that die with tumors may not have been treated with anything. I knew one lady who nursed her bird through Mareks without any treatment, just support, and it lived for years.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

The book Once Upon A Flock tells of the author who nurses a sick chicken back to heath from Marek's (at least I think it was Marek's) it has been a while since I read the book.