Visitors have Mareks in their flock...will my flock be protected? Bio security.

I don’t want to sound like a I’m over-reacting. I just never really had to worry about this. I truly don’t know the chances.
 
He’s a big time chicken person who gives yearly seminars on chicken health, so I just assumed they were set. I don’t think he’d be one not to purchase unvaccinated chicks to sell, but I could be wrong.
I do consider myself a big time chicken person also despite not teaching seminars, I'd be open to do so.. :oops:

I personally won't allow Marek's vaccinated birds at my property to HIDE the disease... it doesn't prevent the virus from taking hold and shedding freely.. it JUST masks the symptoms.

Your family (that part) sounds... uhm... like SOME of mine. :rant

Your older birds should fight it off more readily.. or if they are vaccinated may already be carrying it without your knowledge. Tips were given to keep immune systems peak. Most obvious later age symptom MIGHT be slow wasting. Reading that link I gave will provide lots of information.

If you add chicks again... getting vaccinated ones might be a good choice for you. It's a very personal choice. Hope it all works out for you..:fl
 
I agree that in the future, get chicks that have been vaccinated, and isolate them completely from your flock for two weeks, so they can build immunity.
You can have necropsies done an any birds who die if you aren't sure what was wrong, at your state vet lab.
I have unvaccinated birds that were hatched and raised here, and vaccinated birds from hatcheries, and so far no Marek's disease. :fl
If it arrives, I expect to see issues with my unvaccinated birds, and I'll be very sad.
Mary
 
It wasn’t my choice. They just showed up. Being related to family, it would have caused problems to ask them to leave. I’m also angry they ignored lockdown and the fact myself and another family member are in the “high risk” group.

I also have barn boots (shoes) and they stay on the farm. I doubt these people do. 😖😰

Anything I can do post potential exposure? In conversation, I tried to get it across to them that Mareks is serious awful disease that is contagious. They didn’t seem to care. They are like, “oh well, it’s just a chicken. We’ll get more”. 😣😖😞
So, here's what we are all having to learn these days. Being polite does not require you to accept risk to your life or the lives of your spouse/children/livestock/pets/etc. because others are not thinking the same as you. Staying 6 feet apart, staying home save necessary trips to work, store, and doctor, masks, etc. are primarily intended to protect other people from *us* - I've recently had this conversation with someone who was feeling aggrieved about wearing a mask in stores, and found that this pretty educated person had no idea what asymptomatic carrier actually means. Asymptomatic carriers have the virus and can transmit it to others, even though they have *no idea they have the virus* because they have no symptoms. Someone who feels fine and shows up at your door does not automatically have the right to enter your home, walk your property, or anything else just because they are family/friend/neighbor/ignorant of what asymptomatic means or, worse, *don't care* what it means for others.
This is providing a lot of us the opportunity to decide how we want to manage our flocks. If you decide you are absolutely not willing to risk the health of your flock, and you worry there will be conflict if you tell people they cannot visit your flock or walk your grounds, you can put disinfecting foot baths out for visitors to walk through, which will make a pretty big difference in their ability to transmit anything to your flock, especially Marek's because it lives in the soil. For those with vaccinated flocks, Marek's is not much of a concern (vaccine is ~90% effective), but MG is.
You can ask people you know are coming for a visit to wear clothing they haven't worn around their own flocks nor in feed stores, but when people show up unannounced, you have to choose between what a lot of us were raised thinking of as politeness, having manners, and protecting a flock relying on you to do just that. It is hard to un-learn a lifetime of "being polite" but if you think about it more as protecting your flock, it gets easier, and practice makes perfect. You choose the script that works best for you, in your own way of speaking, and use it. Post it on your front door, even.
 
Just wanted to say thank you to all of you for your helpful responses. I do think I’ll put a disinfecting foot bath outside the front door. I do think they may be polite enough to do this if and when they stop by again.

I’m not going to be getting any new birds, it’s a closed flock via recommendation from my vet—not by tests, but by her seeing some of my birds in the past and their symptoms. Regardless, this is all good stuff to know. I appreciate all the posts with info and support. Thank you! ❤️

And pozees2, I totally get what you’re saying about asymptomatic...I’m with you. It’s so frustrating to find people who just don’t get it, misunderstand the facts, and are putting others at risk. It’s why a I’m so livid about this. I spent today washing down everything I could with bleach solution. This WHOLE entire quarantine I’ve done everything to minimize spread. It’s a lot of extra work...so to have them to do this has greatly upset me- both about covid and the mereks. These people live in a county that has a very high number of cases. They don’t wear masks when they go out and they go out to big box stores and grocery shop every week. I think theirs is a little bit of jealous aggression thinking if we have to put up with this, so do you..plus probably the mentality that its not going to happen to them. (Were in a more moderate area, but still in lockdown) It’s rude, careless and potentially deadly. As I said..I’m livid. I’ve just taken to think that this is just like any other time strangers/others have violated my wishes or were disrespectful... we can‘t control other people and it’s one of those times you have to put your hope in a higher power. Certainly can speak up...and I do. I had to explain the asymptomatic thing to them last time they came over uninvited!! This time the excuse was that people in isolation are getting sick because of lack of exposure.🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

There once was a man with his dog on my property- no leash, dog freely wandering next to him. Granted, he was several feet away from my flock and the dog looked to be calm, but when I asked him what he was doing and if he could please at least put a leash on his dog, explaining that I have free ranging chickens......by the expression on his face, you’d think I had told him to go F himself. (I was very polite in asking). I think he was offended because he felt I was insinuating he wasn’t in control of his dog, or that I had something against his dog. (I like dogs, and yes the dog looked very well behaved but it still makes me nervous!). But seriously, he’s on my property! I’ve encountered so many people like this..from people deciding to snowmobile in my fields without asking to people picking my flowers in my flower beds! (Not just one or two but whole bouquets of flowers!). I think some people just have no idea and are very ignorant or don’t care that they are rude.
 

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