Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Carolei]

The birds went to the state lab. There is no doubt they died from Marek's. I'm not sure where all the second guessing is coming from. I am pretty sure all my pullets hatched last year are going to die in addition to the pullets I sold to a friend. Fortunately all of her other birds are much older (3+ years) so their chances of becoming sick are pretty low.

Marek's is everywhere and can be spread by wild birds in addition to being found on the ground, in coops, etc. It is not 100% fatal, and there is a vaccine that can prevent most deaths, so it is not a reason to confiscate or cull all the birds. There is also no way to "sterilize" the farm or the house.

Washington is a breeding ground for Marek's due to the climate here. The problem is that a lot of people, and even those on this forum, have Marek's birds and will trade birds with people and not inform them. That is how I got a Marek's bird. The guy confessed to me 8 months later that he had had two pullets die from Marek's a month before I got my bird from him. By that time my entire farm was infected and I already had three dead birds.

Now it is just something I have to deal with and move forward. My barn, coop and breeding operation have become a mini-laboratory where I am experimenting with different vaccine protocols and exposure/isolation procedures. I will not be bringing in any more young or adult birds. Anything that comes to the farm will be chicks and they will all be vaccinated at least one time for Marek's. Of course I do not have a large enough number of birds to have a full blown scientific study. However, I do plan to summarize my findings, hopefully by the end of the year. Meanwhile, I'm getting pretty good at culling my babies. It was never something I had wanted to learn to do, unfortunately.

My heart goes out to you. I am so sorry you are experiencing this awful situation with your birds.

 

[CarolynF]

@ochochicas I am so sorry to hear about Mareks in your flock! I have no experience with Mareks and hope I never have to deal with it, fingers crossed.

I would, however, like to understand it better. One of the papers I read from a college extension svc made the statement

Quote:
Until you got the new bird you're flock was fine. And I think most of us would be in the same boat. So THAT's where I get confused.

If we assume our birds have been exposed but are healthy, wouldn't it be logical to say they are Resistant? If that's true why do we see such devastation when a new bird, carrying the virus, is introduced? It just doesn't add up.

 

[Chickielady]

@ochochicas I am so sorry to hear about Mareks in your flock! I have no experience with Mareks and hope I never have to deal with it, fingers crossed.

I would, however, like to understand it better. One of the papers I read from a college extension svc made the statement


Until you got the new bird you're flock was fine. And I think most of us would be in the same boat. So THAT's where I get confused.

If we assume our birds have been exposed but are healthy, wouldn't it be logical to say they are Resistant? If that's true why do we see such devastation when a new bird, carrying the virus, is introduced? It just doesn't add up.

It could be a result of a shipped bird, or sold, and moved from one place to another, whatever, the result is stress on the bird, which they say can reduce the immunal symptom's strength, and then the virus can strike.
The others catching it that were not recently shipped or moved, is what I do not understand.
Years ago, well, about 5 years ago, MG was so bad here, it was far worse than Marek's.
It seemed to hit & run from place to place much like our people flu does, and in about the same months, so much so that we (alot of us) got to the point of ordering Tylan before spring when "MG" season was to hit.
I (and most others) got to the point where we began to breed for the disease, and cull those that habitually had it.
And since then, I have not seen 1 case of MG.

 

[Amberjem]

Then what do you do with stuck deer struggling between fences ?

they dont like where it puts em so they dont jump

 

[jbkirk]

they dont like where it puts em so they dont jump

But have you ever tried it or heard stories of it working?

 

[ochochicas]

@ochochicas I am so sorry to hear about Mareks in your flock! I have no experience with Mareks and hope I never have to deal with it, fingers crossed.

I would, however, like to understand it better. One of the papers I read from a college extension svc made the statement

Quote:

Until you got the new bird you're flock was fine. And I think most of us would be in the same boat. So THAT's where I get confused.

If we assume our birds have been exposed but are healthy, wouldn't it be logical to say they are Resistant? If that's true why do we see such devastation when a new bird, carrying the virus, is introduced? It just doesn't add up.

Since Marek's is endemic to Western Washington, it would probably be safe to assume our chickens have been exposed. Some breeds are resistant, and older birds (over one year old) seem to be less likely to develop severe cases of Marek's, so it would also be safe to assume they had been exposed in the past and have some immunity against it.

Marek's is mostly a disease of young birds and pullets at point of lay. In my case, I had a sickly pullet that lived in a stall in the barn. I thought the rooster had hurt her leg. My broody hen lived in the stall next door with all the dander from the sick bird flying around. When my incubator hatched chicks were big enough to go outside, they were also in the barn breathing in the dander from the sick bird day in and day out. This went on for two months before the sick bird became unable to walk and I sent her to the lab. My babies were all infected by then. They inhaled so much Marek's they really didn't have a chance. There has not been a lot of research done on the incidence of exposure vs. disease, but I can assume that if the chickens had small doses of Marek's over a long period of time, they might build some immunity. However, if they are slammed with mega-doses of virus, it is just a matter of time before it kills them.

So far the only pullets that seem to be OK are the australorps. Maybe the breed is resistant?? I don't know. My Speckled Sussex that were raised in the broody in a stall with all the Marek's dander also seem to be really healthy - knock on wood - they are only 16 weeks old.

There are also several different strains of Marek's, with some being more deadly than others. I think I have a particularly bad one.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:

Until you got the new bird you're flock was fine. And I think most of us would be in the same boat. So THAT's where I get confused.

If we assume our birds have been exposed but are healthy, wouldn't it be logical to say they are Resistant? If that's true why do we see such devastation when a new bird, carrying the virus, is introduced? It just doesn't add up.

Since Marek's is endemic to Western Washington, it would probably be safe to assume our chickens have been exposed. Some breeds are resistant, and older birds (over one year old) seem to be less likely to develop severe cases of Marek's, so it would also be safe to assume they had been exposed in the past and have some immunity against it.

Marek's is mostly a disease of young birds and pullets at point of lay. In my case, I had a sickly pullet that lived in a stall in the barn. I thought the rooster had hurt her leg. My broody hen lived in the stall next door with all the dander from the sick bird flying around. When my incubator hatched chicks were big enough to go outside, they were also in the barn breathing in the dander from the sick bird day in and day out. This went on for two months before the sick bird became unable to walk and I sent her to the lab. My babies were all infected by then. They inhaled so much Marek's they really didn't have a chance. There has not been a lot of research done on the incidence of exposure vs. disease, but I can assume that if the chickens had small doses of Marek's over a long period of time, they might build some immunity. However, if they are slammed with mega-doses of virus, it is just a matter of time before it kills them.

So far the only pullets that seem to be OK are the australorps. Maybe the breed is resistant?? I don't know. My Speckled Sussex that were raised in the broody in a stall with all the Marek's dander also seem to be really healthy - knock on wood - they are only 16 weeks old.

There are also several different strains of Marek's, with some being more deadly than others. I think I have a particularly bad one.


Silkies are highly susceptible to Mareks. I vaccinate them now. That took me a lot. I have an issue with needles, but for the birds I had to do it.

Haven't had an issues in any of the large fowl, but they get the shot, too.

I had horrible losses in the silkies a few years ago. Lost most of a few hatches and all of one. No issues with it since I started vaccinating

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
Box shouldn't be that airtight to pull out all the oxygen. I use the hand warmers to move chicks if I buy any at shows. Never had an issue and the chicks usually sleep in the mostly dark all the way.

 

[ochochicas]

@Hinotori and

@Silseb

Thanks so much for letting me know you've had success with vaccinating for Marek's. It gives me some hope for the future.

I have two more sick pullets now. I'm almost afraid to go out to the coop this morning to see how they are.

 

[elizmartin]

Ever seen a deer jump over a fence?

Yup, deer and llamas can jump a fence standing right next to it, amazing.

That is the part of parenting that is not only precious, and fleeting, but awesome at Christmas too.....I loved that part of parenting.
It was the poop and dirty diapers and ok we'll drop it right there.............

I do miss those days and yup, will leave it right there tooooo