Which breeds are most and least susceptible to marek's

[Folly's place]

It's so very sad, and I'm sorry. Under the circumstances, euthanizing sick birds sooner rather than later, to minimize suffering, makes sense to me. There will be some survivors, it's hard to say how many.
If it was Mycoplasma, killing all the flock, waiting a few weeks, and then starting over, would fix it. With Marek's disease, it won't.
Over time, you should have survivors, and can enjoy your birds again.
Ducks! How about them? No Marek's disease, as I recall.
Mary

 

[J99]

Ducks hardly ever get mereks as I’ve heard and all four of my ducks have been great!!!

 

[LynnPrice]

I have Mareks in my flock. My ag poultry agent suggested to only buy vaccinated chicks. I can not raise my own. It’s sad, but that’s the facts and I won’t put my birds at risk to raise some chicks. Best to be safe. I’ve also heard that each bird although vaccinated will get the virus, but they will not developed the tumors.
I’ve raised new vaccinated chicks every year without any losses. I also have ducks without any losses. I’m adding turkeys this year, so we shall see how that goes.
Mary is totally right with her comments.

 

[sherahart]

Dr. Gary Butcher, the University of Florida Poultry Specialist, travels all over the world helping commercial operators solve problems. He told me that Marek's IS everywhere. However, he added that it takes a lot of exposure to very young chicks to cause the disease. My diagnosis was last summer, and although he disagreed with the state lab, I've had pullets die since with classic symptoms. Dr. Butcher also said that the next break in virulence is due within 5 years, making another 4 years until the very virulent form spreads. He recommended vaccination, but after reading the research on why the VV form developed, I decided not to help it along by putting more pressure on the virus to evolve. Instead, I have been researching treatments. I posted them somewhere on BYC. Still reading, still testing treatments, still breeding for immunity. Currently trying L-Lysine to stop my own post-herpetic neuralgia from Shingles to see for myself whether it stops viruses from reproducing. Also feeding L-lysine to juvenile chickens if I see Marek's symptoms. Also feeding them ground Chinese licorice root to prevent and shrink tumors. Research links in my other posts. Sorry if this offends anyone. I am skeptical of any blanket assertation unless it comes from a specialist with many years of experience.

 

[spiritpots]

Turkeys carry a strain of Mareks that is less lethal to chickens. If I were in your shoes, I'd strongly consider getting a few turkey poults and raising them alongside the chicks. Or if you know anyone who has turkeys, see if you can get some used litter from them to put in your coop/run. From my understanding, the vaccine does not keep your birds from catching the disease, merely prevents the complications that accompany the disease (tumors and such) from killing the birds. So, in reality, the vaccine can mask the presence of the disease. Unless you plan to vaccinate every chick you buy, IMO the vaccine will not solve the problem. Any birds in your flock that are not vaccinated, and do not show active signs of disease, those are the ones you want to hatch chicks from to work on building your own flock of Marek resistant birds.

Thank you for this information. I have wild turkeys on my property... is that turkey breed you are referring to? At this time I was thinking that yes, I would need to only add vaccinated chicks to my flock. Your suggestion of building a flock of Marek resistant chickens is interesting and something I will consider.

 

[clanross]

Have you checked into Icelandic?

Are Icelandic chickens thought to be resistant to Marek's? I had not heard that. ty.

 

[clanross]

When you can not close flock by breeding your own replacements, then I would get vaccinated replacements assuming vaccination covers Mareks strain your flock suffers from.

My closed flock is not vaccinated. Most losses are of young birds with none infected more than 16 months old. A big chunk of my birds are older than that. I am probably averaging less than one in a hundred birds coming down with this each year. For me outbreaks / infections (usually singular) are seasonal occurring in fall.

I am very interested in your Marek's resistant flock. Are you saying that you have improved your resistance to the point that only about 1 in 100 succumbs to Marek's? Wonderful! What kind of numbers did you start at and how long/ how many generations did it take to get where you are? I have Legbars and Bielefelders and am just beginning. What breeds do you keep? Thank you.

 

[TLC11]

My answer comes from reading only, but from what I have read certain lines within a breed are more resistant than others. Other than trial and error not sure how you would find out.

I am curious does anyone know the vulnerability to marek's for the Malines?
We have/had Malines, Cream Legbars, Marans and three different colorations of Wyandottes.
We have lost Wyandottes, Cream Legbars.

 

[annagoodspeed]

From what I have been told birds may have resistance to the variant in their area, but not to others, like the Legbars coming from the UK and having problems in this country. I would think the same would be true with the Malines, don’t know until you try. Best bet is birds bred for resistance from your geographical area.
I don’t vaccinate, first bird with Marek’s was a vaccinated Legbar. Dropped that breed, have a mix of Langshans, Ameraucanas, and Svarthonas, have a couple a year that go down.

 

[TLC11]

From what I have been told birds may have resistance to the variant in their area, but not to others, like the Legbars coming from the UK and having problems in this country. I would think the same would be true with the Malines, don’t know until you try. Best bet is birds bred for resistance from your geographical area.
I don’t vaccinate, first bird with Marek’s was a vaccinated Legbar. Dropped that breed, have a mix of Langshans, Ameraucanas, and Svarthonas, have a couple a year that go down.

So far our Malines seem fine. We only have Three one rooster and two hens.
We have 4 vaccinated hen's that also seem ok.
I guess time will tell.
Thank you for your input.