Will a chicken with possible mereks get perfectley normal and then get sick again and die?

[dskerns]

I had a 8 month old hen that got sick with symptoms of mereks.She got better with vitamin E and selenium the vet gave us.Since she got better we brought her out with the rest of them for her to start eating and drinking like normal again,and then she just got sick again and got worse then she was before and then died.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Yes. Chickens can recover from the symptoms of Marek’s but they can’t be cured of the virus itself. Chickens who show symptoms and get better often relapse, unfortunately.

 

[dskerns]

I have another question? I had taken her to the vet and he said that she didn’t have it that it was a vitamin deficiency. I’m just wondering because on the day that she was dying I brought her around all the other chickens. She was out there for about 5 mins. All of my other chickens are 9 months and some are a 1 1/2 old.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I have another question? I had taken her to the vet and he said that she didn’t have it that it was a vitamin deficiency. I’m just wondering because on the day that she was dying I brought her around all the other chickens. She was out there for about 5 mins. All of my other chickens are 9 months and some are a 1 1/2 old.

A vitamin deficiency is also possible. Though, if that was the case, it’s strange that she ended up dying after treatment. The only way to know for sure is to have a necropsy done on your deceased chicken.
If it is Marek’s, your other chickens were exposed at the same time the sick one was. Most strains of Marek’s do not cause a massive die-off, even if the flock isn’t vaccinated.

 

[dskerns]

If she did have mereks would she be holding her her up?The vet said that it’s likely not mereks because she was holding her head up.Sorry for all the questions I’m just scared for the rest of my chickens!!If she did have it how long before the other chickens will be showing symptoms?Also she got sick for about a week then she got better for about a week and then sick for over a week and then died,if she had it would she have lived that long?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

If she did have mereks would she be holding her her up?The vet said that it’s likely not mereks because she was holding her head up.Sorry for all the questions I’m just scared for the rest of my chickens!!If she did have it how long before the other chickens will be showing symptoms?Also she got sick for about a week then she got better for about a week and then sick for over a week and then died,if she had it would she have lived that long?

Chickens with Marek’s show their symptoms in various ways. I don’t believe being able to hold her head up would be enough to dismiss Marek’s as a possibility. There’s no guarantee at all that the others will ever show symptoms. I suspect my own flock has Marek’s due to multiple unknown deaths and a case of paralysis in the past. However, my small flock has shown no symptoms for at least a year after the last death. The rooster I had that got paralyzed survived for months with Marek’s symptoms until he died.

Again, there’s no way to be certain unless you get a necropsy done on a deceased chicken. Though if you suspect your flock has Marek’s, you should not give away or sell any of your birds since you don’t want it to spread to other peoples’ flocks.

This article has given me a lot of information and will probably be helpful to you as well: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/.

 

[dskerns]

Chickens with Marek’s show their symptoms in various ways. I don’t believe being able to hold her head up would be enough to dismiss Marek’s as a possibility. There’s no guarantee at all that the others will ever show symptoms. I suspect my own flock has Marek’s due to multiple unknown deaths and a case of paralysis in the past. However, my small flock has shown no symptoms for at least a year after the last death. The rooster I had that got paralyzed survived for months with Marek’s symptoms until he died.

Again, there’s no way to be certain unless you get a necropsy done on a deceased chicken. Though if you suspect your flock has Marek’s, you should not give away or sell any of your birds since you don’t want it to spread to other peoples’ flocks.

This article has given me a lot of information and will probably be helpful to you as well: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/.

Okay thank you so much for your information and the website I hope that not what im dealing with .I hope your flock continues to stay healthy!!!