will a hen with Marek's disease continue to lay eggs?

[rod5591]

One of my older hens (5 years old Delaware) started to stagger and have problems with mobility. It got worse until she could barely walk. She also seems to make unusual darting motions with her head, over her back and to the side. She also seems to either have vision problems or problems with coordination in grabbing the food she wanted. I thought it might be Marek's, so I isolated her. She has been in isolation for 2 months now. Yes I am hesitant to dispatch her since she has been a good hen. It seems she has recovered some. She walks better and has a good appetite. She still lays, about an egg a week. Her eggs seem a little abnormal--one half is a slightly different color and maybe a slight band in the egg. My wife wanted to let her back with the flock, but I don't, not if she has marecks. Any suggestions?

 

[Bkaye]

If she has Mareks your whole flock would be infected, they get it from dander. So if your girl was with the other girls they have already been exposed.

To answer your question yes, birds will continue to lay if they have Mareks. I have a Mareks pos flock and get anywhere from 8-13 eggs a day. Mareks generally effect younger birds and usually show in times of high stress, typically birds do not recover.

Have you tried giving your girl any extra vitamins such as B and E? If not I would give a vitamin B complex and a vitamin E to her to see if maybe she has a vitamin deficiency. Vitamin deficiencies can mimic a lot of diseases.

Have you added any new birds lately?

If you really want answers there is a lab in Texas you can send a blood Sample to and you can have her tested for Mareks. The tests are most accurate if your bird is symptomatic. This is what I did to confirm. This is their website https://www.vetdna.com/ you can call them and ask them any questions you may have, they were extremely helpful to us.

 

[rod5591]

If she has Mareks your whole flock would be infected, they get it from dander. So if your girl was with the other girls they have already been exposed.

To answer your question yes, birds will continue to lay if they have Mareks. I have a Mareks pos flock and get anywhere from 8-13 eggs a day. Mareks generally effect younger birds and usually show in times of high stress, typically birds do not recover.

Have you tried giving your girl any extra vitamins such as B and E? If not I would give a vitamin B complex and a vitamin E to her to see if maybe she has a vitamin deficiency. Vitamin deficiencies can mimic a lot of diseases.

Have you added any new birds lately?

If you really want answers there is a lab in Texas you can send a blood Sample to and you can have her tested for Mareks. The tests are most accurate if your bird is symptomatic. This is what I did to confirm. This is their website https://www.vetdna.com/ you can call them and ask them any questions you may have, they were extremely helpful to us.

Yes we added 12 new hens July 2022 and all are doing well.

I gave her some electrolytes/vitamins in her water over the past month and she seemed to improve some, but not completely.

Our flock is about 40 birds and this white Delaware hen is the only one who has these symptoms:

* unsteady gait
* strange, darting head movements
* partial blindness or inability to control her bill precisely

Does this sound like Merek's? Or could it perhaps be something else? As mentioned, she lays about an egg per week.

Thanks for the link. We are on a budget and testing her at a lab might be out of our price range for the moment.

 

[Bkaye]

How long has this been going on? If it’s been going on for some time and she’s still the only symptomatic bird I’d say it’s unlikely it’s Mareks and I’d still be inclined to think maybe vitamin deficiency. I can’t say for sure that it does or does not because there are things that could present like Mareks that isn’t Mareks. I do not have the occur form in my flock but from my understanding with ocular Mareks their eye color changes to a grayish color and or their pupil changes shape. It could be pinpoint or have a melting appearance. Also I have not had any that had a darted head movement. Any bird that I have had that has become symptomatic has either went off food and wasted away or become lame and loses function in their leg. My last girl I lost started with a wing droop and walked like she was drunk. It progressed over a week until she lost complete use of her leg.

For vitamin deficiencies I know it’s better to give human vitamins, but I’m not sure on the dosage. I’m going to tag @azygous and @Wyorp Rock as they are both very knowledgeable.

You are welcome. The testing itself wasn’t that expensive, it was cheaper than a necropsy would of been from my state lab. The test kit itself was 18 bucks, the rest for Mareks was 20. Then whatever the shipping cost is. I chose to have my test overnighted because I also had my bitd tested for avain leukosis, since that’s a rna test they need to results the next day but that’s not needed for the DNA test such as Mareks.

 

[azygous]

@Bkaye has given you so much great advice, I can only reinforce it. Your hen's symptoms can be from a number of different causes. If there's been any sudden temperature swings, both heat and cold stress can produce these symptoms.

Starvation from being bullied away from the feeders can produce these symptoms. And vitamin deficiencies can also produce these symptoms. Lastly, there is another avian virus, similar to Marek's, that produce these symptoms.

As @Bkaye suggested, people vitamin E and B-complex are two vitamins that can help these symptoms, and it's safe and easy to see if they might help. If it's a vitamin E deficiency, there will be almost immediate improvement, and I have a strong hunch that E is going to be the thing that will help your hen. Vitamin B complex can take up to four weeks to work, so give one tablet a day for the next month. Give the E with egg or with a sliver of selenium.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

For vitamin deficiencies I know it’s better to give human vitamins, but I’m not sure on the dosage.

400IU Vitamin E along with 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily. Give a little egg or tuna to help with the uptake of E.

I'd suggest to also look inside the ears of the hen to make sure infection or mites are not part of the problem.

 

[rod5591]

Sorry to say that the hen passed away May 1.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear she died.

Did you get any testing done?

 

[rod5591]

I'm sorry to hear she died.

Did you get any testing done?

No testing.