Marek's?

[ChickenScout]

I purchased two bantam cochins at the Ohio National show, both from excellent stock. We quarantined them together for 2 weeks (yeah, I know not long enough). Now the mottled cockerel (abt 6 mos old) appears to have Marek's-legs out in front of him, partial paralysis. Eating and drinking well, poo is good, crows in the morning even. No respiratory problems. He's in isolation in the house.

Is there anything I can do? Or is there any other condition that presents this way? I don't want to cull too soon if it is something else, but don't want to lose my flock, either. The pullet he was penned with is fine so far, but I think the incubation period for Marek's is 4-5 weeks, so time will tell.

Can anyone give advice?

[Altair]

Even the vaccines are barely worth it after a few years. I'm sorry your bird is like this. I had 2, possibly 3 hens, who ate, drank and acted like perfectly normal birds aside from mobility. A necropsy determined it to be Marek's. I hope for a better outcome for you.

[MKG]

[QUOTE=Altair;4301]Even the vaccines are barely worth it after a few years. /QUOTE]

I'm not sure what that means. I have been vaccinating for Mareks for at least ten years and had very good results. There are usually one or two that the vaccine does not work for out of maybe 100 chicks. But to save up to 99 percent is definitely worth it. The vaccination is relatively simple and inexpensive if the wafer and diluent are divided into four or more doses.

[ChickenScout]

Thanks everyone for your input. I will definitely be vaccinating my spring chicks. The article was very helpful.

The cockerel is about the same, no better, no worse. I have him in the house where I can observe and keep him warm, fed and hydrated.

IF he should recover, am I correct in assuming that he would be no more danger to the flock? If the virus is everywhere would he be adding to the "pool"? I have read conflicting information regarding the shedding of the virus in recovered birds, and also using them for breeding a Marek's resistant bird.

[Altair]

[QUOTE=MKG;4308]

Originally Posted by Altair

Even the vaccines are barely worth it after a few years. /QUOTE]

I'm not sure what that means. I have been vaccinating for Mareks for at least ten years and had very good results. There are usually one or two that the vaccine does not work for out of maybe 100 chicks. But to save up to 99 percent is definitely worth it. The vaccination is relatively simple and inexpensive if the wafer and diluent are divided into four or more doses.

I've had 6 hens and 2 or more so far have been diagnosed so I'm a little cynical about it all, no offense meant.

[Patrick]

I think what he meant was that your comment wasn't clear. Do you mean that your vaccinated birds have come down with mareks when a few years old, or did you mean that you've been vaccinating, and after a few years your chicks still seem to get it, despite having been vaccinated, inferring some sort of resistance to the vaccine?

[Pathfinders]

I have had similar experiences to Mike's. I vaccinate everything for Marek's (it's everywhere, might as well.) Even so I get about one or two birds who come down with it per year. Usually it's a lovely young pullet (never some scraggly extra cockerel) who we cull.

Well worth it, IMO.

[dakers]

I've recently become a big believer in vaccinating chicks for Marek's. I didn't vaccinate for many years & thought that vaccinating newly hatched chicks in the neck would be too much of a hassle and that I was breeding for resistance by not vaccinating. I'd normally only lose a few birds to the "range paralysis" (Marek's) per year. However, a year ago, I lost over half of my 3-6 month old birds- a variety of breeds, to Marek's. Others in my area had big losses to Marek's this year.

I took Peter Brown's advice this year & vaccinated each hatch of chicks; cutting the wafer (vaccine) into 4 pieces and using 1/4 of the diluent with each batch of chicks vaccinated. I raised over 100 chicks to maturity this year and none were lost to paralysis. The vaccine does need to be kept cold or it becomes ineffective quickly.

By dividing the vaccine into fourth's, it only costs about $5/per batch of chicks treated. It's much better than feeding birds to near maturity and then watching them die from Marek's.

[ChickenScout]

My cockerel seems to be improving somewhat. He is more alert and a little more functional. Has anyone had any experience with a bird recovering? Can he recover function? I am wondering if prednisone would help reduce the nerve inflammation. Could I use him for AI?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Update: It is Friday a.m. and he is greatly improved. Still sitting on his hocks, but they are under him now. Crowing and preening. I'm beginning to think some sort of toxin or mold is involved here. I mixed up some terramaycin and he drank and drank. Certainly looks more hopeful.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Patrick

I think what he meant was that your comment wasn't clear. Do you mean that your vaccinated birds have come down with mareks when a few years old, or did you mean that you've been vaccinating, and after a few years your chicks still seem to get it, despite having been vaccinated, inferring some sort of resistance to the vaccine?

Ah, my birds that were once vaccinated as chicks still came down with the disease as adults and needed to be put down.

Good news about your cockerel though, ChickenScout! I hope more's to come.

[annefoley]

I just want to caution everyone who is cutting their Mareks pellets and stretching them to be careful. After the sealed container is opened and exposed to the atmosphere, it does start to de-activate. We learned that the hard way. The more exposure to moisture/humidity, the faster the de-activation probably occurs. We never had a Mareks bird survive. They seem to get better with medication/antibiotics but the tumors cause immuno-suppression and after finishing a round of meds, the birds will soon be sick again. The tumors are still there, doing their damage and destroying the bird's body and its immune system. I wouldn't hold out too much hope. On the positive side, we have never had a bird a year or older come down with Mareks and vaccinating chicks (although not 100%) does work.

[dakers]

We use a thin-handled craft-type razor blade knife that fits into the vial and cut the wafer into fourths while the wafer is still in the vial. We take out one of the pieces to use and quickly replace the rubber stopper on the vial and put it back in a refrigerator. The next 3 times of use the pieces are already cut up, so we just take one out and replace the stopper...

[dakers]

To agree with and follow up Anne's comments, I should also mention that I hatched weekly to every 10 days, so I was using up the four applications within a month's time. During the last hatch of year when when I tried to stretch the fourth and last application to nearly two months, the last one-fourth of diluent went bad- it got cloudy. Each time you put a needle into the diluent jar and draw out a fourth of it (250ml), contaminants could be introduced.

[Pathfinders]

Over the past 8 years I have had only one adult bird come down with Marek's, and it was the ocular variety. It was a bird that actually came to me with the problem. He did eventually have to be culled, as he went downhill quickly at the end. But he lived with it for about six months after he came here.

[goosedragon]

Originally Posted by dakers

To agree with and follow up Anne's comments, I should also mention that I hatched weekly to every 10 days, so I was using up the four applications within a month's time. During the last hatch of year when when I tried to stretch the fourth and last application to nearly two months, the last one-fourth of diluent went bad- it got cloudy. Each time you put a needle into the diluent jar and draw out a fourth of it (250ml), contaminants could be introduced.

There is not a preserative in the diluent? I Worked in vaccines for years and there was always a preservative in a multi dose system as a 1000 mL container would be. It would be possible to put the preserative in the freeze-dried wafer but it was usual practice to put it in the diluent.