mareks ?????

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Jo57

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mareks ?????
« on: October 26, 2014, 09:04 »
At the beginning of the summer I bought 4 6 week old sabelpoot chicks which were kept separate from my others in their own house and run. One died soon after (it had deformed feet and suddenly went downhill) . Weeks later another became unable to walk although seemed ok otherwise. After a few days of nurturing it was obvious she was deteriorating and so we 'did the kind thing'. Now another 4 weeks or so on one of the remaining two is losing her balance and struggling to walk leaving one 15 week healthy (so far) . My other 9 at the other end of the garden are as usual, not laying well but to be expected at this time of year.
I don't know what to do. Will the whole flock get this now and will I lose them all? What do I need to do?
Oh help!
 

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Springlands

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2014, 09:45 »
Jo - I am so sorry to hear about the problems that you are having.  if I remember correctly there is no cure for Mareks disease in poultry (there is a vaccine but it would be too late for that now) . This is perhaps hard to accept but it looks like you will probably lose both of the remaining poots and for the sake of the rest of your other chickens you might be best to cull them both now even though one seems to be healthy at present. The poots house and run should then be thoroughly cleaned with Virkon-S or equivalent - your poultry supplier should be able to advise.

The other problem is that you have probably been going from one hen run to the other and there is a possibility that you have inadvertently transferred the virus from one run to the other - in the meantime clean the healthy run and house using the Virkon-s. If you need to go to both runs go to the 'healthy' run first before the one where you suspect the you have the Mareks to reduce the chances of spreading the virus although as you are aware it might be too late for that.  It would be good to use different clothes and shoes to reduce the chance of transference.

As for the reduction in eggs - that is probably related to the time of year - I am lucky to get one or two eggs out of 10 hens at present.


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Jo57

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2014, 10:02 »
Thank you for the advice. I don't actually 'go in the run with the chicks as theirs is a covered low cage although I have occasionally moved them to new patch. I would guess others have been exposed. If they show no signs are they ok to carry on living in garden? Now I'm worried about my neigbour who has just raised a group of chicks to pol. They are just behind hedge boundary and I have been in and out seeing to them while they are away. Will the Virkon stuff go onto grass? I already did a massive clean for redmite, then for cocidiosis not long ago. Suddenly not much luck. It has been a bad year!

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barley

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2014, 10:14 »
oh dear

I can speak from experience of Mareks disease

when I first got chooks I had 3 from a friend - they were 18 months old when the first one had symptoms , we had her PTS , then 3 months later the second one got it and had to be PTS

That left me with 1 - at the time I was new to keeping chooks and didn't know about mareks and how it can spread

we decided to get 3 new 12 week old hens needless to say they all died within 6 weeks

after speaking with the vet he said the reason the 1 hen from the original hens had not contracted it was because her immune system had managed to be strong enough to survive it but she would now be a carrier of the disease for life ( incidentally she lived for 7 more years )

After that we have always had fully vaccinated birds and for the last 10 years have not seen the disease return

so back to your birds , if the old ones are fully vaccinated they hopefully will be ok but if not there is every chance it will spread , younger birds are more susceptible to it but as I experienced you can loose older birds too

I would advise trying to keep the older birds separate it may help but I fear you may possibly loose some of them , once you've had it , it can stay in the soil and surroundings for up to 8 months so even quarantine will not guarantee preventing  a reinfection

this is the breeder I buy from - and her page on disease is quite helpful http://www.wylyevalleychickens.co.uk/diseases/#Mareks

I wish you luck it is an awful disease to experience

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Springlands

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2014, 10:23 »
Some good advice there from Barley. Unfortunately Jo there is no guarantee that you have not carried the virus to your neighbours hens - though hopefully not - I think that you will  need to have a word with them to see if the chooks were vaccinated.  Vircon-S is mainly for hard surfaces but I have heard of people using it on grass - not sure how effective it would be.

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Jo57

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2014, 10:53 »
My older flock are all well over a year. None were vaccinated as far as I know. 5 are home reared and  4 others older rescue. I will 'pts' the sick one and maybe keep the other separate in her pen away from the others. Or should she go too such a pretty silver sabelpoot :(

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Springlands

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2014, 13:32 »
Jo - the healthy poot has been so close to the other poots that even if she does not get sick she might then be a carrier. Hard as it is I think she needs to be pts also.  :(

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Jo57

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2014, 13:55 »
 :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

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Springlands

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2014, 13:57 »
Sorry Jo but you are trying to protect your other flock.  :(

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joyfull

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2014, 15:19 »
sadly even if the healthy ones get it and recover they will then likely be carriers so best to cull I'm afraid, shame though as sabelpoots are my favourite banties :(
Staffies are softer than you think.

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Jo57

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2014, 16:18 »
I love the friendly little sabelpoots. I had to rehome my two lovely boys a couple of years ago because of neighbours, my two girls were lost to terrible redmite infestation (despite my plastic coop) and now the 4 little girls. Feel like giving up!  :(

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barley

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2014, 17:36 »
don't give up  :(

if you want to see if any survive you can try that but if they do they will be a carrier of mareks
as I said 1 of mine survived and she lived to 8 years old

The decision you make will have no bearing on future flocks either way , you won't be able to keep chooks again unless vaccinated once you have had mareks

we had it over 8 years ago and I still always only keep vaccinated birds - the risk of keeping unvaccinated birds is to great to even contemplate


had a look - there are some breeders in Hampshire that do vaccinate

http://www.longdownfarm.co.uk/index.php?page=chickens

http://www.rooksbridgepoultry.com/

http://www.goldenvalleypoultry.co.uk/

http://www.martins-wood-chickens.co.uk/
« Last Edit: October 26, 2014, 17:52 by barley »

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Jo57

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2014, 18:21 »
Thank you Barley.
Do you think the 9 older birds at the other end of the garden are carriers now too even if I cull the sabelpoot young ones? They have not had direct contact but have been out in the grassy bit once or twice near the cage of the young ones. I presume it means I won't be able to get eggs for hatching from my broodies now either.

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barley

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #13 on: October 26, 2014, 18:47 »
If the older birds don't show signs of mareks now, at some point it will be inevitable they will pick it up if you have contaminated ground

My vet said it is very contagious - I would wait and see personally on remaining birds but as others advice given it will mean any survivors will be carriers  :(

re hatching eggs unless you vaccinate as day old chicks they will get it if still present in the contaminated ground

here's a pic of my vaccinated girls after my mareks ordeal , as you can see they are all healthy and happy and the red one ( second one along was the survivor and also a carrier of mareks ) don't give up hope there is light at the end of the tunnel

 

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grinling

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Re: mareks ?????
« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2014, 20:50 »
ring the vet in the morning and should be able to cull and autopsy your hen. You will then know exactly what is wrong and the next step with advice from the vet. It can cost about £50, but will save you money in the long run.



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