Help!

Hi rebecca, I can't help you with the general chicken health issues or the marek's but I can assure you that the nodule above her tail is perfectly normal!    It's her oil gland that she uses to keep her feathers shiny and waterproof.  She will rub it with her beak and head, and spread the oil from there over her feathers.

I hope that eases your concerns a bit.  Will be thinking of you with your girl at the vet tomorrow. 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope today is not too traumatic for you.

Have you thought about getting more? I assume you only had the 2, and will only have 1 after today? Chickens are very sociable and she will be quite unhappy on her own, so you should look into getting at least another 1 as soon as possible.

All the best,
Jacky.

Aw thanks for all the warm replies guys!

Lindeggs; I am SO glad to hear that. I guess i paniced out of nervous exhaustion. 

Dannyboy and Bluebells: Yeah i have disinfected coop, kept chloe who is sick in the run amd let olga roam. Last night I had chloe in a cat carrier in the house, she's in the run now and will get lots of treats today.

I will get another, although not immediately, as i need a chance to unwind before stressing over how i am going to intergrate another one in.

is there a period during which a new chicken might be exposed to the virus? i hear marek's can hang around a well cleaned coop for as long as 60 weeks? I would only get a new girl when the risk is low.

i introduced a new hen a week or 2 later, and 1 year on i have not had any problems.

completely agree with orchardlady, having lost one of your chooks from mareks, is not your fault. the hen could have been carrying it since it hatched,or just caught it.
dont let it fase you.

i did read keeping a turkey with your hens some how absorbs/gets rid of mareks??? as turkeys can fight the mearks strain some how.. food for thought

all the best

JUST FOR INFO...

We came across a Marek vaccine that can be used by a backyard set up.  We hatch our own chicks and vaccinate at day old with a vaccine we mix with a red liquid (diluent) apparently it is red to indicate that it is ok to use!!

I looked in to the Marek vaccines and there are quite a few available to the commercial hatcheries but they are all stored in Liquid Nitrogen and a minimum order amount is 500,000 doses!!  There is one though licensed in the UK that I can use easily as it can be stored in the fridge and comes in a 1000 dose bottle - 1000 doses I hear you say!!  - Yes but it only costs £40 so for my hatch of 100 (or so) it still only works out at 40p per per bird which would be way to expensive for a commercial set up but is ok for me.  You use a syringe and take out some of the red liquid (Diluent) and inject it into the vaccine bottle to dissolve the pellet in the bottom, gently move it about to dissolve and then withdraw it all from the bottle with your syringe and inject it in to the diluent bag.  I then gently massage the bag to ensure it is mixed and take off a syringe full and then inject the chicks with 0.2ml each under the skin at the back of the neck - Done.  I then discard any unused vaccine as it only lasts for 2 hours once mixed.  Sounds mad I through away 900 doses out of 1000 - but I don't look at it like that as I am protecting my flock for £40.

As previous posts in this forum have indicated the vaccine wont prevent infection with the virus but it is licensed to reduce (Not prevent) disease and clinical signs caused by the virus.

Always should be done as close to day old as possible as the virus seems to be everywhere (dust, feather dander, egg shell!!) so it is a race against time to ensure the vaccine takes hold before the actual virus.

Our chickens have not shown any signs of Marek since I started vaccinating 3 years ago (touching wood as I type) !!

http://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/Pfizer_Limited/Poulvac_MD-Vac/-33075.html