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Choo-chook

Chicken PTS mareks (?)

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Sorry if this is long and rambling.. I hatched a Marans batam 13wks who last week showed signs of gapeworm,(she also started a really heavy moult), wormed all my flock and brought her inside so I could monitor her food intake and keep an eye on her, after 3 days she was hardly eating anything (even treats) but also started being a bit wobbly on her feet. I thought it was weakness so tried her back in her eglu run with her sister. Appetite increased being back outside but she started goose/high stepping and then kind of tired all the time. Took her to vets today who thought mareks. I hadn't even thought of that but panicked when she said how quick it spreads/expect more losses etc etc. came home empty handed :(

If it was mareks she must have picked it up off one of my 5 originals so what's the risk to them? They all free ranged together and the 2 babies slept in sep eglu. I've now read of vitamin deficiencies which sound similar to mareks, I so wished I'd asked for them to do a blood test to confirm.

Going to do a deep clean and disenfrct tomw but worried about my last chick on her own, (told to keep her separate for 2/3 wks but I'm kinda thinking the virus will be spread already so can't I just still let them mingle. I was going to get her another friend but not sure now what to do. :(

She was having a pretty bad moult, eyes were bright and no drooping wings. Could it of been lack of vitamins and moult which looked like mareks. Feeling very guilty I couldn't of done more for her.

Thanks for listening

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Mareks is often suggested when the vet hasn't a clue Choo-chook. Only a postmortem would tell you for certain. More likely in my opinion is Lymphoid Lucosis, which are tumours causing neurological type problems. That isn't contagious. Tends to occur in young birds when they start to mature towards egg laying. Probably hormonal changes that triggers it. Lack of vitamins would be a possibility if you had them on a very simple and poor diet, but I assume you have them on quality rearers pellets now?

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Many thanks for the reply Beantree, I've calmed down considerably, just got in a big panic when the vet said about losing the rest of my small flock, but I really don't feel it was mareks. I'm going to disinfect anyway, did my last vikron s deep clean before the eggs hatched. They were on Dobson & horrall growers, with veggie treats and mealworms for the moulting

I've got my last chick (13wks) by herself now as the 4 older ones do bully her, she'll be lost without her buddy. What would you suggest is better, introducing another pullet or trying to get her into the WIR with the big girls ASAP?

Again thanks for your wisdom, :clap:

Nicky

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Younger singles are very difficult to integrate and invariably end up being bullied all the time, particularly by the lowest in the pecking order of the established group. Best is to get another youngster and introduce as a pair when they reach laying (feed is the same then). The alternative is to take one out of the established group and give them time to bond, but that has problems as well. We've done both many times and it is never easy. The simple route is to run two flocks Choo-chook, but then there is a lot of cost involved.

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I'd heed the advice of your vet, choo-choock, as s/he had the opportunity to examine the chicken. You are no more likely to be able to diagnose lymphoid leucosis with any degree of certainty without a post mortem, and certainly not sight unseen.

 

Sorry you have had this unfortunate experience. All you can do is be super vigilant for the next few weeks, and when the time is right, find a playmate for your chick.

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Sorry about your little one Choo Chook. I lost a young girl yesterday about 17 weeks who showing signs of neurological problems. She was head twitching and had a droopy wing. The vet didn't think it was Mareks so we were treating for an ear infection and she haf just started anti inflammatories for her wing. I found her unable to get up yesterday the wing was so droopy it was stopping her walking and she kept falling over I shall certainly be looking up Lymphoid luecosis as I didn't feel my girl haf mareks. Hope your others are ok.

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Gone through I HUGE deep clean today, just in, 3 eglus all cleaned, power washed and disinfected, run floor done, ladders, feeders you name it I've scrubbed it. One bit of vet advice I'm ignoring is keeping the sister away form the big girls, they all free range usually so felt it was pointless keeping them apart cos I feel it's 'closing the door after the horse has bolted' they all have avipro, garlic and spice to hopefully keep them healthy. We shall see what happens. I still think it was the moult that had lots to do with it,maybe weakened her too much

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ICommiserations I have also lost a chook this week due to neurological problems. My 18 month old cuckoo silkie I bought from a large breeder about 6 months ago, along with her sister who was blind, I was told due to cataracts. After 3 months, her eyes were huge and bulging, and she had a couple of lumps on her face. The Vet said her eyes were in fact abcesses and she was put to sleep.

 

Roll on another 3 months and her sighted sister developed a slight limp a week ago, and then in the space of a few days became completely paralysed in one leg and ultimately one wing, she had also lost a huge amount of weight. She also had to be put to sleep. The vet said it was possibly Mareks, and so I am now very worried about my remaining 2 birds. If it is Mareks they will be infected already, not sure if a deep clean of eglu etc wont be pointless. Is there anything else it may be, and could it be connected to the lumps and abcesses her sister had?

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Pity the vet didn't have a blood test done ChickenNutter. It sounds like Mareks. All you can do is keep your fingers crossed. Wouldn't think that eye abscesses are related to her symptoms, but? It does sound like the breeders stock is poor and I would get any from there again. May be breeding conditions or hereditary?

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Thanks Beantree, yes definitely wont be buying from there again. I have two girls remaining, a Wyandotte from a different breeder and a young Pekin from the same breeder as the dead girls. Assuming Mareks is there any length of time at which I could assume they are immune, or could it lurk and surface at any time in their lives should they become stressed or ill?

 

Just don't know what to do about getting replacements; don't want to expose other birds to certain death!

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I don't know the answer to that ChickenNutter. I thought they just caught it and died, so there would be no immunity. Flare-ups are associated with other viruses, when the birds are low, like when moulting. Mycoplasma being an example.

 

The Wyandotte and Pekin being fine suggests it isn't Mareks at all. You could get them blood tested to see if they are carrying anything?

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I know a little about mareks as I have had experience and visited a farm vet. I had a POL hybrid who went downhill and died at POL, at the time just thought it was one of those things. Then every couple of months one seemed to just go light and we had to cull them. There was no symptoms of paralysis so after a while I took one for post mortem which showed enlarged liver and organs so samples were sent off which showed results which would be consistent with Mareks. All the hens had been together and after they have been exposed they continue to shed in their dander for the rest of their lives even if not having mareks and at a higher rate when actually developing the mareks which takes I believe 20 weeks. I still have two hens from the ones that were exposed, one is a 5 year old hybrid and they have immunity or resistance but did continue to lose some of the others. The mareks can lie dormant and come out in times of stress such as the moult or when introducing new hens so the advice to me was to either cull or wait until they live out their lives then get new ones. If I was able to keep a cockerel I would breed from the resistant hens but cannot and as they are healthy I keep them. Mareks can also be spread by wild birds apparently so the chances of it blowing on the wind are high. I have got some other hens now which were immunised and I got at 6 weeks and keep separately and try to minimise any stress. They are fine and hopefully will also be resistant as have gone through POL and winter moults I am vigilant about keeping an eye out for any symptoms of illness though now.

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I have (sorry, had) the sister of Choo-chokes Marans. They were hatched together. At the beginning of December she wasn't able to stand for long periods and was crouching down most of the time. She was still coming out the coop and free-roaming in the garden, flying now and again but with a slightly droopy wing, her dietary intake was still really good. Went to vet who thought possibly trauma or neurological? Gave her an anti-inflammatory jab and oral meds to take with some improvement. Over the course of the week we visited the vet 3 times. However, on Sunday past (four weeks on) she wasn't right. She had started gaping on Saturday past and we went to the vet on Sunday. In my heart I knew what the outcome would be and she had lost weight which was the deciding factor and sadly she was PTS. I wonder if it was genetic? When talking to Choo-choke they had a lot of the same symptoms yet our respective flocks have had no symptoms?

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I am not expert but during my research into Pob and possible Mareks, I found the information UKMARCH is suggesting. Mareks can come from many sources, some flocks can be wiped quickly, some over time. The fact it can be a shed virus in vaccinated birds at times of stress makes it very difficult to to be sure your birds are not exposed. The fact it is carried up to as far as I researched, 1500 metres on a normal breeze, means wild birds can bring it in as well as other flocks in your locale can pass it on.

 

I believe most hens are exposed to it but not all show symptoms or suffer from it. These are carriers and may or may not eventually die from it. My vet advised a closed flock to be 100% safe and when the seller suggested a replacement bird, the vet advised against it due to extra stress on it and the original birds which could bring out a multitude of other stress related ailments.

 

I am no expert with chicken diseases but it all made a lot of sense. If they had a vaccine to irradicate Mareks or other diseases, it would be available and affordable for a chicken keepers as it is a nasty disease often misdiagnosed til the last. It can show all, some or no symptoms. It can wipe out a flock or birds just remain carriers. Some birds are predisposed to it. Although I have read Marans are hardy against it, I have also read several sources which say Marans, whilst not as bad as Silkies, have a higher likelihood of getting it.

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