Marek's is taking over my flock and I'm not sure what to do

[RuffIedFeathers]

So a few months ago, I noticed one of my BCM was walking with a limp. I had a vet look at her and they suspected Marek's. A couple weeks went by and she started doing better, but my other BCM started having the exact same symptoms. The first still has a slight limp, but has been stable for a couple months. The other was slowly deteriorating, stopped eating, just had a poor quality of life, so I had my husband cull her a few days ago. It was very depressing. My other BCM is still OK, but she's just kind of "there". She eats, roosts, etc, but doesn't socialize with the rest of the flock and is always alone. Both BCM were unvaccinated. I had a Shetland hen that started to waste away similarly and she died on her own about a month ago. I took her to UC Davis to have a necropsy done and they confirmed multiple tumors with Marek's as the cause. She WAS vaccinated. Yesterday I noticed my Buff Orpington just not acting herself. She went to sleep in the run and didn't go roost. She is one of my alpha birds and it obviously was a red flag that something isn't right. I can tell she's off, but she's hiding it well.
I've ordered some chicks and many of them have died. I've never had this happen. The chicks are vaccinated, but I'm trying to limit their exposure to anything with my flock. I just feel very down. Culling is also really difficult for me. It's too personal, if that makes sense. I could probably shoot them, but it would be difficult (and illegal) to discharge a firearm here without alarming people.
I also spoke with someone at a local feed store and they said Marek's has been very bad this year. Are some years worse than others?
Anyways, I'm not sure what to do. Do I just automatically cull any birds that show any signs of illness? I'm sure each chicken has it, obviously. I've read some threads on here where people say to just keep the birds that are resistant to Marek's. It just seems like as soon as one dies, another starts to show illness. I'm just super down about it. Would love any advice or encouraging words. Thank you.

 

[grizleyguy]

So sorry to hear your struggles and loss. It sucks when things go wrong after doing your best. I lost almost a whole flock yrs ago to a big flood and I left chickens alone for a few yrs. One upside is, your survivors should be immuned to the disease. Definitely would make good breeders for the future. Hopefully everything gets better soon. Keep ur head up and trust that God knows what he's doing

 

[nuthatched]

Option 1. Have a closed flock.
Option 2. As difficult as it is, Cull, sanitize and start over.
The vaccine doesn't prevent mareks, just *usually* keeps the birds from showing symptoms.
I'm sorry you're having to go through this.

 

[RuffIedFeathers]

Option 1. Have a closed flock.
Option 2. As difficult as it is, Cull, sanitize and start over.
The vaccine doesn't prevent mareks, just *usually* keeps the birds from showing symptoms.
I'm sorry you're having to go through this.

What does a closed flock mean? I haven't introduced any new birds since I started my original flock (all birds purchased as chicks about the same time. No new birds/chicks since then, other than getting chicks now).

 

[NatJ]

What does a closed flock mean? I haven't introduced any new birds since I started my original flock (all birds purchased as chicks about the same time. No new birds/chicks since then, other than getting chicks now).

In this case, I think a closed flock refers to not spreading the disease elsewhere. So no giving away or selling chickens, no taking them to chicken shows, and so forth.

Some people are very careful about not having any visitors who have chickens of their own, not visiting people who have chickens, and changing clothes & shoes after tending their chickens before they go to the feed store or anywhere else that other chicken-keepers might go.

 

[RuffIedFeathers]

I'm still trying to understand this disease.
So if I cull my entire flock and start over, isn't the disease still here on the property? I've read that it can stay for years. Or forever...
Given that Marek's is one of the most widespread poultry diseases, is it safe to assume that quite a few people have it present in their flocks and just not know it? I've read that it is also present in commercial flocks as well, not just backyard flocks.
If it's present in commercial flocks, why aren't they culling their entire flocks? It is just because each chicken they have is vaccinated and/or asymptomatic?
I'm still confused on this disease and trying to learn, so any information that can improve my understanding is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[RoyalChick]

Sorry you are dealing with this. So difficult.
These might help:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-i-learned-to-deal-with-mareks-disease.76944/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

 

[NatJ]

I'm still trying to understand this disease.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/
Here's a big article on the subject.
(I see someone else provided the same link while I was still typing.)

If it's present in commercial flocks, why aren't they culling their entire flocks? It is just because each chicken they have is vaccinated and/or asymptomatic?

I think it's because they have particular goals for each commercial flock, so they have assessed what choice is most cost-effective for that flock. For example:

If they are raising meat birds, they expect to butcher them before symptoms would have time to develop. So mareks is really not a problem for broiler chickens.

If they are raising laying hens to produce eggs for eating, and and intend to cull the birds when they are about 2 years old, vaccination may suppress symptoms well enough and long enough. That would make vaccination cheaper than culling & replacing the flock early, especially if they cannot be sure whether the new flock would have mareks anyway.

For breeder flocks (the parents producing the eggs that hatch those broilers and layers), they are typically culled at about the same age as laying hens would be, so vaccination might also work well enough for those flocks. And I've read that mareks is not transmitted through eggs for hatching, so they could still use eggs from a mareks-positive flock to produce the next generation.

And if they do cull some commercial flocks, we might not ever hear about it.

 

[Rurumo]

It's good you are doing your research before culling them outright. How much a particular hen is affected depends on the bird and depends on the strain of Marek's they have. Marek's is so common, tons of small flocks have it without displaying any symptoms, so people don't know they have it. Some have mild symptoms only. Naturally, you will hear more about he horror show cases on an online forum because it's natural for people in those situations to see out help. Good luck to you!

 

[Jewelschick]

So a few months ago, I noticed one of my BCM was walking with a limp. I had a vet look at her and they suspected Marek's. A couple weeks went by and she started doing better, but my other BCM started having the exact same symptoms. The first still has a slight limp, but has been stable for a couple months. The other was slowly deteriorating, stopped eating, just had a poor quality of life, so I had my husband cull her a few days ago. It was very depressing. My other BCM is still OK, but she's just kind of "there". She eats, roosts, etc, but doesn't socialize with the rest of the flock and is always alone. Both BCM were unvaccinated. I had a Shetland hen that started to waste away similarly and she died on her own about a month ago. I took her to UC Davis to have a necropsy done and they confirmed multiple tumors with Marek's as the cause. She WAS vaccinated. Yesterday I noticed my Buff Orpington just not acting herself. She went to sleep in the run and didn't go roost. She is one of my alpha birds and it obviously was a red flag that something isn't right. I can tell she's off, but she's hiding it well.
I've ordered some chicks and many of them have died. I've never had this happen. The chicks are vaccinated, but I'm trying to limit their exposure to anything with my flock. I just feel very down. Culling is also really difficult for me. It's too personal, if that makes sense. I could probably shoot them, but it would be difficult (and illegal) to discharge a firearm here without alarming people.
I also spoke with someone at a local feed store and they said Marek's has been very bad this year. Are some years worse than others?
Anyways, I'm not sure what to do. Do I just automatically cull any birds that show any signs of illness? I'm sure each chicken has it, obviously. I've read some threads on here where people say to just keep the birds that are resistant to Marek's. It just seems like as soon as one dies, another starts to show illness. I'm just super down about it. Would love any advice or encouraging words. Thank you.

I’m dealing with the same thing. I confirmed Marek’s in October through a Texas A&M necropsy. To date I have lost 8 chickens. 3 SL Wyandotte’s, 1 cream legbar, 4 Easter eggers. 5 of the 8 were vaxed. I still have 2 unvaxed barred rocks a year old that are well and the other 7 are all vaxed. I only have had to cull 2 that were holding on too long and suffering. The rest died on their own within a few days. Part of me feels like I should let this flock of 9 die out on its own without adding any new chicks, wait a few years or move and start over. The other part of me wants to try and breed for resistance but I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It’s extremely frustrating. I’m sorry you’re dealing with it too. I swear we need a support group for Marek’s flock owners