Hi, all. Get your coffee ready...sorry for long post. 
I've been a small flock backyard chicken keeper and member here for 10 years. Have always appreciated being able to use this site and your collective experiences/advice as my first go-to resource! It's been a doozy of a year.
A year ago last summer, a pack of coyotes came into my suburban yard one am and took all 4 of my hens while they were foraging freely (3-8 yrs old). We found two of them left injured in my neighbor's yard, and only one of them survived her injuries and is still here today (healthy & still laying every other day). When she was fully healed after the attack, I purchased 4 6-week old pullets from a local farm last summer and my adult hen did a great job of welcoming them. The youngsters (one turned ended up a roo) had just laying when trouble started 6 months ago - my lil roo appeared to die in his sleep. In Feb, one of the young hens then went downhill...appeared respiratory and she died despite my efforts to save her. Then in March, a 3rd went down with slightly diff symptoms - I worried that she was egg bound. I treated her with baths and TLC, and she made a rebound and returned to the flock. Then 4th went down with what first appeared to be an impacted crop. Treated her with advice I found here for using massage/coconut oil. Her crop did clear and she was eating normally again. Returned her to the coop a few days later only to find her dead the next morning. And then sadly the 3rd hen started acting lethargic/stopped eating. I was so heartsick & frustrated by this point, so I took her to my local vet for chickens. He suspected Mareks. I had her euthanized & drove her to the state food lab for necropsy. 100% confirmed Mareks and lab vet said it should be assumed that my other three likely died of Mareks (all about 7-8 mo+/- when died). Mareks was not on my radar and the local farm I got them from did not vaccinate. My adult now 4 year old hen never showed symptoms and is still thriving. I called the feedstore I bought her from & they confirmed they only get chicks from a hatchery that vaccinates for Mareks. So after a month or so, I purchased some 1 day old and 1 week old Mareks-vax'd chicks from the same orig feedstore. They have been in my garage in a brooder for the last 6 weeks (making the chicks 6 and 7 weeks old now). We have tried very hard to be good about washing hands and changing shoes and dirty clothes if we have been out to the main coop where my adult hen is and before going into the garage. I just read an article here at BYC yesterday though that has me worried since I guess the virus could even be on my hair, and I did not wash my hair going between outside coop and garage.
I fully acknowledge that my surviving 4 yr old hen, despite having no symptoms, was exposed to Mareks at the same time my pullets were (or was exposed by them if they came with the virus at 6 weeks of age?), making my adult hen a carrier now. I have spent the last couple days trying to shovel out as much of the existing bedding in the hen house/PDZ and coop/shavings and enclosed daytime run/dirt - (after the coyote attack, we built a large fully enclosed run extension the hens have access to during the daytime vs free roam of yard). I know I can never fully get rid of the virus at this point, but I am trying to do my best to greatly reduce the viral load outside before I graduate my chicks to the coop with my adult.
**Curious your thoughts about the next steps I plan to take: I am going to wash and scrub every coop surface I can physically get to with a solution of bleach and dishsoap in water. Then I am going to spray down every possible part of the coop inside and out (including waters/feeders) with Virkon-S, which came via Amazon yesterday. I purchased barn lime today and will put down a layer of that in hen house, coop, and run... then replace the bedding areas with new PDZ, shavings, etc. Any other suggestions? I really want to give my vaccinated chicks a fighting chance out there! Thank for any insight.
I've been a small flock backyard chicken keeper and member here for 10 years. Have always appreciated being able to use this site and your collective experiences/advice as my first go-to resource! It's been a doozy of a year.
A year ago last summer, a pack of coyotes came into my suburban yard one am and took all 4 of my hens while they were foraging freely (3-8 yrs old). We found two of them left injured in my neighbor's yard, and only one of them survived her injuries and is still here today (healthy & still laying every other day). When she was fully healed after the attack, I purchased 4 6-week old pullets from a local farm last summer and my adult hen did a great job of welcoming them. The youngsters (one turned ended up a roo) had just laying when trouble started 6 months ago - my lil roo appeared to die in his sleep. In Feb, one of the young hens then went downhill...appeared respiratory and she died despite my efforts to save her. Then in March, a 3rd went down with slightly diff symptoms - I worried that she was egg bound. I treated her with baths and TLC, and she made a rebound and returned to the flock. Then 4th went down with what first appeared to be an impacted crop. Treated her with advice I found here for using massage/coconut oil. Her crop did clear and she was eating normally again. Returned her to the coop a few days later only to find her dead the next morning. And then sadly the 3rd hen started acting lethargic/stopped eating. I was so heartsick & frustrated by this point, so I took her to my local vet for chickens. He suspected Mareks. I had her euthanized & drove her to the state food lab for necropsy. 100% confirmed Mareks and lab vet said it should be assumed that my other three likely died of Mareks (all about 7-8 mo+/- when died). Mareks was not on my radar and the local farm I got them from did not vaccinate. My adult now 4 year old hen never showed symptoms and is still thriving. I called the feedstore I bought her from & they confirmed they only get chicks from a hatchery that vaccinates for Mareks. So after a month or so, I purchased some 1 day old and 1 week old Mareks-vax'd chicks from the same orig feedstore. They have been in my garage in a brooder for the last 6 weeks (making the chicks 6 and 7 weeks old now). We have tried very hard to be good about washing hands and changing shoes and dirty clothes if we have been out to the main coop where my adult hen is and before going into the garage. I just read an article here at BYC yesterday though that has me worried since I guess the virus could even be on my hair, and I did not wash my hair going between outside coop and garage. I fully acknowledge that my surviving 4 yr old hen, despite having no symptoms, was exposed to Mareks at the same time my pullets were (or was exposed by them if they came with the virus at 6 weeks of age?), making my adult hen a carrier now. I have spent the last couple days trying to shovel out as much of the existing bedding in the hen house/PDZ and coop/shavings and enclosed daytime run/dirt - (after the coyote attack, we built a large fully enclosed run extension the hens have access to during the daytime vs free roam of yard). I know I can never fully get rid of the virus at this point, but I am trying to do my best to greatly reduce the viral load outside before I graduate my chicks to the coop with my adult.
**Curious your thoughts about the next steps I plan to take: I am going to wash and scrub every coop surface I can physically get to with a solution of bleach and dishsoap in water. Then I am going to spray down every possible part of the coop inside and out (including waters/feeders) with Virkon-S, which came via Amazon yesterday. I purchased barn lime today and will put down a layer of that in hen house, coop, and run... then replace the bedding areas with new PDZ, shavings, etc. Any other suggestions? I really want to give my vaccinated chicks a fighting chance out there! Thank for any insight.
