# Mareks loss...what now?



## Alexia15 (Jan 18, 2015)

My friend just had her beautiful slw pullet put down as she had mareks. She has 2 Roos and another pullet and her vet told her she can't add any chickens til they're 9 months (5 months time) as they would develop symptoms before then IF they were going to get it. 

Do people have any advice? Would she be better off putting them all down and starting again? Or moving on one roo and waiting it out?

Have people had just one loss to mareks or is it likely they'll all suffer it?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The only way to know for certain it was Mareks is through necropsy testing. It can take weeks for the results to come back. Yes, there are signs and symptoms that could be Mareks but there are other diseases out there that can look very similar.

I would wait and see if any others become ill. A friend of mine had a couple of young birds get sick, she had one necropsied and the results were Mareks. The thing is, she had 20 or 30 birds at the time in all age ranges, those were the only two that got sick. 

If this was Mareks the only way your friend can be confident that it won't be showing up again is to vaccinate.


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

I have been dealing with Marek's since last Spring. Being all their symptoms varied, I had no clue I was dealing with Marek's until Alyviah ended up with the "classic" symptoms. I called the USDA (as was recommended on their web page) to find out what to do. Needless to say I was in a panic. Figured out what was wrong on a Friday evening so Monday felt like a forever wait. Anyway, they called me back. Told me not to panic. Those that Alyviah was with, are of course already exposed so they will hopefully develop immunity. At the moment they are all still in good health. She told me to focus on keeping them healthy immune system wise. 

I lost Chloe early Spring, Abbie a month later, then my Tillie shortly after. Alyviah got sick in December. My first thoughts with the first 3 was their age being they were 4 yrs old. When I spoke with the vet through USDA, she figured my girls got them from the wild turkeys that were hanging around in my yard last winter. Marek's carries easily through wild birds, especially the bigger birds without affecting them. Poultry are very susceptible to a lot of diseases and Marek's wasn't uncommon for them to get. It can be transported on our clothing, our hair if we are around an infected bird, even transports via wind (well there's an impossible route of transportation to try and prevent  ), and it will survive in soil for years. There is no way to eradicate it. That's the horrifying part. She told me just to make sure any future chicks I get, are vaccinated against the disease. Unfortunately for me, the hatchery my nearby feed store orders from, does not vaccinate. I did get 3 day old chicks from them last June. At the moment they are doing great and I am holding my breath they stay well.

Marek's I thought only affected young chicks up through 5 months old because that is what is pushed in the magazine articles etc. This is not true. It can hit at any age because it does prey on a compromised/weakened/or underdeveloped immune system. Alyviah would have been 4 yrs old this summer. I miss her dearly and am so sorry for the suffering she went through as I franctically tried to nurse her back to health and tried to figure out what I was battling. However, it was her journey that helped me diagnose the problem and with the help of the USDA figure out where to go from here. 

I also had a starling find its way into my coop & run last winter. The only little gap about 3 inches wide by around 6 inches long and this bird found it. That visit while I was gone to work (so I have no idea how long it was in there), caused ALL of my girls to get lice. Boy was that a miserable mess since some of my girls really got nailed with the little buggers. Anyway, that starling could have also brought Marek's to my flock besides the icky lice.

For now, I am focusing on amping up their vitamins through healthy foods, and keeping winter stressors down as much as possible. I can't wait for Spring and I am on the look out for wild turkeys hanging around. So far this winter, they haven't been here. They do hang out at the neighbors though which thankfully aren't real close but still there's that fear of wind transporting any of that yuck back my way.


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## Akarnf2 (Dec 27, 2014)

Hi to you 7 chicks 
Some facts on Marek's virus:
This virus attacks only chicken and could not be transmitted via outer birds! So you don't have to worry from the startling although it can transmit other illness, such pox, cholera and influenza. I am amazed that your vetrinarian said it cames from turkey because as fare as I know the turkey virus is used to make the vaccine for chickens! The turkey virus In fact triggers an immune response in chickens that reduces the damage of Marek 's virus ! And in fact it׳s recommended to grow turkeys along with the chickens !(see in "The chicken health handbook״ by Gail Damerow page 287)


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