Mareks Disease - Beware New Chicken Keepers

[red]

my understanding is that survivors will still shed the lurgy in their dander etc.. so any new comers might catch it.

I go to a vets who specialise in dealing with poultry only, and they didn't say anything about this. She implied that it is airborne between the birds.

........

ok, well if your vet is a poultry specialist then they shoud know.

i got my infor from thepoultry site who say

The route of infection is usually respiratory and the disease is highly contagious being spread by infective feather-follicle dander, fomites, etc. Infected birds remain viraemic for life. Vertical transmission is not considered to be important.

The virus survives at ambient temperature for a long time (65 weeks) when cell associated and is resistant to some disinfectants (quaternary ammonium and phenol). It is inactivated rapidly when frozen and thawed.

[Bezzie]

Ah, someone else is up on the site in the middle of the night!

What you appear to be saying backs up what she said but adds more to it. I will keep that in consideration. I'm also curious about

It is inactivated rapidly when frozen and thawed.

as I'm not sure entirely how to translate that. Does it mean that my existing chooks will remain infected, though my land will get cleaned now that I've had a snowfall, and be reinfected by my current birds until ..........

Maybe it's the hour of the night, but I've definitely missed how to interpret that?

PS I note that my late hour message came up as being just after lunchtime? So just to confirm that it's now 00.37hrs as I post this message.

[red]

the time stamp on the posts is somethign you have to set on your profile, if you care - you have to change it when the clocks go back etc..

yes i interpret tht as a heavy frost/ snow will clean the ground.. but not necessarily the inside of the hen house if its not frozen in there. The birds that survive mareks will still have it and be able to pass it on. however, that is only how i read that bit from the poultry forum.

[corabella]

Bezzie have you considered that your survivors may be immune and could pass this on to their progeny? By not vaccinating you would contribute to the flock immunity and improve overall vigour. My reading of the vaccination process is that it is expensive (big batches) and must be done precisely (preferably twice).

In the past breeders used to select the very birds that we have - the survivors - of what is a ubiquitous virus. It is only mass commercial breeders who benefit from vaccination because they produce hybrids who have a short life and are not used for breeding. So it is of no economic benefit for them to select/cull for overall flock immunity. But for smallholders it is very valuable to select for survival to breed and pass on survivor genes to offspring.

As it may survive in the environment it makes sense to only introduce new adult birds who will almost certainly have been exposed to it and not affected.

At least that is my inexpert understanding.
Best wishes
Corabella

[Bezzie]

Thanks Red - I never thought about the time stamp being in my profile - a long time since I looked at that part of the login.

Corabella - good point. Though my initial thought is that since my neighbour keeps chickens, (though they are hybrids) would I be putting theirs at extended risk by not vaccinating since I already got Mareks here anyhow? Though as I write this, I'm still unaware of where it came from in the first place, because my chooks reached 18 months old before anything started going awry.

What we have noted is that the breeds we have remaining are traditional English utilities, whereas my understanding is that the White Jersey Giant was created elsewhere (USA?). So we wondered if they were naturally hardier to the disease by environment as well as breeding.

I am certainly concerned re the cost of vaccination. My vet is keen for me to do that, and for everyone to do it (and why wouldn't they be?). Someone told me that I can get vaccine from Interhatch, though I've had a good look through their website and unable to find any obvious reference to it to get an idea of costs etc.

I need to ring them and ask. Their enquiry page isn't Mac compatible so unable to submit a site enquiry. Though they appear to have good prices on incubators if any one else is looking too.

[Bezzie]

I contacted Interhatch this morning, and the chap on the phone was very friendly and helpful.

The Mareks vaccine costs a little over £18 + VAT at the moment. If you need it posting out, it costs another £7.00 for despatch as it has to be kept refrigerated so needs special packing. They are based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

This is for the smallest quantity, and it will cover 1000 birds. Unfortunately, once opened it is either used or disposed off, so you can't use it over several smaller hatches.

Everyone would need to consider its value on a personal needs basis I think. At the moment, my mind is going along to some degree with Corabella regarding strength and immunity, backed up with our realisation of which breeds are remaining and given the all clear. especially considering I would never be heading for a hatch of 1000 birds for my modest half acre!

[red]

survival of teh fittest.. is a logical approach. and you have to throw in.. how did they manage to raise chickens before vaccines were invented...

[Bezzie]

Too darn right! Fits in with the comment to my daughter this morning when we woke to realise we'd run out of heating oil overnight - "how do you think we lived before central heating?".

Oh those halcyon days of the icicles dragging down the bedroom curtains and sticking your nose out of the layers and layers of sheets and blankets to see your own breath floating in front of you, wishing you didn't need to go to the loo so desperately and you could stay in the warm just a little longer!

Does this make me officially old? Maybe best not to directly answer that .......