There are so many things in life you learn best by simply diving in. Our adventures in homesteading is one such example.
That said, there is one thing I wish I would have known before I started raising chickens: one disease that is almost everywhere and yet often unknown to most hobby farmers.
Spike’s Story:
Spike was a Polish Tolbunt, a rare bantam breed that had the most beautiful coloring and quirky personality. He was bought and raised for a few months by our neighbors, who then realized he was a bit too loud for their backyard, which butted up to another house behind them.
Since we have a third of an acre backyard and other chickens, we offered to take him in. He was striking, friendly and had the most adorable crow.
When we’d taken in another handful of chickens who needed rehoming, I followed protocol and had them quarantined for several weeks to make sure they didn’t have any diseases or mites that could be passed onto our existing flock.
We didn’t do this with Spike, but he appeared healthy and robust every day — until the end of February.
We noticed him first walking a bit sideways. His tail listed to the left and he stumbled a bit. A day later, he was laying on his side and unable to stay on his feet.
We checked for ear mites, gave him some extra vitamins to compensate for any nutritional definciency, put him in a seperate cage.
He ate occasionally, drank as normal but could not stay standing. After a day, he was worse and couldn’t stand at all.
We opted to take him to a chicken vet, so that we could properly diagnose him. We knew after almost a year of chicken ownership what most comon ailments looked like: egg bound, sour crop, common cold, feet sores… And we knew many of the diseases with Spike’s symptoms could be quite contagious and dangerous to the flock.
The vet told us what we feared: there are many things that could cause these symptoms, and none of them are treatable.
For Spike’s best interest, we opted to euthanize him and perform a necropsy and patholgy test to find out exactly what he had.
The Verdict:
There were several possibilities we were prepared for: cancer, avian tuberculosis, Marek’s disease… The latter two being highly contagious.
We were still hopeful and cautious. I stripped, cleaned and scrubbed the chicken cages and supplies. I’m fairly meticulous about this anyway, and am now even more aware of proper biosecurity measures.
The results of the tests on Spike came a week later.
He’d had Marek’s disease.
Lot’s of Googling commenced. The vet had great information and advice too.
Here’s the rundown:
- Marek’s is caused by a virus and manifests as tumors throughout the body that can result in organs shutting down, nerves pinched (causing paralysis) and a whole host of other symptoms that can often be confused with other ailments.
- Marek’s is passed from bird-to-bird through dust, dander, mites, mealworms. The disease can live for months to years in the chicken’s environment.
- It is easily passed from one homestead to another through dirt attached to shoes, tools, birds.
- You can vaccinate for Marek’s (though vaccinations are 90% effective). Vaccination must be done in the egg or within 48 hours of birth.
- Unvaccinated flocks have a morbidity rate up to 50%. Mortality for affected birds is 100%.
- Some birds are resistant, but will always be carriers of the disease.
- There is no treatment.
- Good biosecurity measures and good air ventilation can help prevent the spread of the disease. Introducing birds into your flock can introduce the disease even if they show no symptoms.
- Eggs and meat of birds infected or exposed to Marek’s is safe and the disease doesn’t affect other types of animals.
- Best I can find, ducks and turkeys are not affected by Marek’s.
- These notes are a summary of many different sources and very general — there are many theories and studies out there on this strange disease.
Resources:
My Learnings & Growings:
When we first took in our birds, I was amazed at how frail of creatures they are. I was also surprised how attached I became to the feathered things. 🙂
We have lost four other birds to various causes and each one impacts me as much as the next. Still, I learn and grow through each experience.
Our introduction to Marek’s has touched me deeply. Our entire flock is exposed, at risk.
It terrifies me. It also has put so many things into perspective. Depsite the numbers and statistics at hand, there are many other dangers to our flock.
Also, going forward, we are going to be more careful to purchase vaccinated birds or ducks only.
(Note, most local feed stores do not sell Marek’s-vaccinated chicks. Some online breeders do. If you raise your own chicks, you can look into getting the vaccine.)
I once thought predators were my greatest worry to my feathered babies. There are many other players in the game.
Still. We never know what the next day will bring. Instead, we must focus on the now. The times we have, the memories, the laughs.
Chickens bring me so much joy and peace; I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.
I hope this helps others and if you’re thinking about raising chickens, I urge you to do so. Keep in mind all the best practices in their care and spoil them rotten while you have them. 🙂
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