Marek’s disease in chickens: symptoms, treatment + photo 

Breeding chickens is an interesting and profitable activity. But often farmers are faced with the problem of poultry diseases. The disease of any animals is unpleasant, causing material damage to the owners of even a small poultry farm.

Chickens suffer from various diseases. Some of them are associated with mechanical damage, improper maintenance, care and feeding. Others are caused by infections that can destroy the entire chicken population in an instant. Marek’s disease in chickens has its own characteristics and control measures. They will now be discussed.

Historical information

This chicken disease has been around for over a century. It was described by a scientist from Hungary at the beginning of the 26th century, and even came up with a name – chicken polyneuritis. A little later, already in the year XNUMX, polyneuritis was identified by the Americans A.M. Pappenheimer, L.P. Dan and M.D. Zeidlin in the nervous system, eyes and internal organs of chickens.

It has been proven that this infection is contagious, the damage from the disease of chickens is colossal, since it is impossible to completely cure the bird. For a hundred years, the disease has spread to all continents. Soviet scientists have also been studying the infection since 1930, but they did not come to a consensus on the issue of treatment.

General information about the disease

The virus of the disease infects the cells of the body of the chicken, from that moment it becomes a dangerous carrier of the infection. Moreover, infection occurs quickly if the sick bird is not eliminated from the rest of the chicken herd.

The dangerous Marek’s disease virus is not only inside the body of a chicken. It can stand out in the surrounding space, be in the stern, on feathers, in dust and litter. In a word, everything that is next to a sick chicken becomes infected.

Marek’s disease virus survives at temperatures up to +20 degrees, is in an active state for a long time. Temperatures up to +4 degrees allows him to live for several years. But at high humidity, the virus dies.

How are chickens infected? In the body of a chicken, DNA containing a virus called the herpes virus enters. It blocks the process of antibody formation, from the very first minutes it exhibits interferonic activity.

The incubation period of the disease

It is simply impossible to determine that a chicken has Marek’s disease at first, since no clearly expressed specific signs are observed. Although experienced poultry farmers who constantly monitor the condition of the feathered population may notice some external changes:

• the comb turns pale in a chicken during an illness;
• a gait unusual for chickens appears;
• chickens take unnatural poses;
• due to weakening and exhaustion, motor activity decreases.

The incubation period is very long – 2-15 weeks. At the end of it, the symptoms of Marek’s disease in chickens become clear.

Forms of the disease

This infection has three forms, each of which has its own characteristics:

1. With neural damage to the peripheral nervous system of the chicken, the result, as a rule, is paresis and paralysis.
2. The ocular or ocular form leads to visual impairment. In some cases, the chicken goes blind. The mortality rate of chickens from the eye form is up to 30%.
3. With visceral tumors form on the internal organs.

In addition, the disease in chickens can occur in an acute and classic form.

How to recognize Marek’s disease

As we noted, the incubation period is extended. Older chickens with weakened immune systems show symptoms of Marek’s disease more quickly.

Symptoms of the disease

Acute form

The disease in an acute form, similar to leukemia, is most often inherent in young animals from a month to five. Since the infection has a high virulence, within one to two weeks, Marek’s disease can affect all chickens. Chickens suffer from paresis and paralysis. One of the symptoms is paralysis, clearly visible in the photo.

Symptoms:

• digestion is disturbed;
• chickens do not eat well, because of which they lose weight, become weak;
• tumors form on parenchymal organs;
• The egg production of chickens is almost non-existent.

As a rule, after a short period of time, the chickens die.

Classic form

This form of Marek’s disease is less aggressive; with timely measures, 70% of the herd can be saved. The lesion affects the nervous system or the eyes of chickens.

What are the manifestations:

• the chicken begins to limp;
• her tail and wings sag, her neck can curl;
• paralysis is also observed, but they are short-lived.

Particular attention, if the farm has signs of disease, should be paid to the eyes:

• if the disease has touched the eyes, then vision is impaired;
• the chicken changes the color of the iris;
• the pupil becomes unnatural: pear-shaped or another shape, look at the photo below;
• Chickens do not react to light.

In some cases, complete blindness occurs. If the disease has touched the eyes, then the poultry will not live long.

Treatment

Poultry farmers are not always able to recognize the disease, so specialists need to be involved to establish a diagnosis.

If the disease of chickens is noticed and detected at an early stage, it is possible to pierce them with antibiotics and antiviral drugs. When paralysis occurs, no treatment will help. You just have to kill the sick chicken and burn it.

Poultry farmers have the only way to protect their chickens – to vaccinate in a timely manner.

Features of vaccination

Vaccinating chickens is a sure way to a healthy bird population. It can be done in different ways:

1. One of them can be carried out with special equipment when the chick is still in the egg. It is clear that such vaccination is unacceptable for a homestead. But poultry farmers should be aware of it. After all, chickens are often bought at poultry farms. What is the essence of the method? The vaccine is placed directly into the egg on the 18th day of incubation. This is the best defense against Marek’s disease. Therefore, when buying chicks, you need to ask if such vaccination has been carried out.
2. At home, you need to vaccinate newly hatched chickens in the first 24 hours of their life. The vaccine can be purchased in almost all specialized stores or veterinary pharmacies. The vaccine is sold along with saline. Before vaccinating chickens, read the instructions.

Why is it necessary to vaccinate young animals from the first days of life? You probably remember that the virus can be transmitted through the air, carried on clothing. And in small farms, as a rule, chickens hatch. No one can vouch for the fact that she is not a carrier of the infection.

If an effective vaccine has been given to the hens during the laying of eggs, then the antibodies formed in the mother’s body will be transferred to the chicks. They will be protected within 3 weeks. Vaccination is carried out after the expiration of the protective period. Then no treatment is required.

Vaccination of newborn chickens:

Bioprotection

Biosecurity or preventive measures will help keep healthy chickens, then the manifestation of Marek’s disease will be out of the question. First, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for keeping. Secondly, chickens need to be given maximum attention.

And now we recommend that you get acquainted with the rules that will help keep your small poultry farm from Marek’s disease and receive high-quality and healthy products.

Rules for safe poultry farming:

1. Compliance with veterinary and sanitary standards: enter the chicken coop in special shoes and clothes, change them at the exit, wash your hands thoroughly.
2. Maintaining cleanliness in the chicken coop, carrying out preventive disinfection. Feathers must be collected and burned.
3. Carrying out the cleaning of feathers of chickens from dandruff with special means.
4. Keeping young and adult chickens in different rooms.
5. Timely vaccination of birds.
6. Tracking of diseased chickens, culling and destruction (burning) to prevent mass infection of other poultry.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that Marek’s disease is not such a rare disease, you can ensure that it does not exist in your farmstead. We talked about how to achieve this in our article. Subject to all rules and regulations, your chickens will be healthy. You will receive not only tasty and healthy eggs, dietary meat, but also an annual offspring of strong chickens.