Marecks Desease (turkey or vaccine?)

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I believe the Mareks vaccine given to chicks is actually live turkey Mareks. The turkey Mareks does not create symptoms in either turkeys or chickens. Vaccinated chicks can still acquire chicken Mareks and could still show symptoms, but they are typically milder and more recoverable. In most places every chicken has Mareks, whether vaccinated or not. When you consider how few chickens are crippled by the disease, even if not vaccinated, it seems like we should skip vaccination and cull any affected breeders, working toward making all chickens resistant.
 
I think if this were true the poultry industry would have stopped vaccinating a long time ago. It's important enough for them to have developed the technology to inoculate in vivo now. And no one wants to cull if they don't have to.
 
demikitten said:
I think if this were true the poultry industry would have stopped vaccinating a long time ago. It's important enough for them to have developed the technology to inoculate in vivo now. And no one wants to cull if they don't have to.
Click to expand...

True, and if you treat this as a business, it's very easy to do a cost/benefit analysis and determine if the cost of the vaccine is worth it. Given the cost is less than a penny per bird, you don't have to guess where that falls. I really believe that cutting corners on care induces stress and that can cause a bird to go down if they have Mareks, while the same bird, in great conditions would be asymtomatic. So, if you vaccinate and then can reduce the quality of care just a little, that's a sure win for the business side.

If you think the big growers are concerned first about the welfare of their charges and only secondarily about profits, well . . .

Mareks is everywhere, most birds in small flocks are not vaccinated, yet the horrible epidemic that should follow those 2 facts has not materialized. So, I stand by my conviction that Maraks is of very low concern and you should concentrate on giving the best care possible to your flock instead of worrying over Maraks.
 
dheltzel said:
I believe the Mareks vaccine given to chicks is actually live turkey Mareks. The turkey Mareks does not create symptoms in either turkeys or chickens. Vaccinated chicks can still acquire chicken Mareks and could still show symptoms, but they are typically milder and more recoverable. In most places every chicken has Mareks, whether vaccinated or not. When you consider how few chickens are crippled by the disease, even if not vaccinated, it seems like we should skip vaccination and cull any affected breeders, working toward making all chickens resistant.
Click to expand...

All my chicks were vaccinated for Mareks and I still lost a few to it, I cull them. I now have the next generation of chicks out in the yard and I am getting a few Ridleys and Orlops this month. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
 
Just came accross this. I lost almost my entire flock of well kept non-crowded backyard birds (1 vaccinate silkie lived and another hen that had been around turkeys as a chick wbich makes me think perhaps that is what saved her from getting sick. I accidently got it in my friends yard sharing birds and lost all of her birds due to Marek's as well except a rooster. I hatched chicks indoors this year in hopes that I will not end up with Marek's. I think it is a pretty high risk not vaccinating. And horrible watching birds drop like flies. I will always vaccinate now.
 

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