Mareks Vaccine - Page 5

I am going to vaccinate.  Thanks for all of the information.  It helped me make an informed decision.

For anyone who absolutly does not want to vaccinate, one of the worlds formost experts on the sebright wrote a good book on the birds, He said sebrights are extreamly suseptible to mereks disease, , he ran one white turkey with all of his new chickes the turkey shedds a mlder form of the virus that innoculates the chickes from a later more severe form.

I just vaccinate , I never want to witness what I did several years ago, I had never felt so helpless and sad. I get both mereks and newcastles vaccine, I vaccinate after they are dry and standing for mereks, about 2 weeks later I give the newcastles in an eyedropper. you can do them both at once like hatcheries do, follow directions as prescribed, you can put it in vaccine form  or add it to water. I use eyedropper cause I feel Its just safe.

may I ask at what supplier you found a Mareks Vaccine? I dont think Jeffers carries it?

I have 27,  2 week old Ameraucanna chicks.  They are my entire flock as I am just starting.  I belive in vaccinations but am unclear if I should do it NOW.  We have wild turkeys on the property located in North Central Illinois and they will be free range when older.  Can some one PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me a definitive answer on what to vaccinate for my situation?  I've fallen in love with these darlings and would hate for my ignorance to harm them in any way.

I logged on to find out if there is an egg withdrawal after vaccinating adult hens for Mareks but I'm astounded that no-one knows about the "threat" from vaccinated chicks. It may be different in the US of course, but in the UK the vaccine most often used on chicks/chickens is a live vaccine but made from TURKEY mareks. So it alerts the bird's immune system but does not harm it. This means it may infect baby turkeys if they mix, but it won't affect other chickens at all, be they chicks or chickens.

My adult flock is a mixture of vaccinated and non-vaccinated birds and as I'm about to vaccinate some chicks I was thinking of vaccinating the adults too. This is because while some are unvaccinated, even the vaccinated ones were done 2 years ago. The vaccine only has a protective effect for about 2 years, according to the vet. This is because, in the poultry industry, they don't keep birds much beyond 2 years so it isn't an issue for them.

If a bird has actually had marek's disease and recovered (they usually don't) it will remain a carrier for life, as I understand it, and will shed virus.

Does anyone know if there is an egg withdrawal period after vaccinating laying hens?

I am vaccinating all the new chicks I have with Mareks vaccine and keeping them separate from all other birds for 10 days.
Can anyone please confirm that I can and should vaccinate about 20 , 10 week old chicks that did not get vaccinated. Some are showing signs of Mareks. Can I vaccinate the ones that look healthly still or is it to late as they have already been exposed?
I am not clear on whether you can vaccinate older chicks and adults, can someone clarify for me?
My vet told me I can't vaccinate birds over a day old, I read here that you can.
It is killing me watching them get sick and die.

Here's an excellent article that will hopefully help you:

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/content/view/17/43/

If they already have signs then it is too late to vaccinate. If the others are in contact with the affected birds it is too late for them aswell, unfortunately. However are you SURE it is Marek's? There is one other thing which has exactly the same symptoms - this is a form of botulism caused by eating rotten leaves/stems of the cabbage family. It seems to be dose-dependant. If a chick has eaten a tiny amount it will recover although never get as big as it should have been. If it has eaten a large amount it may not recover and would in any case have to be fed and cleaned up as long as the paralysis lasted.

And by the way, you can vaccinate them older than 10 days. If vaccinating 10 week olds you would inject intramuscularly in the thigh meat, not in the skin behind the neck. But if they have been exposed to Mareks it is likely to be too late.

OK... I've read this post (and others) and I'm still confused. Yes... it's my fault. I am sure it is spelled out very simply, but I just don't want to do the wrong thing.


I am getting chicks from different sources within 7-10 days from each other and I was hoping to raise them together. My problem is, 1 group will be vaccinated at birth and the other group will not be. Can I vaccinate my birds at 3 days old while I wait on my other, vaccinated chicks, to join the crowd (the following week). I have a small flock out back (age ranging from 4 weeks to 1.5 years all) that have all be vaccinated.

I just don't want to make a mistake and cause harm to my girls.

Thanks.