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New chicken owner and I need help!! Vaccinations etc...

post #1 of 8
4/4/12 at 7:10pm
Thread Starter 

HI yall!

 

I just bought my first flock of chickens. I have 6 Barred Rocks, 6 Rhode Islands Reds, 2 little things (not sure of their breed), 2 Silkies, and 2 Easter Eggers which leaves me with a total of 18 chickensep.gif not sure how I got that many but they are so much fun! My problem is, I bought them from our local farm store and I talked to their "chicken expert" and he told me that all of them were vaccinated at the hatchery blah blah blah.. I went back to pick up my Silkies and Easter Eggers and one worker said they were vaccinated, another said they weren't and yet another said they weren't sure because she thought they came from different hatcheries.. idunno.gif

 I've read sooo many posts on here and finally decided to post my question(s) and see what I can get answered. SO here they are:

 

How important are vaccinations? Should I contact all of the places and ask if they indeed have vaccinated the chicks? This would require alot of work to figure out which chicks came from where but I'm totally willing to do it if it's important.

My BR's and RIR's are already 6-7 weeks old, if they aren't vaccinated can I still vaccinate them? The other six are only about a week and a half.

 

My second big question is how long do I keep them on the medicated food? The guy that sold them to at the farm store told me they had to be on the food until they are six weeks old. Is that correct? Or am I doing everything wrong?

 

I would really appreciate any and every piece of advice I can get. I know all of the chicken experts on this site can throw their two cents in to help out a poorly educated chicken owner!

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post #2 of 8
4/4/12 at 7:33pm

WelcometoBYC.gif . Hopefully one of our many chicken experts can chime in 

 Crested Ducks                     Common Chicken Practices          Learn more about Avian Influenza

 

 

Helen: Daria, do you have to look at everything in such a negative light?

Daria: Could you possibly be referring to the harsh light of reality?

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 Crested Ducks                     Common Chicken Practices          Learn more about Avian Influenza

 

 

Helen: Daria, do you have to look at everything in such a negative light?

Daria: Could you possibly be referring to the harsh light of reality?

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post #3 of 8
4/4/12 at 7:43pm
Hi and welcome-byc.gif from Ohio. So glad you joined. thumbsup.gif

TIME is the best thing to spend on a child!
Always calibrate your hygrometer before you incubate!!

Home to Black East Indies, Mandarins, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rock, Golden Buffs, Welsummers, Ameraucanas, Black Australorp, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Two Weimaraners, Two beautiful daughters and a great DH who builds whatever I need!

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TIME is the best thing to spend on a child!
Always calibrate your hygrometer before you incubate!!

Home to Black East Indies, Mandarins, Speckled Sussex, Barred Rock, Golden Buffs, Welsummers, Ameraucanas, Black Australorp, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Two Weimaraners, Two beautiful daughters and a great DH who builds whatever I need!

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post #4 of 8
4/4/12 at 7:44pm

Medicated food is an option - not a must.  The medication is not an antibiotic, it simply interferes with how the coccidia are able to utilize thiamine in their bodies.  Chickens naturally have coccidia, it's when there is an overgrowth that there is a problem.

 

There is medication that you can put in the water - the same stuff that is in the medicated feed - once you take them off medicated feed if they show signs of coccidiosis.  It is called Amprolium or Corid.

 

There are some people who never vaccinate and others that always do.  It is a personal choice, unless you are selling or showing birds, in which case there may be rules regarding vaccinations for your chickens. 

 

Different states have different rules for vaccinations and some vaccinations are not allowed in all states.  This is because the vaccines essentially introduce the disease into the chicken, to get the chicken to make antibodies - some states do not want to even bring certain vaccines into the state and the state may require laboratory diagnosis and special permission to vaccinate for certain diseases.  There are also diseases that the state may require all of a person's flock to be killed, in order to protect other birds from getting the disease.

 

You should do some homework about the rules for vaccinations in your state.  The Extension office may be able to help you, the state agriculture office, or you can search online on your state's government website for the applicable codes regarding poultry.

 

There are some vaccines that need to be given as boosters - just like in people, so it's probably not a big deal about whether or not your chicks had some vaccinations.  Usually, they just get a Marek's vaccination on day one, but I haven't heard that a lot of hatcheries give any of the other vaccinations.

 

For more info on vaccinations:

 

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps030

 

http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/diseasefactsheet.html#vaccination

 

http://www.ansci.umn.edu/poultry/resources/diseases.htm#vaccination

 

 

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post #5 of 8
4/4/12 at 8:42pm

  frow.gif & welcome-byc.gif from Alabama. Glad you joined us. 

Dorothy: The woman keeps a chicken in her home, how normal can she be?
Rose: I kept a chicken in my home.
Dorothy: You see my point?
The Golden Girls "Long Day's Journey Into Marinara"

 

Check out my Blog: The Country Chick                          And be sure to check out our soap shop on Etsy, here.

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Dorothy: The woman keeps a chicken in her home, how normal can she be?
Rose: I kept a chicken in my home.
Dorothy: You see my point?
The Golden Girls "Long Day's Journey Into Marinara"

 

Check out my Blog: The Country Chick                          And be sure to check out our soap shop on Etsy, here.

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post #6 of 8
4/5/12 at 5:07am
Thread Starter 

Thanks everybody I feel very welcomed here! And bnjrob- Thank you for the info, it's very helpful, I will definintely be doing my homework!

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post #7 of 8
4/5/12 at 5:31am

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan frow.gif

 

I leave mine on medicated feed for at least 6 weeks - or longer if I need to use a bag up.

Home of the world's cutest dachshund, one crazy blue heeler, two cats,
              one fat pony, and many (but not too many!) chickens

              Can anyone tell me, how many are too many chickens?

 



My Chickens
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/1muttsfans-chickens
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Home of the world's cutest dachshund, one crazy blue heeler, two cats,
              one fat pony, and many (but not too many!) chickens

              Can anyone tell me, how many are too many chickens?

 



My Chickens
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/1muttsfans-chickens
Reply
post #8 of 8
4/5/12 at 5:31am

LL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucky to have an awesome wife.  Father to three boys.  As for animals...rabbits, chickens and goats, oh my!
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucky to have an awesome wife.  Father to three boys.  As for animals...rabbits, chickens and goats, oh my!
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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Social › New Member Introductions › New chicken owner and I need help!! Vaccinations etc...