Can 9 month old vaccinated pullets bring Marek into my flock?

[BDutch]

Im considering buying 3 Sussex bantams from an acquaintance who lives nearby.
She has 6 big ones and 3 bantams who don’t get along very well. She has these chickens since last summer and they are all healthy. I have room for these 3 bantams and would like to add them to flock.

But … She bought them with a vaccination against Marek disease. My flock is free of Marek. And I wonder if this can cause problems with chicks I might want to hatch in the future.

Does anyone know if I risk bringing in Marek in my flock and having dead chicks in the future?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Im considering buying 3 Sussex bantams from an acquaintance who lives nearby.
She has 6 big ones and 3 bantams who don’t get along very well. She has these chickens since last summer and they are all healthy. I have room for these 3 bantams and would like to add them to flock.

But … She bought them with a vaccination against Marek disease. My flock is free of Marek. And I wonder if this can cause problems with chicks I might want to hatch in the future.

Does anyone know if I risk bringing in Marek in my flock and having dead chicks in the future?

If she was exposed to the virus, yes. The vaccine doesn't give it to unvaccinated birds, but it also doesn't prevent vaccinated birds from getting and spreading mareks

 

[Debbie292d]

In pondering this, most hatcheries offer the Marek's vaccination so I'm assuming a lot of people pay for it and I've never heard of anyone warning about introducing vaccinated chicks to your flock eventually.

So now they grow into adults, I don't see why that would be any different. I realize what you're thinking though. I found this article that explains it, but in a nutshell, nope!

 

[Eggcessive]

There is no danger in adding vaccinated birds to your flock, anymore than adding non-vaccinated birds. Any chicken can be exposed to Mareks or other disease, and can be a carrier. I have had both vaccinated and non-vaccinated chicks, and never had any suspected Mareks in 12 years.

 

[BDutch]

So now they grow into adults, I don't see why that would be any different. I realize what you're thinking though. I found this article that explains it, but in a nutshell, nope!

I don’t know the history when they were chicks. I only know the pullets were sold as POI pullets to the current owner.

I have been reading that there is a risk of bringing in Mareks disease with vaccinated chickens because it is possible they have been in contact with infected chickens. Others say this is this is nonsense. I have been reading too it depends largely on what breed you have if there is a serious risk.

My adult chickens are probably not at risk. But in the future I might want to give them hatchery eggs for maintenance. And I dont want to take a risk with Mareks disease with future chicks. Mareks is not something that goes away like others diseases.

If more people have experience with a similar situation or anyone knows about a research report in this I would be grateful.

 

[Kiki]

Im considering buying 3 Sussex bantams from an acquaintance who lives nearby.
She has 6 big ones and 3 bantams who don’t get along very well. She has these chickens since last summer and they are all healthy. I have room for these 3 bantams and would like to add them to flock.

But … She bought them with a vaccination against Marek disease. My flock is free of Marek. And I wonder if this can cause problems with chicks I might want to hatch in the future.

Does anyone know if I risk bringing in Marek in my flock and having dead chicks in the future?

Yes...they can bring the Marek's disease in to your flock even though they were vaccinated. I'd never make the mistake of accidentally bring in a disease into my flock. I actually have never added chickens to my original flock for this exact reason, but if I were to add I would add day old chicks from a major hatchery only.

 

[Kiki]

I don’t know the history when they were chicks. I only know the pullets were sold as POI pullets to the current owner.

I have been reading that there is a risk of bringing in Mareks disease with vaccinated chickens because it is possible they have been in contact with infected chickens. Others say this is this is nonsense. I have been reading too it depends largely on what breed you have if there is a serious risk.

My adult chickens are probably not at risk. But in the future I might want to give them hatchery eggs for maintenance. And I dont want to take a risk with Mareks disease with future chicks. Mareks is not something that goes away like others diseases.

If more people have experience with a similar situation or anyone knows about a research report in this I would be grateful.

All of your chickens could be at risk no matter the age if you brought vaccinated or unvaccinated chickens into your flock.

The vaccine does not prevent the disease nor will it prevent vaccinated birds from carrying the disease into your flock.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I don’t know the history when they were chicks. I only know the pullets were sold as POI pullets to the current owner.

I have been reading that there is a risk of bringing in Mareks disease with vaccinated chickens because it is possible they have been in contact with infected chickens. Others say this is this is nonsense. I have been reading too it depends largely on what breed you have if there is a serious risk.

My adult chickens are probably not at risk. But in the future I might want to give them hatchery eggs for maintenance. And I dont want to take a risk with Mareks disease with future chicks. Mareks is not something that goes away like others diseases.

If more people have experience with a similar situation or anyone knows about a research report in this I would be grateful.

If your vaccinated birds have contact with Mareks, they WILL bring it in. That is how my flock got it. One of the places I got my vaccinated chicks from apparently had it and my day olds brought it into my entire flock

 

[BDutch]

Thank you all for your answers. I made the decision these 3 pullets are not worth the risk for me and my flock.

I probably will go back to my original plan to buy hatchery eggs in spring (maybe Speckled bantam Sussex).

 

[Eggcessive]

I personally do not bring in chickens from outside my flock due to the unknowns of what they might be exposed to at their previous location. Mareks is pretty much everywhere in the world, but I would rather start with healthy chicks from a hatchery for the best chances. Unfortunately, that limits some of the rarer breeds.