can adult chickens be vaccinated for marek's?

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
10/10 chicks lost...this makes me ill...I am soooooo sorry.

I have misc layers that are around 2 years old...bought at Feed Store (before I had BYC to educate me).
I have 1 older cochin hen bought elsewhere (unsure if she was vaccinated but can find out)
3 Seramas (almost a year old) bought from breeder (can ask..not sure if vaccinated).
2 serama chicks raised by broody from above parents. hatched here - I did not vaccinate. They are approx 10 weeks old (would have to check my book)
5 orp and 1 serama chicks incubator hatched (in the house right now approx 2 weeks old).
1 6-month old Orp pullet (hatched here - right now fighting what I believe is Cocci - she is in house being medicated).

Okay, so say I order vaccination. I vaccinate 6 chicks in house. They will be in house most of the winter as we get cold winters here. When they are put outside...will they potentially infect the others? I will verify if the cochin hen and the older seramas have been vaccinated or not. I would like to vaccinate the black orp pullet too, when she is better. Would this be to her benefit? What if I vaccinate the two serama chicks that are outside under their mother? Will they infect anyone?

Thank you so much for all the information....it is wonderful.

 

[seminolewind]

Quote:
10/10 chicks lost...this makes me ill...I am soooooo sorry.

I have misc layers that are around 2 years old...bought at Feed Store (before I had BYC to educate me).
I have 1 older cochin hen bought elsewhere (unsure if she was vaccinated but can find out)
3 Seramas (almost a year old) bought from breeder (can ask..not sure if vaccinated).
2 serama chicks raised by broody from above parents. hatched here - I did not vaccinate. They are approx 10 weeks old (would have to check my book)
5 orp and 1 serama chicks incubator hatched (in the house right now approx 2 weeks old).
1 6-month old Orp pullet (hatched here - right now fighting what I believe is Cocci - she is in house being medicated).

Okay, so say I order vaccination. I vaccinate 6 chicks in house. They will be in house most of the winter as we get cold winters here. When they are put outside...will they potentially infect the others? I will verify if the cochin hen and the older seramas have been vaccinated or not. I would like to vaccinate the black orp pullet too, when she is better. Would this be to her benefit? What if I vaccinate the two serama chicks that are outside under their mother? Will they infect anyone?

Thank you so much for all the information....it is wonderful.

The only thing you can do is protect any new chicks from dying from Marek's symptoms. The chicks that you vaccinate should not have had any contact with any other chicken, and anything that is outside. Contamination can be carried on shoes, clothes, socks, hair, skin, etc.

The vaccine will keep in the fridge for quite a while-a year, maybe 2?. There are instructions somewhere about how to use 1/4 of the vaccine and save the rest. Saves alot of money.

Chances are if you hatch your own eggs from your own flock they will have resistance already.
Vaccinated birds any age and vaccinated or not can carry and spread the illness.
You already have one sick Orp in the house, so it would be real hard to quarantine chicks.

 

[leela2012]

Hello All,
I want to buy these Silkie chicks at the feed store and the are 1-2 days old. The only problem is they are not vaccinated for Marek's. I have 5 other chicks already that are on medicated feed and have been vaccinated for Marek's, what should I do??? Can I have them vaccinated?? HELP! I want them!

 

[shelley31904]

You can buy the vaccine and do it yourself...I think there is confusion from what I have been reading on this thread. I may be wrong but here goes...when someone said any bird vaccinated or not can spread the disease...that is true. But, the vaccine does not make your bird a carrier. When a bird is exposed to marek's disease, not the vaccination, it becomes a carrier. So, keep unvaccinated chicks quarantined until they are vaccinated and have had time to build an immunity.

 

[Arielle]

I'm updating my experience with mereck vaccines.

My original flock I bought as chicks and had them all vaccinated, for both coccidia and merecks. Now I have chicks of various ages and need to vaccinate.

Dr. Brown at First State Vet supply, has a page dedicated to merecks and the value of vaccinating. Please read in it's entirity and keep it on file.

A 1000 dose can be divided BEFORE mixing diluent and dried vaccine. It must be used with in 2.5 hours if kept in ice bath during that entire time.

Vaccinated birds must be kept quarentined for 14 days from unvaccinated birds. Edited to add: THis allows chicks to build immunity before exposure


ANy age chicken can be vaccinated; not limited to day old chicks.

He recommends vaccinating birds sick from merecks because it is possible to prevent the growth of tumors if the bird survives the disease.

Please take the time to read the information Dr Brown as written up--he is a poultry vet, and he was very nice to talk with and gave me indepth information.

Instuctions on dividing the 1000 dose vial into many doses is also listed.

Very small money to vaccinate considering the amount of money feed costs these days.

 

[seminolewind]

Arielle, I agree, small money for a vaccine.

I think you brought up an interesting point. Vaccinate for Marek's and Coccidiosis. It seems that my vaccinated birds had a serious hit with coccidiosis, 4 died . I've read that they can go hand in hand with the lower immune system. I'll be vaccinating for both from now on.

 

[rockinpaints]

Arielle, I agree, small money for a vaccine.

I think you brought up an interesting point. Vaccinate for Marek's and Coccidiosis. It seems that my vaccinated birds had a serious hit with coccidiosis, 4 died . I've read that they can go hand in hand with the lower immune system. I'll be vaccinating for both from now on.

Hi there, I just happened upon this and thought I would add to it. I also vaccinate for Mareks and Coccidia. I use Coccivac D which is also for 1000 doses, but I divide it up into doses for 25 chick doses. Coccidia is so deadly as a lot of the time you don't realize they are even sick till it is too late, I have been using the vaccine for about 2 years. It is a little more costly than the mareks. Mareks runs about $15-$19 a bottle and Coccivac D is about $60 but worth every penny! Don't wast your time on Coccivac B (about $19) as it only treats a couple of the strains of coccidia and not the most deadly. Good luck!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: You are so right! I lost about 20 4-6 week old chicks as I didn't recognise the problem in time. Even after starting treatment, birds that looked good eventually went down hill and died. A rough few days for sure. I learned my lesson.

The coccideia vaccine can be hard to get-- a seasonal item for some sources.

THe one thing I do not know is the withdrawal time on eggs for the egg layers being vaccinated at the same time as all the other birds in the flock--waiting for a call back from Dr. Brown.

 

[leadwolf1]

May I ask how you are planning on separating the vaccine? Without a really good scale, how do you know that you are not putting too much into one vaccine mix and not enough into the next. The Marek's vaccine is very delicate. Unless properly administered, it is worthless. There just isn't anyway to split that tiny bit of dried vaccine into equal portions. I wouldn't even try. Not only that but, once you start playing with it, it is no longer sterile and other 'things' can jump in there that you will then inject into your chickens. As for the vaccine, every one that I have ever used has a use within time of 1 hour...whether in an ice bath or, not. Please make sure to read the directions on your vial before you begin. If given incorrectly, you may as well not do it.

I don't want to sound harsh, I just don't want people thinking that it is something easy that they can do. It isn't easy at all to correctly separate the vaccine and do it correctly. After as many birds as I've lost, it just wouldn't be worth the risk for me.

I'm updating my experience with mereck vaccines.

My original flock I bought as chicks and had them all vaccinated, for both coccidia and merecks. Now I have chicks of various ages and need to vaccinate.

Dr. Brown at First State Vet supply, has a page dedicated to merecks and the value of vaccinating. Please read in it's entirity and keep it on file.

A 1000 dose can be divided BEFORE mixing diluent and dried vaccine. It must be used with in 2.5 hours if kept in ice bath during that entire time.

Vaccinated birds must be kept quarentined for 14 days from unvaccinated birds.


ANy age chicken can be vaccinated; not limited to day old chicks.

He recommends vaccinating birds sick from merecks because it is possible to prevent the growth of tumors if the bird survives the disease.

Please take the time to read the information Dr Brown as written up--he is a poultry vet, and he was very nice to talk with and gave me indepth information.

Instuctions on dividing the 1000 dose vial into many doses is also listed.

Very small money to vaccinate considering the amount of money feed costs these days.

 

[rockinpaints]

Just wanted to correct one thing in the post that I read earlier. Marek's vaccine can not cause the disease or produce carriers as it is made from Turkey Marek's virus so no need to worry about that. Probably the vet was saying the vaccinated chicks would still be able to get the virus for 10-14 days after vaccinating, to protect them from exposure for that long.

Another thing that I do when I can is raise a baby turkey in with a clutch of baby chicks as they can pass on marek's immunities to the chickies. However I still vaccinate....just double protection!

As far as dividing the vaccine, I do that as well with my own chicks. I cut the cake in quarters (a little difficult) and you are correct there is no way to be sure the exact weight. However I give a little more than they need to each chick to cover any under measuring as I will throw out most of it anyway. Studies have been done with doubling the dose, it does not increase the efficacy but it will not hurt the chicks, if you are dividing the vaccine it is better to be safe than sorry.

The vaccine is only 75 to 90% effective, so if you are vaccinating 100 chicks chances are you are going to see it in some of the chicks. For that reason we also give a second vaccine before we put them outside in the "big kids" area (there is no proof that a second vaccine works any better either just my own preference with my own chicks). Most chickens are naturally immune by the time they are 5 months if they are not exposed and die first. In Canada it is one of the vaccines that is required for selling baby chicks.

There are also some breeds that are very resistant to Mareks and there are some breeds (Silkies.....) that are VERY susceptible to it.

Good luck every one!!