8wk chick Marek's Vaccine?

[chicken stalker]

I have one 8wk old chick that has lost her balance. It happened within a couple days and I suspect either she has marek's or she got hit hard by the other hens. I'm leaning towards head injury because the older hens were "establishing" a pecking order. Anyway, just to be safe I am going to vaccinate my next set of chicks (due to hatch tomorrow).

Do you think I could inject to sick/injured 8week old?
What about 4 week olds? Do you think it might just boost immuntity. I know it won't be 100% but maybe better than nothing, if meraks is the case.?????

I will have a ton left over and hate to waste it.

BTW the 8wk old is isolated and on B complex and Vit E.

 

[chicken stalker]

anyone?

 

[trilyn]

Can older birds be vaccinated for Mareks Disease ? The answer to this question is ,yes. The age of the bird really does not matter as long as the bird has not been exposed to the Mareks Virus prior to vaccination. If a bird that has not been vaccinated for Mareks Disease comes down with the obvious symptoms of Mareks it may be of value to vaccinate anyway. There is some research to show that some birds may recover after vaccination. This would possibly work on birds whether or not they were vaccinated before. Some research has suggested that re-vaccination 4 to 6 weeks after the initial vaccination was of value in preventing new cases of Mareks disease in high risk areas. It is important to keep in mind that birds that have been infected are shedding this virus at a very heavy rate from their follicles and it would be of value to keep feathers about your coop cleaned up. Regular spraying with oxine will go a long way in keeping this disease as well as other diseases under control. Concerning the use of bleach as a disinfectant: go ahead and use it if you so desire but be aware that to my knowledge there are no studies to show the effectiveness of bleach against any disease organism. Oxine has reams of test data against a wide range of Pathogens and is designed to be used specifically for disinfection purposes. Consider this: during the anthrax scare of a few years ago, The Hart Senate Office Building in Washington,D.C. was heavily contaminated with Anthrax. The disinfectant of choice (although it was used in its Gaseous Form) was Oxine. I don’t recall them using bleach as an alternative. Remember that you get what you pay for . My Dad once told me that if you want good clean quality Oats that they come at a price,and that if you want the Oats after they come through the horse they come a bit cheaper. Nuf said.


I found this at http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/poultry-health/mareks-disease.html

I vaccinated all my chicks at 4 weeks and younger. I couldn't afford to buy vaccine twice! I would have done it though, if I didn't have a choice. Hope this helps.

 

[chicken stalker]

ohh wow thank you so much! So I think I will vaccinate all of them, just in case. It may or may not work but at least its better than nothing. I was worried that vaccinating older chicks may harm them. Thanks again.

 

[trilyn]

You're welcome and good luck!!

 

[horsejody]

Most birds are exposed to Mareks as soon as they go outside. It just stays latent in their system. According to the manufacturer, the vaccine is for day old chicks. They can actually be done when they are a bit older (as long as they have been quarantines their whole life). If they have already been out, I doubt it will do much good, especially if one is showing clinical signs.