I'm hatching some chicks and want to vaccinate them for Marek's disease. They won't hatch for a few weeks so I have time to order online but was wondering if there is a local place to buy it I'm in Union City (Fremont).
Also it comes in large doses 1000 per bottle. Has anyone had in luck dividing it?
Thanks,
Deborah
HI Deborah,
I vaccinate all chicks that I hatch, and regularly split the wafer into quarters to get four batches of chicks done during hatching season. Here is how i do it, with a note that I am not a veterinarian and I'm sure the company that produces the vaccine would take no responsibility for the efficaciousness of the vaccine once the seal is breached, etc, etc, etc. That said, I have consulted medical professionals who tell me that as long as I use sterile procedures in keeping the wafer clean and the sterile diluant sealed to the best of my ability, it would be hard to introduce a pathogen into the inoculation that would be harmful to a chicken.
Buy vaccine, which comes as a bottle of diluant and a small, stoppered vial with one, small button-sized wafer (the vaccine).
Also buy two syringes, one to remove and "mix" the diluent (12 or 18 gauge), and the other for the inoculations (30 gauge diabetic needle works great for little chicks.)
On inoculation day, 20 minutes prior, sterilize a pair of tweezers, a small scissors, and a baby food jar and lid. (I submerge these in boiling water (I use all metal implements, and make sure no plastic parts go in hot water) for 5 minutes, generally. Lid of baby food just should be dipped in boiling water for 30 seconds so the rubber doesn't boil off.)
When all implements are dry, remove foil cap from wafer. Carefully remove rubber stopper from vial. Use tweezers to hold wafer, and cut wafer in 1/2 with sterilized scissors, keeping wafer inside the vial. Cut one 1/2 in 1/2 again to give you 1/4 wafer, which then goes into the sterilized baby food jar. Re-stopper the rest (3/4) of the vial. I also put packing tape over it. Return to fridge.
With large needle, poke through the stopper of the sterile diluant, draw up, and transfer to baby food jar until approximately 1/4 of the diluant has been transfered. (No, this is not an exact science, but only a little vaccine has to get into the chick.)
Keep the balance of the sterile diluant and vial with vaccine in the fridge until next usage. Use within a few weeks. (I go up to 10 weeks, but again, that is MY choice.)
Keep the mixed vaccine refrigerated until you are ready to inoculate. I typically mix it right before I give the inoculation, then will store it for a day to make sure I don't have any late bloomers hatching. Use within the first hour for best coverage. It stores for 24 hours, but then toss it. The medical professional I consult told me to pour it on the ground. (There is nothing active.)
You can find a video or a class if you have never given the inoculation.
I personally always inoculation as we have a high prevalence of Mareks here in Sonoma County. UC Davis recommends it for all back yard chicken keepers in CA. I Personally have had a chick die, and two young pullets that I bought from breeders that didn't vaccinate, and it is ugly. So FOR ME and me only, my decision is that I will always vaccinate. There is a variety of opinion on this subject, which I respect. After having researched extensively, this is what I have decided is my practice.
