- Jul 5, 2011
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Most chickens now are naturally immune to Mareks. But some can still get it so a little on the vaccine. Mareks vaccine is often an attenuated vaccine using non-virulent form that gives protection toward the virulent. Think of how cowpox use to give humans immunity to smallpox. It works the same way.
http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Health_standards/tahm/2.03.13_MAREK_DIS.pdf
There is always a risk of adding to your flock from people that you don't know. Personally, I'm comfortable adding to mine from people that I go back and forth with to their houses and areas. It's a little different with people I don't know. You could ask to see the area you're picking them up from but that isn't always a good indicator either. Some chickens actually have a better immune system coming from a little dirtier coop environment. Avian flu isn't a concern right now although I believe our chickens could get that from wild birds. You and this lady both live in the Falcon area so have somewhat of a herd immunity already because of the migratory pattern of the birds there.
I always quarantine birds for a week or so anyways. There is too much stress putting a new bird into an environment where they don't know the other hens. Just get a wire dog kennel, put in in shade with water and let them get to know each other without too much interaction. If you pick up a bird that has something, it really won't matter much if you quarantine them because often its the shoes, hands, clothes that spread the ickies around...just like in humans. The quarantine is helpful in that a stressed bird can get sick from things it ordinarily wouldn't get sick from.
So just do the typical quarantine/separation period. Let me know how it goes and take pictures.
edit: obviously if you go the wire kennel thing, you'll have to bring them in overnight and during the hottest part of the day until they can co-exist without wanting to kill each other.
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