Does anyone here NOT vaccinate for fowl pox?

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
yep, here they can almost lift you off the ground, espcially in the spring rainy season. I stay in the woods hunting a fishing and stuff. and you litterally just hear a constant humm from them.

For your bird, the pox usually is a wart like knot on the head area (where they get bit the easiest) It is usually yellowy looking to start then capped in black (the scab) If yours just looks like a cut or lesion, that may well be all it is. The pox will always show a a raised knot.. If that helps ID it any

It's more white with just a little flakiness and I noticed just a tiny black blood spot or two at the tip of his comb. The main area effected is his ear lobes and they haven't gotten worse or better in months.
We do have enough mosquitoes here that last year our city had the highest rate of West Nile Virus in the country for a short time and I don't spray any chemicals in my yard, at all. So, sometimes we actually do have some mosquitoes in the desert, due to irrigation, but nothing like when I lived in OK or CO.

most cases of the pox only last 3 weeks, so if it's been going on for months, it's not pox for sure then

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
Agree to disagree on this.

breaking the rules of being organic is by putting man made- chemicals of one form or the other into the birds right?
A vaccine is NOT a chemical. It's a natural virus, nothing maufactured about it other than the packaging it's coming in.

Yes, I agree to each his own. And if you dont want to vaccinate, you obviously dont have to. BUT I dont want folks on the organic train to let birds get sick and or die because they felt vaccinating birds would break the "organic" code....It's just not the case. True the use of vitamins, growth hormones, antiboitics, all that stuff chemically made is though, thechincally the use of store bought feed is too. But a vaccine is a natural dead virus floating in a saline solution, that's it, you can vaccinate and still be organic, and there is no withdrawal time.

I post this just as a FYI to everyone so they can be informed is all, not downing anyone for doing it or not doing it, that's all up to the individual owner

 

[lishah2000]

I've never vaccinated. Most of mine got it the first summer. Most were very minor and no big problem. Two roos that got into a fight and beat up pretty good got it really, really bad. Both had the wet pox and went through a patch were I didn't think they would pull through, but they did. How much of their problems were from injuries and how much was pox, I don't know.

I've noticed that the babies from those original birds or their offspring, really don't seem to get it. Maybe one bump, or none at all.

 

[TechnoCat]

nah, we don't vaccinate... but then again we only have two girls and no other fowl!

our girls have never been sick, never been harmed. No one goes near our girls with anything sharp...

 

[fishnet1971]

Quote:
X-2

X3. Except i am not the outdated type!!! oh wait, how old is outdated???? i keep forgetting i am in my 40's.... crud, did i just say that in public?????

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
X-2

X3. Except i am not the outdated type!!! oh wait, how old is outdated???? i keep forgetting i am in my 40's.... crud, did i just say that in public?????

Outdated, not necessarily implied by age. I just meant that the way I breed, select, and care for birds may be considered outdated and ignorant by many though it has always worked for my great grandfather, grandfather, father, and I.

Age wise, I'm not even 18 yet lol...

 

[klmclain1]

Quote:
Yes.. I can understand why you'd vaccinate. I live in a VERY dry climate (El Paso) and usually have no mosquitos! (lucky me!!) The dry climate keeps me from having to deal with a lot of problems that can affect my girls!

 

[animaladdictions]

Ok so not to take over the discussion or anything, but if not for pox then for what? I noticed several of you don't vaccinate for anything at all. My problem is, I've raised chickens and other birds most of my life and I never vaccinated anything. I was always told that its not really necessary for a small back yard flock. Well, for the past, oh I don't know, five years I guess, I didn't have any birds. This past spring, I decided and had the means to get back to my passion and get some good quality stock in the breeds that are my personal favorites. So I went about looking for some reputable breeders and have since spent a small fortune on hatching eggs of various breeds, (I've lost WAY MORE than I've hatched). Anyway, now I'm a paranoid skitzo! I LOVE my birds, I'm half crazy over them my hubby would probably say! But now, every time I hear a sneeze or see anything that "might" be a little abnormal, I start freakin out thinkin, " OH NO! IM GONNA HAVE TO CULL THE WHOLE FLOCK!" LOL! You'd think I'd never seen a chicken or goose in my life! Are there certain vaccines that really MUST be given? Are my birds too old now or can you vaccinate at any age? I am planning on getting NPIP Certified soon, will they vaccinate after testing? Uggh. I just need a little advice if that's okay with the
original poster? I'm a real mess over here!

 

[rbaker0345]

I vaccinate as little as possible. Fowl pox is like small pox. It is endemic and it could only be wiped out if a full scale vaccination program of all avians were inacted. But since that's impossible, I think its better to support the birds that get it and when they recover, they are part of a stronger, resistant flock.

I have a degree in molecular biology and I have a fatalistic, survival of the fittest view of epidemic illness. If your birds are your pets and you don't want to see any of them get sick, vaccinate. Its not going to hurt anything, you will just be allowing birds with weaker genes to multiply, but is that really going to be the end of the world?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

no there's nothing that is mandatory. As has been mentioned, with bio security, you can avoid most. No there's no age limits, most can be given at a day old or up, some need to be a week or better. There are several vaccines out there, Fowl Pox obviously, Marek's Disease, MG (chronic respiratory disease) and 1-2 others.
If they arent an issue in your area, I wouldnt be overly worried. Most of the posters so far on here, like they say, are in low areas of risk for fowl pox, so they dont worry with it, others like us here in the deep south do. Many dont even know there are vaccines, some do and chose not to use them as they have never had a problem.

Most problems we run into just dont have a vaccine. Personally, I have never known anyone who has had Mareks, but hatcheries will vaccinate their chicks anyway, which may be part of why you dont see it much. The MG, everyone will see eventually if you keep enough birds and stay in it long enough. To me, it's the worst of the 3 I know of. It doesnt kill, but is chronic, meaning any bird who catches it, will be a carrier of it for life and will infect all other birds it comes into contact with. It alone isnt really deadly, but it invites other complications to come in. All these, post and threads you see with sick birds with sneezing, head shakes, swollen eyes, mucus, etc, symptoms like that, 90% of the time, it's MG.

Funny, there are a million products out there to treat it too, but none of them work. It treats the symptoms, not the disease, and at best helps keep other infections from getting to the birds. But in the long run, it just has to run it's course, sorta like a cold in us. Then when it's all done, you have a bird that will spread it to others over it's life.

NPIP can test for this for you, they can also test for AI, MS, and several other common diseases in poultry. No they do not vaccinate or treat any birds for you though, but if your guys finds something, he can direct you to a lab where they can diagnose and tell you how to treat for it.

The good news, most of the time, they get over it on their own, they are pretty tuff birds. Dont be overly worried, you can drive yourself mad at times. Just be watchful over them, ask your NPIP guy where a state lab is near you just to have for back up in case something unusual start happening, and watch them. Most of the time, they just get simple bugs that they can deal with.