Does anyone NOT vaccinate for Marek's?

[Fay at Frizzled Feathers]

We do not vaccinate our poultry for anything. Although it has been one of those things i have tossed back and forth in my mind ....but have decided against it at this time .

 

[the Precious Ladies]

Do just baby chicks get Mark's, or full grown chickens as well?

 

[Uzuri]

I've got a small, closed flock, so I don't.

If in the future I should have trouble with neighbors free-ranging chickens, I probably would start to get it, but as it is, they're pretty much on their own.

 

[lakeontariochicks]

Wow! Thanks everyone!

I didn't expect to see so many posts in response!
I appreciate all the answers, and everyone's honesty. I still don't know if I will vaccinate or not yet, but it was nice to have the help, and I'll be reading up some more on it.

 

[eponagirl]

Best thing to do is talk with your local extension office or if there is an avian vet or someone in your area that would know if anyone local has had Marek's or not. Then you will have an idea if it is the air nearby. If so, I would vaccinate. If not, you could chance it and see. Good Luck!

 

[goldnchocolate]

I'm glad to see this thread! I've been wondering the same thing, myself.

When I order chicks through the mail I have them vaccinated for Marek's at the hatchery. Last year one of my hens hatched 3 chicks and they weren't vaccinated. So far, so good. Now, I have one hen sitting on 7 eggs, another hen about to be put on 7 eggs plus I have 3 groups of hatching eggs coming in the mail that will be going in the incubator. I remember reading that hens will pass on immunities to their chicks (somehow) but I was beginning to wonder whether to vaccinate the incubator chicks or not. I guess that I will try not to worry about it after reading all of these responses.

 

[pinkkitty]

It makes for a lot more dead chicks in my experience. I have bantams and i think vaccinating them compromises their health. i don't know if those toxic boosters they put in vaccines could get into the eggs or the manure but i'm not willing to risk it. There is a real issue now environmentally with all these drug residues that never go away. i use the manure to grow my veg. and i eat my eggs, trying to keep my place as chemical free as i can. saying that i did have to cull a chick with merek's once, but everyone else was okay.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I don't vaccinate for Marek's (or anything else for that matter, in chickens), and I've never had an issue in eleven years of keeping a small flock. My birds have generally seemed healthy and my mortality is very low (I have four birds that are eleven years old and totally healthy!), so I just don't see a reason to. If anything disastrous happens or diseases start popping up in my area I may change my mind, but for now, I feel my chickens do quite well without vaccinations.

 

[babsbag]

I have a closed flock and lost 1 hen a few months back from what the lab said was "suspected Marek's" . My other 6 birds are fine, I have 5 chicks, 3 months old that I bought last month, I did not vaccinate. I just hatced out 9 Bantams yesterday. I have not vaccinated them. I have a broody hen right now as well. I really haven't made up my mind. I am not entirely convinced that my hen had Marek's. There have been no other chickens here. The closest ones are about 1/4 mile away. It is a hard decision and I vaccinate my other animals as little as possible. I am thinking of buying the vaccine and doing everyone after the broody has hatched her eggs. I would feel awful if I don't do it and loose my birds, but then if I do it, they might have problems from the vaccine. Is it a no win situation?

 

[MilkFarmChickens]

Quote:

Second question first: The Marek's vaccine is a live virus. It is weakened, but it is live. I don't believe there is a killed virus vaccine for Marek's, but I welcome the correction if anybody knows better.

First question: The vaccinated chicks will likely pass the virus to the unvaccinated chicks. From what I understand, they will be asymptomatic, just like the vaccinated ones, but they will actually carry the "lab" version of the virus (weakened). I am still researching what that means (coincidentally, I was just looking at this issue a few days ago), but from what I can tell so far, it isn't a big deal. In deciding whether to vaccinate the unvaccinated ones, the considerations are the same as they would be if you didn't have vaccinated chicks. Although the vaccinated chicks will likely pass the "lab" virus to your unvaccinated chicks, the unvaccinated chicks can still get the "field" virus. So, apparently, picking up the lab virus from the vaccinated chicks does not afford the same protection as being vaccinated. Even being vaccinated is not a guarantee against getting the field virus. In fact, the vaccine doesn't prevent infection with the field virus at all. It only reduces the likelihood of symptoms. So your unvaccinated chicks could get the field virus from your vaccinated chicks, if they got it. But, if they did get it, they would probably all get it together any way.

Weird stuff, and I am not completely comfortable that I have a firm grasp on all the issues, but I think what I have written thus far is accurate.

UGCM

I am super interested in whether you have found any further information at this point or whether you have the same opinion now. I’m not wanting to vaccinate my new chicks but also not wanting to be careless if it’s *actually* safer for them. I worry, as others have stated, that the vaccine will carry other negative health effects. Many of the vaccinated hatchery chicks I’ve bought have not been nearly as healthy as the ones I’ve hatched, and many have just dropped dead, so it makes me wonder “why” and whether the vaccine had anything to do with it or just circumstantial. Your response here is what I understand things to be. Would love an update.