Right, exactly. I read about the leaky Mareks vaccine on BY chicken initially and people were going back and forth like a verbal tennis match.
So, knowing I had unvaccinated chickens I dug deeper. I am not a scientist but I love to read and research. Ohio State Ag department and a few other academic sites I looked at had published some studies on the subject and I dug into them. I read through several papers, I am far far from an expert but the jist of what I read said that yes its leaky BUT the chances of a vaccinated chick giving the virus to an unvaccinated flock is very, very low according to the studies I happened upon.
So, low risk but no one is willing, and rightfully so, to say there is no risk. It is a hard decision but so far I have been in the camp of future chicks should be unvaccinated just to play it safe.
There does indeed seem to be a gulf of missing easily accessible answers for chicken keepers on a multitude of subjects not just this one. I have found many poultry studies but they are typically geared more towards mass production solutions and risk analysis vs backyard beloved pets. What a production farm or hatchery should do doesn’t necessarily always apply to a backyard environment. So, it ends up being quite the quandary and we are left doing what we feel we can live with and afford a lot of the time.
BY_Bob is an expert and is well versed in chicken issues, but also I know he is super busy right now. If and when he has time to type about it, it would be lovely to hear his explanation/ take on the Mareks vaccine, I agree.
