How do you give Mereks vaccine?

[Ginmary]

Two of my new 8 chicks are silkies and they are the only ones not vaccinated. How can I get them vaccinated?

 

[Livia Ammon]

I think it’s a hatchery offered treatment, perhaps reach out to local hatchery’s and ask them about options.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I may be wrong but I think it must be administered in the first 24 hours after hatch. Let me ask an Educator to confirm.
@Eggcessive @azygous @Perris

 

[Eggcessive]

It can be administered at any time, but the best time is at the hatchery as a day old, before they have been anywhere where they could possibly be exposed. By the time they have reached your environment, it may be too late. But you can purchase it from several online stores in a 1000 dose vial with the diluent, and you also have to buy a cooler and ice plus pay for overnight shipping. The mixed vial of 1000 doses must be used within an hour. Here is a link for it:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...MIhbHIvf20jQMVUE9HAR1mFziFEAQYASABEgIUyvD_BwE

 

[Ginmary]

Can vets do it?

 

[nuthatched]

Can vets do it?

No. Eggcessive supplied a link for the vaccine, but it's not really a useful vaccine.

 

[Folly's place]

After you have these chicks in your environment it's a bit too late, and the vaccine story from @Eggcessive is exactly right.
These chicks just aren't vaccinated, when you order chicks in the future, have it done at the hatchery, or be prepared a head of time.
When we order hatchery chicks we have them vaccinated, and then totally separated from our flock and environment for over two weeks, so the vaccine can do it's job.
Chicks hatched here, or from a farm store, aren't vaccinated, and are the 'canaries in the coal mine' who will be sick first if Marek's disease ever hits our flock.
If your flock is already infected, the best plan is to only buy vaccinated chicks and have them totally isolated for three weeks before bringing them home.
Mary

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hmmm. But I understood that the Marek's vaccine does not prevent them from actually getting Marek's, it just keeps them from getting lesions from it. So they could get it, but it would be in an occult, or "invisible" form. So ... your birds, even if they show no signs of being sick, could be carriers, and could expose other birds if you took them to swaps or shows, and you'd never know it. Is that right? This is why I stopped having mine vaccinated. If Marek's ever shows up in my flock, I want to know about it! Please correct me if I am wrong! Educators? @Eggcessive, @Wyorp Rock @azygous?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, I forgot to mention that it takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to give immunity. I have always ordered vaccinated chicks from Meyer hatchery years ago. A few I got from a small hatchery did not come vaccinated, as they did not offer it. Ones I hatched here from my own eggs were not vaccinated. Fortunately, none of my birds every had Mareks. In the future I may choose not to vaccinate new birds, since the Mareks virus constantly mutates, and new strains are always emerging. Many people on BYC who have Mareks in their flocks choose not to vaccinate, while others do vaccinate, to give their chicks the best chance. There is a good section to read under “Vaccines” in the article below:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/