How to give Marek's Vaccine to Day Olds?

[bigredfeather]

I have two hatches due next week. I am wanting to vaccinate them for Marek's. I have the vaccine and know I need to administer shortly after they hatch. I know to use a 22 GA needle, and give each chick .2 mL. I have never done this or seen it done.

For those of you who have done this, where is the proper place to give this vaccine? Do I need to use a new needle for each chick?

Thanks.

 

[Pathfinders]

I know it seems overwhelming at first, but it's really not.

I presume you've read through the insert on how to mix the vaccine, right? Be aware you don't have to have the large bottle of sterile adjutent cold, just the small bottle with the wafer needs to be kept in the fridge.

Follow the directions for mixing the vaccine. I use one new needle/syringe for about every three or four chicks.

Get someone to help you. You'll want two boxes with paper towel on the bottom. One for the unvaccinated chicks, another to put them into once you've vaccinated them. Clear off a spot on a table, and lay out a towel or some paper towel.

Pull a chick out and have your helper help you hold it. Point its head away from you, cupping it with your hand. Lift the skin on the back of its neck up and away from the body, pinching it between your fingers to make a fold. Fill a syringe, then gently insert the syringe into the top of the fold (but not all the way through!)

You'll feel the vaccine make a slight bump under the skin as you're doing it. Easy peasy!

A good way to practice making subcutaneous injections is to get some oranges and some Hawaiian Punch (the red stuff.) Practice injecting the HP into the skin of the orange, but not too far, so it only goes into the white part, not the flesh of the orange itself. To check your work, cut the orange in half to see where the color of the HP went (we do this with 4-H kids to teach them to do Subcute versus IM injections.)

Hope this helps, and if you get desperate, email me offline and I'll send you my phone number, be happy to walk you through it when you're actually doing it.

 

[cicene mete]

Just a follow-up on pathfinders' post, here is a webpage with pictures that you might find helpful: giving Marek's vaccine

My wife and I vaccinated our chicks, and it wasn't nearly as bad as we had feared. Good luck!

 

[ISSOLA]

Quote:
I would give the injection subcutaneous (under the skin) by the thigh. The instruction is to give it under the skin by the neck. I think that there are too many blood vessels there for my comfort. So I gave it to the thigh region (like I did to mice, for college research.)

 

[Pathfinders]

Quote:
Excellent article at that link, thanks for posting it! At my next hatch I'm going to get my daughter to video tape me doing it...

 

[bigredfeather]

Thank you everyone for the great advice/info. It doesn't appear to be as precise as I thought it might be.

 

[shabbychick23]

how much is this vaccine and where do you get it thanks

 

[Farmer Viola]

how much is this vaccine and where do you get it thanks

here is the vaccine
http://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Mareks-Vaccine-1000-Doses/New-Products
you will also need to order a syringe
http://www.strombergschickens.com/p...accinating-Birds/Poultry-Vaccines-Blood-Tests
how to give injection:
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/how_to_vaccinate_poultry_chicks_for_mareks_disease/