How to vaccinate chicks?

[FMAFarms]

My husband and I are planning on breeding our Silkies and possibly our Wyandottes. I want to vaccinate the chicks for Marek's. I know where to buy the syringes and the vaccine. What I don't know how to do is vaccinate a chick! I've given myself a multitude of insulin injections over the years, so it's not a matter of filling the syringe and injecting. It's more a matter of where on the chick do I inject the vaccine, and how deep does the needle go? Subcutaneous? Into a muscle? Under the wing? I'm afraid of piercing its little heart or another major organ, especially since these will be day olds. Any advice or links to this kind of info would be most welcome!

 

[kelidei]

Quote:
I did this last year... it is given just below the skin... so you want to go in very shallow... I am a nurse and it is like giving an intraderm injection... it will raise up a little bump just under the skin... use the back of the neck... my husband held the chick for me and I swabbed the area with an alcohol wipe, pinched up some skin, stuck just the very tip of the needle in let go of the skin and then injected. Being diabetic you will have very fine gauge needles and you will want TB syringes... they are the skinny ones that hold just 1 cc and are marked in tenths of a cc. It's a little nerve wracking but if you have a helper it will go way smoother. Good luck!

 

[FMAFarms]

Excellent! Thanks so much. Our 17 year old is going into pre-vet and he's volunteered to help, so hopefully we'll be set. Thanks again!

 

[pips&peeps]

Make sure you don't use too small of guage needle. The smallest I use is a 25 5/8, if you get too small it can shred the virus going through the needle and will do you no good.

 

[kelidei]

pips&peeps :

Make sure you don't use too small of guage needle. The smallest I use is a 25 5/8, if you get too small it can shred the virus going through the needle and will do you no good.

pips and peeps has a point. Use of smaller gauged needles are not very common... all TB and inulin syringes I have seen usually come with 25 5/8". With smaller gauges the apeture of the needle is big enough for the virus to pass through but the pressure of the suspension as it is forced through the smaller opening is high enough to break cell membranes of the viruses... so it is good advice

 

[trinacliff]

Ok, I'm now starting to vaccinate for Marek's...but I have a question. Right now, I have chicks that I incubated that I will give the vaccination to this evening...I also have some eggs under a broody hen that will be awhile before they hatch. I was wondering if I could remove some of the eggs from the broody just before hatching (leave her with a few), hatch them and then vaccinate them? I'm wondering how this is transmitted...will moving the eggs to the incubator then expose my incubator to Marek's? I can't imagine that being the case since obviously the eggs come from chickens that could or could not carry Marek's. Does the temperature of the incubator kill the virus on the eggs or something?

Thanks!

Kristen

 

[Kim_NC]

We give the vaccination in the upper thigh, just under the skin. DH holds them, I dampen the area with a cotton ball and alcohol, then lift the skin slightly and give the injection.

I just find it easier to give in the thigh rather than back of the neck.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

If I use medicated food for the chicks, I was told this would prevent having to vaccinate them. Did someone lie to me??

 

[FMAFarms]

Medicated food is for the prevention of coccidiosis, which is another poultry killer. Marek's is a completely different deadly disease, and medicated chick starter won't do anything to prevent Marek's.

Thanks for the upper-thigh suggestion. I wasn't too thrilled about pinching their little necks!

 

[pasunset]

Is there a certain age this should be done by? I'm new to chickens but our girls raise bunnies and I am also diabetic. I know how to use the needles and will probably do in the thigh. Where would I get the vaccine and supplies at Tractor Supply?
Janelle