Introducing new chicks to the flock? Will it be harmful?

[mrl8810]

I have had chickens for about five years and everyone seems healthy and happy..I was going to buy some chicks from from hoovershatchery...I'm paying the additional .50 to get the vaccinated for cocci and marek's...but i don't think my other chickens that I've had for so long were ever vaccinated as I bought them from a family member years ago. Will it hurt my chickens if i introduce the chicks? My chickens haven't been vaccinated...so i didn't know if introducing vaccinated chicks may be an issue or affect anything. I didn't know if it was okay to have vaccinated chicks around non vaccinated chickens. Thanks

 

[NatJ]

Coccidiosis: vaccinated chicks will not harm your adult chickens.

Mareks:
There is a big long article about Mareks.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Based on what it says, I think day-old chicks that are vaccinated for Mareks should be fine.

Day-old chicks from any major hatchery should not have Mareks, whether they are vaccinated or not.
If they get exposed later, they can still catch the disease, but the vaccine makes them less likely to show symptoms.

You can have a problem if you buy adult chickens that have been vaccinated for Mareks, even if they seem healthy, because they might still be carrying the disease and spread it to the rest of your flock (where the unvaccinated birds probably will show symptoms and maybe die.)

So vaccinated day-old chicks are fine, but vaccinated adult birds are riskier than non-vaccinated adult birds (assuming they all seem healthy.)

 

[raingarden]

A new bird is like a box of chocolates. You never know......

 

[igorsMistress]

The problem with Marek’s vaccine is twofold. It doesn’t keep your chickens from getting Marek’s and only hides the symptoms. It is also leaky, meaning if your older birds didn’t get it and the newbies do, then your older flock members may get sick. With regard coccidiosis, if you simply expose your chicks to a bin of dirt or a plug of grass from your yard right away, they will begin to develop natural immunity which is far better than a vaccine. Also, in my experience it’s far easier to introduce chicks to adults immediately but separated by wire. The chicks shouldn’t have any illness as they are brand new. Then around four weeks let them begin to mingle with the adults. They won’t be a “threat to resources “ like bigger birds and are usually quick enough to stay out of reach of the bigs. Be sure you provide a safe place only they can enter to get a break from the bigs when needed.

 

[NatJ]

The problem with Marek’s vaccine is twofold. It doesn’t keep your chickens from getting Marek’s and only hides the symptoms. It is also leaky, meaning if your older birds didn’t get it and the newbies do, then your older flock members may get sick.

Do you mean that vaccinated chicks, never exposed to the actual disease, could give Mareks to the older birds?

I thought a "leaky" vaccine just means that some vaccinated birds can get the disease if they are exposed, not that the vaccine itself causes the disease.

Or do you mean that if the whole flock is exposed later, the unvaccinated older ones are more likely to get sick and the vaccinated younger ones are less likely to get visibly sick?

 

[igorsMistress]

Do you mean that vaccinated chicks, never exposed to the actual disease, could give Mareks to the older birds?

I thought a "leaky" vaccine just means that some vaccinated birds can get the disease if they are exposed, not that the vaccine itself causes the disease.

Or do you mean that if the whole flock is exposed later, the unvaccinated older ones are more likely to get sick and the vaccinated younger ones are less likely to get visibly sick?

Unvaccinated birds can get it from vaccinated birds. That’s what I mean by leaky. The vaccine does not keep the vaccinated birds from getting Marek’s but masks the symptoms only. So your vaccinated birds won’t show symptoms but the unvaccinated might get sick and die from it. The vaccinated can still die from it, but may not show the physical symptoms that come with it.

 

[NatJ]

Unvaccinated birds can get it from vaccinated birds. That’s what I mean by leaky. The vaccine does not keep the vaccinated birds from getting Marek’s but masks the symptoms only. So your vaccinated birds won’t show symptoms but the unvaccinated might get sick and die from it. The vaccinated can still die from it, but may not show the physical symptoms that come with it.

But that still means that vaccinated birds must be exposed to Mareks in order to catch it, right?

So if someone is buying day-old chicks from a hatchery, their adult birds will have the same risk whether the hatchery vaccinates the chicks or not. Because whether the chicks are exposed to Mareks at the hatchery (hopefully not) is not changed by vaccination.

 

[RoyalChick]

The chicks won't have Marek's because they will not have been exposed to it. However, the vaccine takes a while to 'take' in the chicks so they should still be separated from the big chickens until they have built their immunity because it is possible that the big chickens have Marek's without OP being aware and could pass it to the chicks before the vaccine takes.
The risk to the big chickens from the chicks is close to zero because there is almost no way the day-old chicks would be exposed at the hatchery.

 

[igorsMistress]

But that still means that vaccinated birds must be exposed to Mareks in order to catch it, right?

So if someone is buying day-old chicks from a hatchery, their adult birds will have the same risk whether the hatchery vaccinates the chicks or not. Because whether the chicks are exposed to Mareks at the hatchery (hopefully not) is not changed by vaccination.

No, there’s a higher risk becathe older birds are now exposed to the vaccinated chicks. The virus is shed in their dander to everyone else in the coop. The only difference is your chicks may not die right now. The virus can live for a long time after all your birds are dead.

 

[NatJ]

No, there’s a higher risk becathe older birds are now exposed to the vaccinated chicks. The virus is shed in their dander to everyone else in the coop. The only difference is your chicks may not die right now. The virus can live for a long time after all your birds are dead.

But where did the chicks get the virus?