Looking to get chicks

[farmkat55]

I'm planning to get some Buff Orpington chicks soon, when I can find a good place to get them. None are available around here, so I'm thinking I'm gonna have to use a hatchery. My question is what's the deal with any vaccinations? Do they need them, is it good to get them? These will be our first chickens to raise, and we've got many animals so I k now sometimes vaccs are overdone. But want to do the best thing for them, too. Just want to get girlies for eggs, so any help is appreciated!

Thanks!
Kathy in South Dakota

 

[kbky1973]

Hi , you know, I am I KY, I do not know if your land is clean from animals and ground virus. If you haven't had any animals or birds, I'd say you were very safe, not needing any vaccines. I do not get vaccines, done never. Do not have any problems. I feed medicated chick starter and grower. I think when I checked vaccines were 15 Cents per chick. Know that's not much, but still I would not need them. Maybe if you have lots of chickens close by get them done. I love Cackle, hatchery. It's on the net, very good trip time, clean hatchery. Your choice. Also Mt Healthy chicks, in Mt healthy OHIO. on the net. Good place.

 

[mpmb1227]

Honestly it's up to you. Chances are higher that they will contract diseases if you've had other livestock on the land before. Personally, I do not do vaccines of any sort, though I raise my chicks with a broody hen outside in a coop, and have never had issues with diseases that could wipe out a flock. When they get sick, which is easy to tell by their behavior, I will isolate them, give them food and water with probiotics and fresh crushed garlic cloves, which work as antibiotic and antiparasitic agents. The best thing for you to do is learn about the risks to your local area specifically, do some research and ask neighbors about their experiences if they've owned chickens. Everyone has their own method of raising chickens and managing their flock, so it's really up to what you are more comfortable with. Will they be purely livestock or more of family pets? Will they free range or be cooped up all the time? How much space is provided for them? What kind of credentials does the hatchery you are getting chicks from have? All of these questions should be some key factors in your decisions.

 

[mpmb1227]

Additionally, many hatcheries will vaccinate against Mereks Disease, which is typically the only one they really need. Coccidiosis is another risk that some vaccines are given for, but this is also fairly treatable if caught early.

 

[theuglychick]

I wanted to share my experience with you. I ordered two sets of chicks that arrived July 8th. One order came from Murray McMurray and one came from chickensforbackyards.com, which I think is a Cackle Hatchery company.

In effort to reduce disease, I opted to get the chicks vaccinated for everything that I could. MM vaccinated for mareks and cocci, CFBY vaccinated only for mareks.

Both sets of chicks were hatched the same day (Wed) and arrived the same day (Fri).

From day 1, my MM chicks had watery stools that became bloody. I figured out was cocci- even though they were vaccinated for it. I'm starting my second round of treatment using Sulfadimethoxine because it didn't respond to the Corid. They are JUST starting to get over it.

I also lost 2 out of the 8 Buff Orpingtons I ordered from them. 1 was spradle legged and the other died from the cocci.

The 6 pullets that I got from CFBY are beautiful and have been thriving from day 1 and they never developed the cocci, despite not being vaccinated for it.

My reccomendatiin is to NOT vaccinate against cocci, feed medicated starter feed while they build up immunity, and just vaccinate against mareks. Hope this helps.

 

[LilJoe]

I wanted to share my experience with you. I ordered two sets of chicks that arrived July 8th. One order came from Murray McMurray and one came from chickensforbackyards.com, which I think is a Cackle Hatchery company.

In effort to reduce disease, I opted to get the chicks vaccinated for everything that I could. MM vaccinated for mareks and cocci, CFBY vaccinated only for mareks.

Both sets of chicks were hatched the same day (Wed) and arrived the same day (Fri).

From day 1, my MM chicks had watery stools that became bloody. I figured out was cocci- even though they were vaccinated for it. I'm starting my second round of treatment using Sulfadimethoxine because it didn't respond to the Corid. They are JUST starting to get over it.

I also lost 2 out of the 8 Buff Orpingtons I ordered from them. 1 was spradle legged and the other died from the cocci.

The 6 pullets that I got from CFBY are beautiful and have been thriving from day 1 and they never developed the cocci, despite not being vaccinated for it.

My reccomendatiin is to NOT vaccinate against cocci, feed medicated starter feed while they build up immunity, and just vaccinate against mareks. Hope this helps.

if you have the ones from MM medicated feed it stop the vaccination from working for cocci

 

[backyard2104621]

Hello farmcat55,
I just order 3 minimum order baby chicks from craklehatchery.com .. they are super cute and healthy. i got them on July16. I wish I can give you one chicky because the fact I want only two. Hahaha I know you are not close to me. Anyway I research for a long time to find a online hatchery to order. I found a few. I need to order small like 2 to 3 chicks. And crackle hatchery offer the small order baby chick.
Ok hope you get baby chicks soon. They are so cute!




these pics were taken at the first day that they arrived my home.
Now they have been living with me for a week.
I let them walk in my yard while I am sitting with them sometime.
1 buff orpington, one silver laced wyandotte and one gold laced wyandotte

// MT

 

[Jensownzoo]

I wanted to share my experience with you. I ordered two sets of chicks that arrived July 8th. One order came from Murray McMurray and one came from chickensforbackyards.com, which I think is a Cackle Hatchery company.

In effort to reduce disease, I opted to get the chicks vaccinated for everything that I could. MM vaccinated for mareks and cocci, CFBY vaccinated only for mareks.

Both sets of chicks were hatched the same day (Wed) and arrived the same day (Fri).

From day 1, my MM chicks had watery stools that became bloody. I figured out was cocci- even though they were vaccinated for it. I'm starting my second round of treatment using Sulfadimethoxine because it didn't respond to the Corid. They are JUST starting to get over it.

I also lost 2 out of the 8 Buff Orpingtons I ordered from them. 1 was spradle legged and the other died from the cocci.

The 6 pullets that I got from CFBY are beautiful and have been thriving from day 1 and they never developed the cocci, despite not being vaccinated for it.

My reccomendatiin is to NOT vaccinate against cocci, feed medicated starter feed while they build up immunity, and just vaccinate against mareks. Hope this helps.

And this would be why I wish they wouldn't call it "vaccination". Instead of giving them an injection of an inactivated or weakened organism to stimulate antibodies against it, they basically feed them a small amount of fully functional oocysts (eggs) that turn into fully functional adult coccidia. If the bird isn't up to mounting an proper immune response (say...is stressed from shipping or other vaccines or whatever) then the organism starts reproducing unchecked and leads to the actual disease like you experienced.

I wish I had vaccinated my chicks for Marek's, but instead of a cocci vaccine, let them recover their strength for a week or so then simply throw a clod of dirt from the ground that they will eventually be living on in the brooder with them. They'll pick at it, ingest some of it, and "vaccinate" themselves against whatever cocci are present.

 

[theuglychick]

if you have the ones from MM medicated feed it stop the vaccination from working for cocci

I knew that going in, and opted to feed medicated to protect the unvaccinated chicks because in Louisiana if there is a parasite or disease, we have it! That being said they still shouldn't have arrived with it. The vaccines take about 10 days to kick in anyway, plus there should have been an incubation period for the cocci if they got it from the other chicks. These chicks were sick from day 1 of getting them out of the box. I called MM and reported it immediately and they said shipping stress but that just didn't seem right. They said watch it for a few days to see if it got better or worse. Once the poop started to become reddish brown I realized it was cocci and started Corid but after waiting to see if it improved like MM said. I should have started it from day 1 like my gut told me. We are finally getting straight.

 

[JaysGirl]

I wanted to share my experience with you. I ordered two sets of chicks that arrived July 8th. One order came from Murray McMurray and one came from chickensforbackyards.com, which I think is a Cackle Hatchery company.

In effort to reduce disease, I opted to get the chicks vaccinated for everything that I could. MM vaccinated for mareks and cocci, CFBY vaccinated only for mareks.

Both sets of chicks were hatched the same day (Wed) and arrived the same day (Fri).

From day 1, my MM chicks had watery stools that became bloody. I figured out was cocci- even though they were vaccinated for it. I'm starting my second round of treatment using Sulfadimethoxine because it didn't respond to the Corid. They are JUST starting to get over it.

I also lost 2 out of the 8 Buff Orpingtons I ordered from them. 1 was spradle legged and the other died from the cocci.

The 6 pullets that I got from CFBY are beautiful and have been thriving from day 1 and they never developed the cocci, despite not being vaccinated for it.

My reccomendatiin is to NOT vaccinate against cocci, feed medicated starter feed while they build up immunity, and just vaccinate against mareks. Hope this helps.

Agree