Marek’s and unvaccinated chicks

[Tulipmasteer]

Hello! First post here and first time chick caretaker!

After months of research, I finally picked up 3 ameracanas/easter egger and one light Brahma female day old chicks from TSC about three weeks ago. So far it’s been great, but as I continue to research the multitude of horrible things that can happen to my peeps I came across something distressing.

Originally, I thought the chicks from tsc were vaccinated from mareks, because why wouldn’t they be? Hoover, which supplies tractor supply in my area at least, gives the option to vaccinate for literal Pennies, so why wouldn’t they vaccinate? But now after reading through threads on this forum, it turns out they’re not vaccinated for mareks! And you can only vaccinate them straight out of the egg!

So how should I manage my tiny flock in my backyard? No one owns chickens around me even though the township allows it, but I do get lots of wild songbirds in my yard. I know vaccinated chickens can still pass mareks on to other chickens, but the thought of my peeps getting mareks and dying horribly is keeping me up at night!

 

[nuthatched]

They don't vaccinate because there's a lot of people who don't want it, if someone wants or needs vaccinated chicks, they need to order them. It can also create problems later.
The mereks vaccine doesn't prevent the disease, it just (usually about 75% success rate) prevents the symptoms that cause death. As you saw vaccinated chickens can still catch and spread the disease without ever showing it.
The chances of mereks depends on your region, if you're really concerned, you can also have a large, covered run screened with hardware cloth to help reduce exposure. Honestly, you're average flock is much more likely to die other ways than mereks.
Unfortunately, chickens are pretty close to the bottom of the food chain and can get a lot of issues, if the just the thoughts of anything happening to them causes so much anxiety, perhaps chickens are not for you. No one should live under that cloud.

 

[dripbabygirl]

oh

 

[Tulipmasteer]

The mereks vaccine doesn't prevent the disease, it just (usually about 75% success rate) prevents the symptoms that cause death. As you saw vaccinated chickens can still catch and spread the disease without ever showing it.

Unfortunately, chickens are pretty close to the bottom of the food chain and can get a lot of issues, if the just the thoughts of anything happening to them causes so much anxiety, perhaps chickens are not for you. No one should live under that cloud.

Haha, I was being a bit dramatic about being kept up at night, but it does worry me that mareks is so common just about everywhere. With predators at least I can build a really good coop and run and be decently confident in their safety but this stuff just floats on the wind!
Thanks for the info!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Haha, I was being a bit dramatic about being kept up at night, but it does worry me that mareks is so common just about everywhere. With predators at least I can build a really good coop and run and be decently confident in their safety but this stuff just floats on the wind!
Thanks for the info!

My flock got it (vaccinated babies that were exposed before being mailed to me). Older unvaccinated birds haven't had anyone go down from it. My ones now that hatch out, most don't show symptoms, some do, and I have one breed that is far more susceptible to it. Generally, though I just had a pullet prove me wrong this past week, once mine hit 6 months, they're generally pretty safe from going down. Of course, that is just my flock, there's no guarantee that someone else will have the same experience

 

[dripbabygirl]

My flock got it (vaccinated babies that were exposed before being mailed to me). Older unvaccinated birds haven't had anyone go down from it. My ones now that hatch out, most don't show symptoms, some do, and I have one breed that is far more susceptible to it. Generally, though I just had a pullet prove me wrong this past week, once mine hit 6 months, they're generally pretty safe from going down. Of course, that is just my flock, there's no guarantee that someone else will have the same experience

true

 

[realsis]

true

They hatcheries usually vaccinate for Merks very inexpensively. The more chicks the less the vaccine cost. Definitely worth it if you order from a hatchery next time. Just some info. I was surprised on how little it cost for 15 birds. It is worth it in my opinion. Hope this helps. Best wishes

 

[Tahai]

If Mareks is a concern in your area, then I would recommend keeping your flock confined in a large covered run.

High Path Avian Influenze (HPAI) is currently a problem in my area, so my flock is confined. It is very rare that I let them out of the run, and never during migration season.

 

[Stephine]

I wouldn’t lose sleep over it. You do what you can without driving yourself crazy and then hope for the best and deal with the bad when it comes. I would not keep my chickens confined for fear of Marek’s unless they are running around in a public place. If it’s your backyard and only you spend time there, all I would do is change clothes and shoes after going to a feed store or similar place other chicken owners might frequent. If your chicks make it to 5-6 months without getting infected then they should be able to fight the disease off after that. So you don’t need to be this careful forever. And when you get new chicks just make sure you get vaccinated ones from now on. You still need to be careful not to expose them to Marek’s for the first week or two of their lives, but they should be well protected after that. It’s true that the vaccine doesn’t make them 100% immune to the disease (most vaccines we take don’t either), but it does make a huge difference. I bought unvaccinated chicks a couple of years ago, and they did ok in my flock, so bought a couple of chicks from the same breeder again this last year, along with 6 vaccinated chicks from Greenfire of a different breed. My unvaccinated chicks caught 2 different strains of Marek’s - first (pseudo botulism) they recovered from with intensive care, then at integration they got the leg paralysis type and both died. Their vaccinated brooder mates were completely unaffected and the three pullets I kept are doing just fine a year later…