Marek’s vaccine for 4 week old chicks

[ckenny4]

Hey everyone. I have 10 chicks around 4 weeks old. 6 were vaccinated at one day old for Marek’s, but the other for are from a different hatcher and were not. Should I vaccinate these four? (They were not introduced to each other until 3 weeks of age)

 

[pennyJo1960]

I would not little I know of the vaccine has to be given at hatch

 

[Chanze]

As I understand it, not an expert, you can inject it into the egg at day 18 or within 24 hrs of hatch. It won't be effective if given after these times. There's lots of info online about it.

 

[sylviethecochin]

The Great Big Giant Mareks Disease Faq is excellent reading.

Yeah, it should be injected within 24 hours of hatch or it doesn't work well, if at all.

 

[Kiki]

You can not vaccinated them at this age.

 

[feathermaid]

Yep, day one or not at all. The vaccine isn't even a guaranteed preventative anyway, it only helps to build immunities.

 

[Kiki]

Yep, day one or not at all. The vaccine isn't even a guaranteed preventative anyway, it only helps to build immunities.

Not true. THe vaccine only helps prevent some of the symptoms if they do get the disease.

 

[feathermaid]

Not true. THe vaccine only helps prevent some of the symptoms if they do get the disease.

Yes, I know, but what's not true? The vaccine takes a few weeks to become effective so it's my understanding that vaccinated chicks are building their immunities during that time. And yes, those immune responses will at best only block the symptoms if birds are ever exposed to the virus. But even unvaccinated birds may not necessarily die or even develop symptoms, depending on the strain they come in contact with.

The vaccine is imperfect and doesn't actually prevent the disease from spreading. If vaccinated chickens are exposed to the virus, they might not exhibit symptoms themselves or suffer from tumors, but they will become infected carriers forever and will shed the virus everywhere. There's really no guaranteed way to prevent Marek's, except maybe practicing strict and perfect biosecurity, in a perfect world.