Marek's Disease Vaccine

[hangin'witthepeeps]

I have about 6 ~ 20+ week old chickens from TSC, 14 ~ 16+ week old chickens I hatched myself and 25 ~ 6 day old chicks from MPC. None are vaccinated as I know of. Not sure of the 6 TSC chickens. I have the Marek's vaccine in the refrigerator ready for administration. So, do I vaccinate the older birds and the younger or do I not do anything. I'm at a loss. Does it do any good for older birds? If I vaccinate the young ones will it put the old ones at risk? What do I do and where is the information on vaccinating older birds? TIA

 

[cicene mete]

Okay, I researched this when I does my own birds. To the best of my knowledge, there is some evidence that vaccinating older birds can be of benefit, although many people argue that it is useless, as Mareks is everywhere and they are most likely exposed to it by then.

It is best to vaccinate chicks as close to one day old as possible. Also, the Fort Dodge vaccine is supposed to be made of a Turkey virus, and therefore should not could non-vaccinated chickens at risk. In other words, vaccinated chickens should not shed Marek's from the vaccine. One caveat, vaccinated chickens can still be carriers of the disease, they just won't show symptoms. So a vaccinated chicken is not necessarily a Marek's free chicken.