Marek's Questions

[buggal]

Marek's questions...

Who vaccinates for Marek's?
Why do you Vaccinate?
Did you have a chicken get Marek's and you are trying to not go through that again? or just prevention?

Where do you get the vaccine?

I just sent a chicken to the state lab for a necropsy and it came back as Marek's. I have read the article "The Great Big Giant Marek's Disease FAQ" off Backyard Chicken.com and I am trying to get my head around this and see what other chicken people think. I have had chickens a little under a year and this is the first "Bad" disease has hit my flock. I am strongly considering vaccinations and wonder what else I need to be vaccinating for

Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

I vaccinate my hatchery chicks for Mareks, but have many that I have hatched here that have not been vaccinated. I haven't had any Mareks cases so far in 6 plus years. There are several good ongoing threads about Mareks disease and whether to vaccinate or not, if you do a search at the top of this page for Mareks disease, and click on the second thread about breeding for resistance. There are other threads that are good as well. Vaccinating has become a little controversial because of there being so many strains that seem resistant to vaccines. However, I have never seen it near mea, not have any of my friends or neighbors with chickens.

 

[SweetandSavory]

We have Mareks. Got it with our 1st group of chicks. I've tried vaccinating but it doesn't make send if I'm incubating. (The vaccine is only viable for 24 hrs and has lots!!! Of warnings & precautions) I've also read many of the hatcheries only have certain vaccinations and won't gaurd against them all. We now breed for resistance.