Marek's Vaccination

[Keric]

Thank you for the info! I can't believe it says "its so common that if you have birds, they have it." I have a poultry book that says the same thing. We also have turkeys and people say if you just run the with the chickens they give them their natural immunity?

The vaccine is no big deal to buy, but I've never vaccinated anything before. Is it hard? I'll read the info you have. Thanks a bunch!

 

[seminolewind]

It's become common over the last 20+ years. Big commercial producers were losing 60%+ of their birds to Marek's . Between the vaccine and changing the way they grow and keep chickens, they have it down to 3-5% now.

Meanwhile, backyard small flock people have been doing all the no-no's and now we have a problem. The only way to avoid Marek's almost 100% is to buy day old hatchery chicks, or hatch your own, and close your flock. Meaning only increasing your flock by day old hatchery chicks , or hatching your own. It only takes ONE chicken carrying Marek's to expose your flock. , An older chicken, or even a vaccinated chicken can also carry the virus even tho that chicken is protected from the deadly symptoms. You can't really believe any one who says that their chickens do not carry Marek's. If they're vaccinated, their's won't show symptoms, there's no test to tell if a vaccinated chicken has been exposed and carries the virus.

 

[Keric]

I fiancee says breeding for resistance means breeding the healthy ones, regardless of if they have it (although they show no symptoms) because you are trying to breed for the ones that it doesn't hurt them... Is this true? He says it's like chicken pox. If you survive it you still have it, but you're immune. So you're breeding not for immunity, but for the fact that the system isn't bothered by it, or it doesn't kill you.

If you can't tell who has it and who doesn't it's hard to breed for marek's-free birds... they are just going to be carriers.

We had one chicken die recently from IDK what but we are thinking marek's. We are going to start vaccinating our day olds (we plan to buy hatching eggs soon), but the silkies that I bought were a few weeks old and I had never heard of Marek's. I definitely don't want to be breeding diseases!!!

 

[seminolewind]

I'm not really sure how to breed resistance. But I know that if my chickens hatch my eggs, those chicks have resistance.
There's so much we don't know, the best we can do is what we do, and continue to share info here. There's no where else .

 

[Keric]

I read that regardless of if the chicken has marek's, her chicks will still have to be vaccinated because it doesn't pass on.

The egg is like a new start, that's why you need to vaccinate day olds, so they won't catch it from Mom and the others.

That's why I am confused... there is no "resistance", its very contagious and some die, some just don't show signs but have it... but theres no way to test for it. I don't know and it sounds tricky.

That's why I don't know what "breeding for resistance" means if they all have it.

 

[seminolewind]

With my silkies, My silkie roo was the first to go , with all the classic symptoms. There were 4 other silkies with him , and I didn't know what it was yet.. A few months later , my silkie hen hatched 2 girls. Resistant. My silkie mom hatched 4 more girls. All resistant. The carrier hen was still with them.

So out of the first death in Dec. 2009, and now, out of 11 silkies, 5 have died. 2 were recent and they were the oldest hen and the youngest hen. I still have a 4.5 year old rooster, and the other youngest hen.

I would consider what I have left to be resistant. No vaccine. And the silkies were the first ones exposed.

All this also leaves me to believe that the eggs I had hatched last year that all died-that breeder may have not had Marek's, therefore all the chicks came here and died.

The other hatches I've had prior to last year were not affected, my theory is that the eggs came from exposed hens. During that time, one of my hatches was 7 Jerseys. I lost one at 8 months old. Were those eggs from resistant hens? The chicks had been exposed starting at 5 weeks old, and in with the silkies with wire in between. I hatched another batch of Jerseys before that one, and no one died. My theory still is eggs from resistant hens.

But this all does not mean that Marek's is spread thru the egg. It's not. But resistance may be.
My next batch will be my own eggs from resistant moms. But I can't stand the thought of experimenting with them.

 

[Keric]

OK, so if breeding for resistance is good, why get the vaccine? Wouldn't the strong ones that don't die be better than ones that need a vaccine?

 

[seminolewind]

. Maybe in your own hatches from your own flock. In fact, if your chicks have maternal antibodies, it may weaken the vaccine.(Don't remember my source for this .) Most people are not going to hatch only their own chicks from their own chickens. There are always hatching eggs from a different source, or chicks , hopefully from a hatchery and vaccinated.

So, those chicks from eggs from an exposed resistant hen is good (breeding resistance)
But any hatch/chick from outside your exposed flock will have a high risk of dying without being vaccinated as a day old and quarantined for at least 2-10 weeks. And if your flock has been vacccinated as a chick and exposed to Marek's, you won't know if they have resistance or not.

 

[sarafrog]

The hatchery my local feed store gets chicks from only vaccinates the parent birds, not the chicks. I was told that this gives the chicks a few weeks of immunity but not complete immunity. I bought chicks from them last February and lost one of them in December (possibly Marek's) and have one sick right now (likely Marek's). I am planning to get either vaccinated chicks OR administer the vaccine myself to any new chicks I get.

 

[sassy16]

I only have a flock of 4 and have never had chickens before and I have had 2 roosters that have gotten Merricks so I dont believe its only in large flocks! I would only get them if they were vaccinated! It is a horrible disease and the disease itself doesnt kill them. They starve to death so it is a long slow painfull death! I am new to chickens and everyone has told me it cant be Merricks even the breeder but Dr Brown the Chicken Dr. said it's all the classic signs of Merricks! So Deffinatly get them vaccinated!!!