Mareks Vaccine necessary?

[John478]

Hello I'm kinda new to owning hens and rooster we currently got 19 week old roos and pullets and I didnt find out about mareks when I bought fowlpox vaccine and i see that it's a deadly disease that can kill your birds from the inside with tumors in their organs I'm wondering if I should buy it or is it to late we live in an area where no one except my aunt 4 miles away and my cousing like 18 miles away since it's in a populated area there has been no chicken history in any houses and we got 9 pullets and 6 roos my parents are going to kill 4 and leave 2 so it's kind of a small flock they have been staying a while in the garage since mid November to now since the cold should we buy the vaccine or is it to late?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The vaccine has to be administered on day 1

 

[Eggcessive]

I get vaccinated chicks from the hatchery, but if you have had them for awhile and they spent time somewhere else, it is probably too late to bother. Mareks vaccine comes in 1000 dose vials, and it must be used within an hour. If there is Mareks in your area, it would have already exposed them. Some people vaccinate for Mareks while some do not. It may not be a common disease in your area if there are not a lot of chicken farms.

 

[John478]

The vaccine has to

I get vaccinated chicks from the hatchery, but if you have had them for awhile and they spent time somewhere else, it is probably too late to bother. Mareks vaccine comes in 1000 dose vials, and it must be used within an hour. If there is Mareks in your area, it would have already exposed them. Some people vaccinate for Mareks while some do not. It may not be a common disease in your area if there are not a lot of chicken farms.

We live in an area where no one but us has chickens no farms or ranches at all

 

[Charlee Ann]

The vaccine has to be administered on day 1

Not true. You can vaccinate older chicks as long as they have not been exposed to the disease.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

It is if you want it to actually do its job.

 

[Charlee Ann]

It is if you want it to actually do its job.

I’d like to understand your logic on this because if your birds have not been exposed to the virus then the vaccine will do it job regardless of your chicken being 1 day old or 1 year old. For instance you hatched some chicks and you have kept them inside and away from wild birds, animals, or environments that may have been infected with the virus. Then giving your bird the vaccine at whatever age no matter if the they are two days old or 4 months old the vaccine will work just fine and do it’s job.
granted you must wait at least 7 days post vaccination to allow the chickens antibodies to do their job, You must give them time to build their immunities before putting them out to be exposed in the world. That is how vaccines work. Live/killed/mRNA…whatever type of vaccine it is, they all basically work to do the same job. they all rely on the body to produce immunities. There is no age cut off on how the vaccine will work in a chickens body. The reason they say day old chicks is because most likely after that day the chicken will be exposed outside or within a hatchery. However, if you are a small flock owner and have hatched some eggs in your house and have kept your chickens safe from anything that may carry the Mareks virus, it’s probably safe to say your chickens would benefit more than not if you were to give the vaccine later than 1 day. The most important aspect is that they can not be exposed to the virus prior to vaccination. If they are the that means the virus is already in your chicken whether it’s laying dormant or not.
NOW if your bird has already been exposed, then that’s another story. However, my view is better safe than sorry. I’d give it regardless. If it doesn’t help it doesn’t help but at least you tried to protect them…and other birds!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I’d like to understand your logic on this because if your birds have not been exposed to the virus then the vaccine will do it job regardless of your chicken being 1 day old or 1 year old. For instance you hatched some chicks and you have kept them inside and away from wild birds, animals, or environments that may have been infected with the virus. Then giving your bird the vaccine at whatever age no matter if the they are two days old or 4 months old the vaccine will work just fine and do it’s job.
granted you must wait at least 7 days post vaccination to allow the chickens antibodies to do their job, You must give them time to build their immunities before putting them out to be exposed in the world. That is how vaccines work. Live/killed/mRNA…whatever type of vaccine it is, they all basically work to do the same job. they all rely on the body to produce immunities. There is no age cut off on how the vaccine will work in a chickens body. The reason they say day old chicks is because most likely after that day the chicken will be exposed outside or within a hatchery. However, if you are a small flock owner and have hatched some eggs in your house and have kept your chickens safe from anything that may carry the Mareks virus, it’s probably safe to say your chickens would benefit more than not if you were to give the vaccine later than 1 day. The most important aspect is that they can not be exposed to the virus prior to vaccination. If they are the that means the virus is already in your chicken whether it’s laying dormant or not.
NOW if your bird has already been exposed, then that’s another story. However, my view is better safe than sorry. I’d give it regardless. If it doesn’t help it doesn’t help but at least you tried to protect them…and other birds!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq.66077/

Here's the link to the article all about mareks, as well as the information about the age required for vaccinations.