Mareks Vaccine

[seminolewind]

I bought two chicks at one month old that I could not vaccinate due to their age (must be done the first day), so I am raising them inside the house for four months because I have lost hens in the coop due to Marek's. The three hens in the coop now were exposed, but did not die and are around 1 1/2 years old. They are on a dirt/pebble floor, though I spray with Vitaoxide a little (a hospital disinfectant) and wash it down about once a week.

Do I need to also rake up the feathers? And how soon can I let them into the yard? Or, into the coop. My thought was another part of the urban yard at two months for short outings, then into an adjacent (touching) coop at 4 months, then join the birds at 6 months (or less).

I do think your best chance is to delay contamination as long as possible. I think what that may do is limit their exposure to the virus enough where antibodies have a chance to grow.

 

[yaldnif]

pips&peeps :

Can you take a picture of what they sent you. I didn't know merial made mareks vaccine....... ETA, that was not frozen anyway. Here is the picture of the mareks Mareks vaccine that I got from Twin City Poulltry

Glad I saw this pic because this is what was sent to me. The instructions say to withdraw fluid to mix in with Mareks vial but there are two spouts (or whatever they are called) on the fluid bag. Is one for drawing out and the other for putting vaccine in? There was no mention as to why there are two?

 

[seminolewind]

One looks like a rubber stopper possibly a yellowish color. That's the thing you stick the needle thru. The other one opens the bag for an iv. You don't want to open that. You want to draw about 5ml out of the bag and put that fluid in the vaccine vial. So you take your needle and syringe with the 5 ml in it, stick it in the vial, pull back some air out of the vial, then push the fluid in. Mix well. Use within 30 minutes.

 

[yaldnif]

Thank you!

 

[Juise]

Ok, I read through the first handful of pages on this thread, but want to clarify if someone doesn't mind.

I currently have some 4 year old chickens and some 2 year old chickens, and am putting in an order for some new ones this Spring. My first batch came from TSC, which, from what I understand, would not be vaccinated. My second batch came from a small farm / hatchery that was such a mess and made so many false claims that I doubt they vaccinated and I wouldn't believe them even if they said they did.

Now I know Mareks is around, (a friend across town had some unfortunate experience with it,) and also now I know more, I was wanting to get our newbies vaccinated. They are straight up hatchery chicks and the hatchery offers the vaccine. Knowing that some vaccines can shed, I came here to try to make sure vaccinating the newcomers won't endanger my current flock. I will, of course, quarantine them, but our flock free ranges so there is only so much "quarantine" that is possible. (Unless we full body disinfect and change into sanitized clothing every single time we come in or leave the house )

It sounds to me that because all of my current flock are older and because the vaccine is a different strain, the new, vaccinated chicks should pose no danger at all to my current flock, yes? Even if I didn't quarantine, the danger here, as far as Mareks goes, is to the chicks, not the older birds?

 

[Nambroth]

Ok, I read through the first handful of pages on this thread, but want to clarify if someone doesn't mind.

I currently have some 4 year old chickens and some 2 year old chickens, and am putting in an order for some new ones this Spring. My first batch came from TSC, which, from what I understand, would not be vaccinated. My second batch came from a small farm / hatchery that was such a mess and made so many false claims that I doubt they vaccinated and I wouldn't believe them even if they said they did.

Now I know Mareks is around, (a friend across town had some unfortunate experience with it,) and also now I know more, I was wanting to get our newbies vaccinated. They are straight up hatchery chicks and the hatchery offers the vaccine. Knowing that some vaccines can shed, I came here to try to make sure vaccinating the newcomers won't endanger my current flock. I will, of course, quarantine them, but our flock free ranges so there is only so much "quarantine" that is possible. (Unless we full body disinfect and change into sanitized clothing every single time we come in or leave the house )

It sounds to me that because all of my current flock are older and because the vaccine is a different strain, the new, vaccinated chicks should pose no danger at all to my current flock, yes? Even if I didn't quarantine, the danger here, as far as Mareks goes, is to the chicks, not the older birds?

Very wise to research first!
You can call your hatchery of choice and ask specifically which Marek's vaccine(s) they use. HVT is a related virus that can not cause chickens to "Get" or "shed" the virus. Rispens and SB1 are based on MDV-2, which is a benign Marek's and are not known to cause shedding. To my knowledge-- with full disclosure that I haven't kept up to date in the last 6 months-- Marek's vaccination alone can not cause the vaccinated chicks to spread the virus to your other birds in any way.
The only danger that hatchery chicks can pose to existing flocks is if they were to contract a disease at the hatchery (this is rare) or if the chicks are requested to be given a live vaccine (this only applies to a few vaccines, such as IB, and NOT the Marek's vaccine). The most 'common' problem, which is still far from common, is salmonella. Adding chicks direct from a reputable hatchery is probably the safest way to bring new birds into an existing flock.

So to answer the rest of your question, the two main sources of Marek's danger are from your existing birds (if they are carriers and you don't know it) and outside sources such as chickens from a swap, wild birds, etc. The chances of chicks direct from a reputable hatchery bringing in Marek's is nearly zero.

(note that I keep saying "direct"-- meaning directly from the hatchery to your home, with no stop-overs at feed stores, or shared orders, etc)

I hope this helps! I have more about the vaccine in the link in my signature.

 

[Juise]

Thank you so much! Yes they are coming directly from a well reputed hatchery to my house. Glad there will be at least one thing to check off the list of worries with these new chicks.

 

[seminolewind]

What Nambroth said x 2. The hatcheries get a better vaccine than we do. Vaccinated hatchery day olds are the safest way to go for your established flock.

 

[yaldnif]

Well I finally vaccinated my chicks today. I hope I got enough in them to make a difference. It was harder than I thought to just get under the skin. Two I had to redo because it got my fingers wet so I knew it didn't go in. Will they act any different like kids do when they get a shot? I think next time I will order from a hatchery and have them do it because I don't want to have to do that again.

 

[snappytees]

Very good information, thanks,
Question I have is can you still vaccinate chicks older than one day? I have about 20 chicks
I've been hatching in the incubator but some are about a week old now. I would like to order
some vaccine for them. thanks
Beverly