Mixing Mareks vaccinated and unvaccinated, totally stupid?

[Ermpickle]

I've been trying to put together a flock of rainbow layers but of course it hasn't gone to plan lol. Long story short I still need an Ameraucana ( rehomed her due to being persistently broody). Trouble is all my girls are vaccinated for Mareks and I'm not interested in chicks and only want 1 (l'm really looking for a laying hen or older pullet). I've found a few people who have one to rehome but haven't found one the right age that is vaccinated. Would it be completely dumb to bring in an unvaccinated bird? Maybe I'm just being too impatient

 

[WIchickMama]

I think it would harder to just bring in one chicken regardless of being vaccinated or not.

 

[Ermpickle]

I think it would harder to just bring in one chicken regardless of being vaccinated or not.

If you mean flock behavior wise, I totally understand your concern. I've always read not to bring in only one. However my flock dynamics are a continually morphing thing right now so it's the best and probably only time for it.

I started to type out the full story but it was getting very very long lol. Basically I have a 1.5 year old hen out of my original 3 (rehomed 1 for broodiness, 1 for meanness), 2 pullets out of 9 chicks from my own 5/1 hatch (7 were roos), 1 pullet out 2 purchased from a breeder ~5/15 hatch, returned the breeders roo and was very generously given three very young pullets (waiting to hear back their hatch date because I forgot to ask). Hopefully at least 1 turns out to be a pullet because I hate to be feeding more chickens just to deal with rehoming them in a few months

So I currently have 7 chickens of 4 different age groups. Currently I have 3 separate living spaces for them but will be introducing the middles to Marilyn (the 1.5 year old) tomorrow. Phew if you stuck with all that props to you! So that's why I figure this is the only good time to bring in a single hen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Marek's vaccine does not give them Marek's. It does not prevent them from getting Marek's if they are exposed. The vaccine inhibits the growth of the lesions that do the damage if they are exposed to Marek's. Right now you don't know if your current flock has Mark's or not. If they do the new hen would catch it.

Chickens do not always show signs of Marek's even if they have it and are not vaccinated. It's possible the new chicken could bring Marek's into your flock. If the current owner has any ethics they should tell you but not everybody has ethics. Even if she does have Marek's your current flock should not be injured but they would become carriers.

The risk is that your current flock has Marek's, not because of the vaccine but because they were exposed somewhere. So they could give it to the new hen. There is a chance she could bring Marek's into your flock which should not hurt them but then they would be carriers. I consider this risk fairly low but it is not zero.

 

[Ermpickle]

The Marek's vaccine does not give them Marek's. It does not prevent them from getting Marek's if they are exposed. The vaccine inhibits the growth of the lesions that do the damage if they are exposed to Marek's. Right now you don't know if your current flock has Mark's or not. If they do the new hen would catch it.

Chickens do not always show signs of Marek's even if they have it and are not vaccinated. It's possible the new chicken could bring Marek's into your flock. If the current owner has any ethics they should tell you but not everybody has ethics. Even if she does have Marek's your current flock should not be injured but they would become carriers.

The risk is that your current flock has Marek's, not because of the vaccine but because they were exposed somewhere. So they could give it to the new hen. There is a chance she could bring Marek's into your flock which should not hurt them but then they would be carriers. I consider this risk fairly low but it is not zero.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write out such a thorough explanation. This is kinda-sorta how I thought it might work but it's nearly impossible to find an answer through Google lol so having it all laid out in a way I can understand is just super helpful!