Mycoplasma Vaccine - Anyone do this? Pros vs cons?

[JacinLarkwell]

This is very useful insight! More and more I’m leaning toward not vaccinating my first group now after everyone here easing my mind. Despite my paranoia with things they might come into contact with when I let them outside of their coop and run for the first time, I also want them to enjoy their lives, you know?

Has anyone here ever had a chicken come down with either Mereks or mycoplasma, and if so, what did you do? Most things I’ve read are to cull the entire flock which is why I’m hyper paranoid and at first thought I wanted to vaccinate them all, but if they all are vaccinated and can still get these illnesses, what’s the point to vaccinations for flocks at all?

Thank you all though! I genuinely appreciate these insights and encouragement

My flock right now has mareks. I cull any that start to go down hill, and when I move, the rest will have to be culled since I can't give them away, and will just have to pray that my eggs make the trip Soni don't lose all my genetics

 

[Rosie85]

My flock right now has mareks. I cull any that start to go down hill, and when I move, the rest will have to be culled since I can't give them away, and will just have to pray that my eggs make the trip Soni don't lose all my genetics

I’m so sorry to hear that it’s good to know eggs are ok though/it won’t transfer that way, but I’m still sorry you have to cull at all. Reading about that is heartbreaking I appreciate you sharing as I learn more about everything.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I’m so sorry to hear that it’s good to know eggs are ok though/it won’t transfer that way, but I’m still sorry you have to cull at all. Reading about that is heartbreaking I appreciate you sharing as I learn more about everything.

You have to clean the eggs first and prevent new dander from getting on them otherwise it will be on the shell when the bird hatches.

 

[NanaK]

My flock right now has mareks.

I am sorry you have to deal with that Jacin. Heart breaking.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I am sorry you have to deal with that Jacin. Heart breaking.

It is. Worst part is I'm just not sure where it came from. All I know is it's here now and I've had 3 so far that have been culled solely because of it. Several others had a few days before they seemed strong enough I didn't have to dread going to their coops.

Definitely has made me decide that I will never again bring in chickens/turkeys/quail from other people. Only day olds or eggs from hatcheries for those

 

[DawnLee]

Hi all!

I’m new to the forum but have been digging around online without much luck on this topic. I have my first group of chickens this year. They are all adults and living in a fully enclosed coop and run. No outside animals or birds can enter their area (have them set up this way due to concerns over bird flu). I’m part of Facebook chicken groups here in Oregon and have been seeing LOTS of disturbing posts lately regarding chickens becoming very sick and dying due to MG/mycoplasma. Seeing this, I started looking around online for vaccine options for my flock. Apparently MG is pretty prominent in the soil in the state of Oregon (had no idea until recently) and I hope to one day let my chickens outside of their run and coop so I’d really like to vaccinate them all if that’s even an option. From what I could find doing research, there is a vaccine called Zoetis MG-Bac. Has anyone every administered this vaccine to their chickens before and is it effective/worth the cost? Are there any risks involved? I love these chickens so much and would hate to have anything bad happen to them.

Thank you all for reading and please let me know if there are any vaccines/preventatives available against MG.

A chicken friend of mine told me that if you give the vaccine the chickens will become carriers. Any new chickens brought in will get MG from them. I am still looking into this. You might want to too.

 

[DawnLee]

If you don't make the mistake of bringing sick birds into your flock, then you shouldn't have to worry about getting this disease.
Do you plan on adding any new birds to your flock anytime soon?
If you do, I highly recommend buying chicks from a major hatchery because they are much less likely to carry disease compared to sellers on facebook and craigslist.

I think I have a hen with MG. She was one of my originals when I bought her. At the time she didn't exhibit any disease. I believe she is a carrier and has been picked on lately putting her under a lot of stress which triggered an episode. It is not always easy to avoid bringing in carriers because they don't always show signs.

Hard lesson learned here. From now on no adult birds and only chicks from reputable breeders who screen for this.

 

[Reefbow]

Anyone heard about vaccinating your sick birds that are already carrying the MG ? Supposedly stoping the bird from spreading completely? Obviously they will still have it but can’t spread it.