Newbie here, couple qestions to prepare for babies

[fluffychicksmomma]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. My 15 year old daughter is fluffychick15. Daughter has been begging us for chickens and dad finlly said yes as a birthday present. (We already have horses and dogs, so its not like she is animal-deprived, LOL)That was last October and we've been reading everything we can kind on the internet. The info on BYC has been helpful as have the answers from members to the questions my daughter has posted, thanks much!We believe we are getting some Silkies, if they arrive at the feed store this Wed as scheduled. After that we are ordering some Golden-Laced Polish, and hope to get some Frizzles scheduled to come into a different feed store in May, so they will be spread out a bit. I feel like I have a handle on what I need to do for the most part, but the thing I cannot find info on is vaccines. I read that some hatcheries will vacc for Mareks, but that I need to inquire and see if they do. What if they don't? Is this something I can do? I mean, I vacc. all of our horses every year for West Nile, and they get 5-way shots as well, and I vac. the dogs too, but I don't think I would have the know-how to vac a tiny baby chick! (Also, I have not yet found a vet in the area that does chickens, neither our horse vet or our dog vet works with them) I also have read about another disease, a long word that starts with a "c", sorry, its slipping my mind at the moment, but it sounds as if its fairly common, and I wonder if there is something preventative that I am supposed to do? I've read about the medicated crumbles that can be fed and have also seen things mentioned about putting some antibiotics in their drinking water, but I don't know if that is to prevent something . ? Anyway, I appreciate your time and any suggestions you have, thanks! : )

 

[RAWR]

when it comes to vac. chicks, i have no idea
but if they do get sick, you can always go to TSC or where ever and get some medicine
as for the medicated crumble, im pretty sure that helps prevent and illness

 

[scbatz33]

Hatcheries vaccinate for Merks. It's given as a day old as I believe a spray before hatching.

Other than that, there are some vacs you can give, but I don't see it as cost effective or even necessary unless you have a problem.

Medicated feed helps with controlling coccidiosis. There are varying opinions on this as well. I personally don't feed it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Marek's is a very common infection. It causes lesions that can cripple or kill a chicken. The vaccine is actually Turkey Marek's which will not harm chickens and will prevent the harmful lesions from growing. It does not stop the chicken from catching chicken Marek's or being a carrier. Many chickens have Marek's and never exhibit any signs, yet it can cripple or kill if you have it in your flock. If you vaccinate against Marek's, it needs to be done extremely soon after hatching, before it is exposed to the virus and the chick needs to not come in contact with the virus for a while.

I suggest you talk to your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government, about lining you up with someone who can talk to you about a vaccination program in your area and with your planned flock management plan. Not just Marek's but talk about other diseases you can vaccinate against. If you plan to show chickens or bring in new chicks from outside flocks, vaccination is possibly a good idea. If your chickens are not going to be exposed to established flocks, the urgency is a lot less. Through the extension agent, I spoke to an Ag professor at my state land grant university who raises and used to show chickens. After talking about my flock management plan, he advised against any vaccinations. This is from someone who lost a champion line of show birds through fowlpox picked up at a show. There had been one reported case of Marek's in my county in the last two years. Your situation could easily be different.

Coccidiosis, coccidia, cocci, different ways to talk about the same thing. There are 7 different protazoa that causes cocci. The protazoa lives and reproduces inside the chickens intestines. If the concentration gets too high, the chick can get sick or die. The protazoa produce eggs which pass through the chickens droppings, develop in damp or wet manure for a couple of days, the chick then eats the developed eggs and the cycle continues. As long as the concentration does not get too high, the chick is fine. It actually needs to go through about two weeks of this cycle to develop immunity to that strain of protazoa. Immunity to one strain of protazoa does not give immunity to all strains. The medicated feed inhibits the reproduction of the protazoa in the chicks intestines. It does not totally stop it, just helps keep the numbers under control so the chick can still develop the immunity it needs. The protazoa can also multiply tremendously in wet manure. You need to keep the brooder fairly dry so the numbers don't get out of hand, yet still allow some dampness so the protazoa can reproduce enough to develop that immunity. I personally did not feed medicated feed and had no problems.

Some hatcheries offer vaccination against cocci. The one I was familiar with last year only protected against three of the seven strains of protazoa. You could not feed medicated feed or give antibiotics to the chicks for the first two weeks or you nullify the effects of the vaccine. It is quite possible hatcheries use different vaccines so if you decide to get your chicks vaccinated for cocci, I'd talk to them to find out how many strains are covered and what you need to do to assure the vaccine is effective.

Hope this helps some. Good luck!!!

 

[fluffychicksmomma]

Wow, thanks for all that info., very interesting. I wonder why that professor was against vacs. I've had horses for many years and we do show them, therefore they travel around a lot. No show-horse owner would even dream of not vaccing, I see the chickens are going to be much different, LOL! I am just welcoming every bit of info I can pick up, and it sounds like I have some phone calls to make before I get these chicks. Yes, its the cocci I wa worried about. Sounds like you either need a very broad vacc, or the medicated feed, but not both, thats good to know. Since they are coming from a large commercial hatchery to a feed store, I am just assuming they will be exposed to anything and everything.

 

[Ridgerunner]

He said in my situation, with me keeping the exposure to other chickens to a minimum, practicing decent biosecurity, it was usually not necessary. I will not be taking mine to shows, fairs, or swaps nor will I bring any back from those types of places. The only way I'll add outside blood is to hatch eggs, whether my own or some that I get. Not much risk in that. I will eat all my chickens before they reach the age of three, which reduces the chance of some diseases showing up. There is not much of a history of chicken diseases in my area, although it is a center for commercial chicken raising. I'm actually more of a threat to the commercial operations from a disease perspecive than they are to me the way they treat biosecurity and all the steps they take to prevent disease.

There is some risk but not that much. There are some areas where it is recommended that you get your chickens vacinated for Marek's. There is a local historyand it is a strong dangerous strain. That's why I suggest you check what your local conditons are.

 

[fluffychicksmomma]

Thats understandable. I won't be taking my chickens anywhere, (although my daughter has talked about doing the 4-H thing with them, we'll see) but I thought going to a feed store and being around tons of other chickens they might be exposed to a lot before I even pick them up. Plus, I'll be getting 3 different types of chicks at different times, and they will all be coming from different hatcheries, so I guess I better be making some calls to see what the procedure is with the chicks and also to see what our local history is (we live in Utah). A lot of times, it seems like we have a lower incidence of certain kinds of diseases because we live in such a DRY climate, but I'm just judging that from having horses. Chickens are a whole new ball-game for me. All I know is my daughter is very excited to get the "pet" chickens she has wanted for so long, and I am just hoping to keep the mortality rate as low as possible! : )