Ok, they say if you have chickens then you have Marek's somewhere in your flock...

[missnu01]

I have also read that the vaccines take 2 weeks to start working...so even vaccinated chicks are at great risk unless you are just starting out with chickens and none of your neighbors have chicks, and you never go to fairs or feed stores, and no clerks you deal with have chickens, and the wind doesn't blow just right---you get the idea I'm going for here...Is there any hope at all? Or do we just have to take a few losses as part of the procedure? I thought Marek's was like any other virus and you could avoid it...but the more i read, the more I feel like there is no way to avoid it...all you can do is hope for the best. At least if a chicken makes it to 25 weeks you are in the clear for Marek's...but then there are a hundred other things that can happen to the poor things...They need to make a chick bubble that you don't have to open for 2 weeks and that filters all their air so they can't possibly get it...or make one that is fully automated for 25 weeks...That way when the chickens emerge they are old enough to just become carriers for the virus, as opposed to dying of it themselves...

 

[grammym]

I agree with you, the more I read the more I get concerned for viruses and diseases.

 

[missnu01]

Well I have 2 with what I feel pretty confident is Marek's now. One needs to be culled, one can wait, but probably shouldn't. I just know that any damage that is still going to happen is going to happen, any chicken that is going to get it in my flock already has it so no reason to kill these ones unless it is to save them...One could use a gentle push into that good night...the other though is still doing pretty good, getting around on his own and acting normal, but limping and off kilter with his walking, but he can do it... I need to cull them both, but I don't want to....But I have to... *internal struggle*

I am just pretty worried about new chicks I am going to get 2/4/13...Especially since I saw that the vaccine can take 2 weeks to start...I don't have a glass room with an air purifier... what am I supposed to do? Just give up on chickens, or just sit back and take my losses? I think those options just suck!