Should chickens be vaccinated?

[Abdul Rehman]

I absolutely vaccinate, only for Mareks disease . Mareks is everywhere and can travel miles in the wind. it's a awful debilitating disease so yes!! it costs only about .50 cents to vaccinate per chick, so why not try to help them stay healthy by spending the .50 cents. I feel it's a very very important vaccine and personally I try to make sure all my birds get vaccinated for Mareks.

hi, money is not a problem, problem how to vaccine and where amd period of vaccines -.- pls help btw i love silkie

 

[realsis]

The only vaccine I really recommend getting is the Mareks vaccine. Other vaccines can be live virus of the actual disease and CAN cause real illness as I found out the hard way. It's true Mareks is also a live virus but don't get confused IT'S NOT THE ACTUAL MAREKS VIRUS . it's derived from a similar turkey virus and WILL NOT CAUSE ILLNESS AS ITS NOT ACTUALLY A MAREKS DISEASE . It's practice is to be done at hatch BEFORE birds have a chance of exposure. it CAN be given to older birds but it might not be effective if they have already been exposed to the virus. Any bird that's been outside or around other birds IS considered already exposed to the virus this is why it's recommend to be given at hatch. if your going to vaccinate your birds yourself you can order the vaccine and syringes onlline. when I did my old flock I ordered mine from first state vet supply online. They keep the vaccine cold during shipping and have very CLEARLY instructions for administration. I absolutely recommend getting the vaccine. I would make it a priority. hope this helps

 

[Intheswamp]

Sorry to bring up an older thread but I'm curious about something. Since the Marek vaccine is a culture of a turkey virus is there a danger to turkeys if you bring them into the flock later own?

 

[Folly's place]

No danger to anyone! Getting chicks vaccinate against Marek's disease as day- olds is a good idea. Mary

 

[Intheswamp]

Thanks Mary. That confers with what I've since read. I've got a ways to go before I worry about it, but trying to stock the gray matter with info that I'll need. Thanks again for the feedback!

Ed

 

[lazy gardener]

Ed, many folks do recommend vaccination for Mareks. But there is an other side of the coin. The vaccine does not prevent the disease. It prevents the complications from it. Turkeys carry a less virulent strain of Mareks, so if you have a population of wild turkeys, or even get some domestic ones, in theory, your chickens will reap immunity benefit from that. In the book by Harvey Ussery: The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers, he speaks to the issue of Mareks. In summary, he states that a healthy flock is not likely to be affected by Mareks. They may contract it, but are more likely to shrug it off. I know that many readers will jump on this post with plenty of testimonies stating otherwise. I'm merely passing along his stand on the issue (paraphrased b/c I don't have time to quote the reference right now.) So, a vaccinated back yard flock IS not immune to Mareks, and can pass it on to unvaccinated chicks that may come along in future generations. A flock that is not immunized, may have a few birds wiped out by the disease. But the remaining strong ones who have been infected, and do not become very sick are resistant to the disease. (not immune) Over time, that flock will build a strong resistance to Mareks. I have a good population of turkeys that pass through my yard. I choose not to vaccinate. Have not yet seen any signs of infection. But, if that becomes an issue, since it's my goal to build my own land race flock that will thrive in my climate and conditions, I think I'll go the natural selection route.

 

[azygous]

I concur. I also have wild turkey flocks that actually mingle with my flock while they are out free-ranging. I've never vaccinated for Marek's, and have never had any infection turn up.

I "vaccinate" my new chicks by giving them a hunk of sod from the soil the turkeys range on. They play in it and eat the dirt and gain immunity from being exposed to many pathogens in the soil during the "window" during the first two week their immune systems are developing. They are getting "vaccinated" against not only Marek's but many other things as well.

 

[Intheswamp]

Thanks for the replies. I'm still a ways off on getting chickens so I've got time to mull this over. I like the natural selection idea...much like honey bees and treatment versus treatment-free. Mites are a problem with bees, but if you treat for mites you won't get them all...and the biggest, strongest of them will survive only to yield bigger and stronger descendants...same with viruses.

 

[Folly's place]

Vaccination is cheap and effective, and not dependent on possible turkey contact. I buy vaccinated chicks, and also have broody raised chicks here, not vaccinated. I consider them my sentinel birds! I also don't have near neighbors with random sourced (maybe sick!) birds, and have never had Marek's disease in my flock. Based on post mortems of all dead birds! If one day that nasty disease arrives here, at least the vaccinates will do much better. I'm not willing to have many miserable and preventable deaths while 'breeding for resistance' if I can possibly avoid it. There's a fair amount of research being done on Marek's disease, including work on better vaccines, for the future. Mary

 

[Ja123]

Wat do you vaccinate your day olds with thanks