- Apr 14, 2009
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I have a dilemma. I am hopefully going to be ordering 25-45 chicks in July and am trying to figure out whether to have them vaccinated for Mareks or not. If the chicks were just for me, I would probably not vaccinate them, as we don't have any other chicken flocks with (at least) a mile and I don't have a current flock and my last flock was completely healthy as far as I know (the only ones I lost were to wildlife). But I'm probably going to be selling a number of the pullets once they get to P.O.L. and I'm wondering - would it be better for them to be vaccinated? Will my buyers want vaccinated pullets?
I've also heard worrisome things about vaccinated chicks becoming carriers? (I may have misunderstood what I read.) Is this true - that the vaccination itself can make them carriers, or is it that a vaccinated chick can still get Mareks if they're exposed to another actually infected bird, and instead of being affected themselves (because they've been vaccinated) they just become carriers?
Thank you for your advice.
I've also heard worrisome things about vaccinated chicks becoming carriers? (I may have misunderstood what I read.) Is this true - that the vaccination itself can make them carriers, or is it that a vaccinated chick can still get Mareks if they're exposed to another actually infected bird, and instead of being affected themselves (because they've been vaccinated) they just become carriers?
Thank you for your advice.
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