Should they get the Merricks Vacccine? What is it actually for?

[Willow's Meadow]

When you order chicks from a hatchery, like Cackle should they get the Merrick's vaccine? I've heard about it but I don't really understand what it's for. Could you please explain?

 

[GardeNerd]

Merek's disease is highly contagious and often fatal. It affects the nerves and organs and is caused by a herpes virus. Symptoms include lameness in one or both legs, paralysis, and drooping of the wings. In young birds symptoms include loss of appetite, depression, and sometimes tumors can be felt under the skin. There is no cure for the disease.

If you are having concerns whether you should vaccine or not, contact your local cooperative extension and find out if it is problem in your area and whether or not they recommend you get the chicks the vaccine.

I got the vaccine for my small flock. It only added $0.15 to the cost of each chick, and one lady that ordered with us lost her whole little backyard flock to the disease. After listening to her heartbreak, I decided it was a good idea. Anyway, the whole order had to have it, or none at all.

 

[babsbag]

I lost a hen to what the lab said was "suspected Marek's" about 4 months ago. I kept waiting for my other birds to get sick, and so far nothing has happend. I have decided that maybe it wasn't Marek's and that the chicks I am raising will either get it or not. Some chickens get it and recover, and they are carriers for life. Other chickens get it and die. Unfortunately you just have no way to know what it will be.

I went back and forth with this same question when my chicks hatched and I just decided that I would breed for resistant birds. Most of mine are just mutt banties, but maybe that will make them stronger. That doesn't mean that I don't care about them, I do. But they are not expensive birds and they are not a business venture. I hope I don't regret my decision.

Also, I have no idea where I would have gotten this disease as my neighbors don't have chickens and there have never been chickens on my property. My flock is closed, and the breeder I got my chickens from has the healthiest birds I have ever been around. Healthy and spoiled rotten

All that said and done, if I had been buying from a hatchery I would have paid for the vaccine. Good and cheap peace of mind. IMO