To be or not to be...Marek vaccination??

[Rhonda0115]

Anyone have thoughts on getting the Marek's vaccination? I have all of my chickens (40+) vaccinated but found out that a local hardware store that sells MANY chicks to local (and gets them from a reputable hatchery) does not have them vaccinated. I refused to purchase any of them this year due to this but saw lots of people buying from the store. So wondering....does it make a difference????

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

It does. People likely just don't ask or don't care buying from a feed store. They want the cheapest birds possible and just don't care about long term consequences. Heck, 90% of the time you can't even tell what breed you are getting. Some people don't even think about it. I have had both vaccinated and not and of the three local bought unvaccinated hens one died of something that was possibly Meraks (didn't get a necropsy so I don't know for sure). The other two became mildly ill but recovered quickly. All three are gone now and their older hatchery sisters are mostly still going strong.

In the end it's a cheap way to prevent a serious disease.

I actually buy chicks for local resale. I always vaccinate for Meraks and its prominent in my listings/advertisements.

 

[Fostermom27610]

Question - if the feed store doesn't vaccinate, can the buyer do this themselves, and if so, where would they purchase it?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Question - if the feed store doesn't vaccinate, can the buyer do this themselves, and if so, where would they purchase it?

I suppose you could but it looses effectiveness the longer you are from the hatch day. The article below might be helpful to you...

http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/mdvac.htm

 

[kellygreen]

I saw this while on here searching for a humane way to put down a chicken, while watching a sweet rooster die a slow death from Marek's.
Last year I had a small flock of 4 vaccinated hens, and took in a rooster a friend found loose on the street. One of my hens hatched a dozen chicks a month before I realized the rooster probably had marek's. I had him put down when he could no longer walk and tested, and it was positive. All I read says they need to be vaccinated within the first few days, or it's no good, so it seemed too late for the chicks. I gave away most of the chicks (lord knows what they spread), and am down to two roosters, one of which I put down today (with the baking soda/vinegar method) after he couldn't even lift his head but was obviously twitching in pain.
Anyway, the original vaccinated girls are hanging in there, except an easter egger who has gotten to near death twice. She's very sweet, so I had her inside for almost a month while she recovered. I bought some laying hens from a local on craigslist to replace some lost (coyote?), was told they were from McMurrays and vaccinated, and so far, so good. The other rooster (from the chicks hatched) is doing great, so fingers crossed. His mother was pretty healthy, the other's mom is the one that has gotten sick and recovered. I've read that if you have ones that survive exposure, they are good to breed with since they have good resistance.
To sum up a rambling story, if I hatch/buy any more chickens, I would INSIST on vaccinations. I'm surprised it's not even required by law, as the disease is so common and easily spread.

 

[Rhonda0115]

Well...I figured it wasn't that expensive to have them vaccinated and after reading your comments...I'm going to make sure to continue doing this. Rather be safe, than sorry....

 

[missnu01]

The reason they say that the vaccination is only good for hatchlings is because it is everywhere so most chickens become exposed by the time they are adults...some are affected and die, some have no effects. its like nothing happened at all, and those are the beat chickens to have...they have already been exposed, which is what a vaccine does...exposes an animal or person to a dangerous disease at safe levels...
Only they become exposed to the actual virus...but don't become sick...but you risk any other birds or chicks that come to the property...and I feel like that is where the vaccinations might come in handy.

Ok ok ok got way off topic there sort of? Anyway, if the chicks aren't vaccinated directly after hatch then chances are they have already been exposed to the disease, and thusly wouldn't require the vaccines as the war is already waging inside of them...now to see what wins and loses. Most birds that make it to 24 weeks are alright, but when a chicken drops dead for no reason later in life it is commonly attributed to Marek's...

 

[Bnreimer]

All I can say is NEVER ever again will i purchase a bird not vaccinated. As I am dealing with this disease

 

[missnu01]

I got chicks at the feed store and am hoping they were vaccinated...I don't know though. I need to call cackle hatchery and make sure they have it in to vaccinate the 12 I have coming on may 1. I added it online, but it wasn't on my invoice. So I need to call and see if they can add it. I hope so. I know that marek's was here or is here. I mean ally he chickens remaining are doing great...I got a mama hen and 7 chicks that I added to my flock....2 of the chicks became paralyzed a couple weeks after being moved in with my adults...none of the adults were affected, nor any of the other chicks, nor was the mom of the chicks. Makes me wonder if I will just inevitably lose a few out if any batch of chicks. I won't vaccinate at home. Costs too much. So I'm hoping that not too many will be lost from the chicks I have now and that I can just continue to hatch my own eggs made of chickens that were unaffected, increasing the chances that the chicks will be unaffected. Then again, when I talked to the lady with the chicks there were 8 but 2 days later when I went to get them there were only 7, said he couldn't find the other one...so perhaps they were already sick. It was literally not very long after I got them that the 2 seized up the way they did. It started as limping on one foot and keeping the toes on the limpy foot balled up.

 

[realsis]

to vaccinate at home the vaccine is 19 dollars. how do i know? because i home vaccinated mine. it is true a lot goes to waist because you only use 0.2 on each bird but for 19 dollars i have to say its worth it.