To those who did NOT or will not vaccinate

[Bullwinkle]

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If you do much reading on BYC, you'll find that a lot of folks at the feed store don't know much more about chickens than anybody else.

 

[sugarbush]

I am pro vaccination for people, millions of human lives are at risk....

I don't vaccinate my chicks though, I raise and sell pullets and more and more people want pullets that have not been vaccinated.

I think if you have 100s of birds at risk than by all means vaccinate, but for a small flock the risks are small and the cost of replacement cheap.

 

[Bullwinkle]

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I would agree that the lives of chickens are not worth as much as human lives (actually... I love to eat chicken... just not my own). And I agree they can be replaced relatively cheaply.

For me thought I consider my chickens 'pets.' But even if they were 'just' farm animals to me I wouldn't want to see them get sick and suffer.

As far as cost, yes they can be replaced cheaply. But then again the vaccination is only .10 to .15 cents which is pretty darn cheap too. If I were just raising a batch of meat birds that were only going to live for 10 weeks I might consider not vaccinating them. I plan on keeping my hens though for at least 3 years before I worry about replacing them (and yes I'm such wimp ... I'll probably give them away or have someone else butcher them for me....).

 

[Beekissed]

I don't vaccinate. I like my chickens to develop their immunities naturally. I've not had any illness or any chicks die from illness in my care. I do not feed medicated feeds for the same reason. I want my flock to have the strongest constitution available and this does not include giving it dead viruses from a disease it may or may not encounter. If they do encounter any disease and it kills them, then their immune systems are too fragile for my area, my soils, my farm. End of story. Time to find a breed that is strong enough to survive.

Generations of backyard chicken farming in my family and we've never vaccinated. Nor have we ever encountered an illness that "wiped out our whole flock" or even any percentage of our flocks.

I've not had any illness at all. I don't buy the USDA scare tactics for small flock owners.

If I had thousands of birds confined to an area with little ventilation, caged together with medicated, formulated foods composed of animal byproducts and hormone stimulating enzymes......yeah, I might vaccinate. At that point, what would it matter?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

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The reason your friends chicks died was very, very likely just a coincidence. There are no studies I am aware of that show vaccinated chicks have a higher death rate than unvaccinated chicks.

Actually, last year McMurray had 2 hatches that received contaminated vaccines and hundreds upon hundreds of chicks died. Unfortunately, these chicks were shipped out to customers and people opened chick boxes to dead and/or dying chicks. It was horrible.

I had ordered chicks last year at the same time as this was happening, and the fact that I chose not to vaccinate actually saved my chicks. When I placed my order with McMurray this year I inquired as to what reasons were behind the chicks expiring and they told me it was a bad batch of vaccine that affected two hatches.

My reason for not vaccinating is because I want a flock as organic as possible, as nature intended.

I also do not allow people in my coops and I quarantine any newbies.

 

[midwife mama]

Wow! What a lively discussion! Thank you all for your replies.

Like I said, I am really interested in discussing with folks who have chosen NOT to vaccinate.
I am well aware of the pro-vaccination arguments.

And I appreciate hearing from those of you who did not vaccinate and experienced negative outcomes as a result. Your stories are an important part of my deliberations.
As a care provider I am well aware that "science" and "research" can claim one set of "facts" while people's actual experiences can tell a very different story.

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All we can do is speculate on this one, eh? And it depends on what you mean by "strengthen." Personally I think I might like to have a flock of birds that have aquired active immunity through directly encountering a pathogen, mounting an immune response, and surving with active immunity against the pathogen. However, I do not know much about chicken's immune functioning so this I need to learn more about!

 

[Bullwinkle]

hmm... my wife said my post was too controversial so I've edited it....

 

[Bullwinkle]

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I would agree that a chicken that has acquired immunity by directly encountering a pathogen may have the strongest immune response. The problem though is that some chicken diseases (such as Mareks) will result in the chicken being a carrier and potential source of infection for the rest of its life. Often the chickens that do survive some of these disease will never fully recover from the diseases effect.

Yes I know you asked for posts from folks that chose NOT to vaccinate and that is fine. I waited until MANY folks had posted before I did. I was concerned about folks who might be ordering chicks for the first time or who are new to BYC that they have a balanced view (and not think everyone here at BYC is against vaccination)

 

[JessaLynn]

It's all difference of opinions and you have to do what's best for you and your flock.Big or small it doesn't matter,diseases can get spread either way and it's unfortunate one way or another.It's like being a parent and trying to make the best desicion for your babies

 

[horsejody]

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All we can do is speculate on this one, eh? And it depends on what you mean by "strengthen." Personally I think I might like to have a flock of birds that have aquired active immunity through directly encountering a pathogen, mounting an immune response, and surving with active immunity against the pathogen. However, I do not know much about chicken's immune functioning so this I need to learn more about!

I think that you are saying is that you only want one side of the argument. Why would you want a one sided discussion? There is a lot bad info floating around the internet about vaccines and poultry diseases, especially Mareks. I vaccinate for Marek's because I have seen the disease first hand. It's everywhere. and it's awful. Some hatcheries don't recommend vaccinations because they don't make any money on it with small orders and they figure that it's no big deal if a small flock is wiped out because it is so easy to replace.