Vaccinate or Not

[FortCluck]

I think since yours aren’t vaccinated, you would know if you had the disease. Mine are so I do worry a bit that I wouldn’t know.

I've never vaccinated any of mine and the only way that I would have got vaccinated chicks as if tractor supply or southern states gets vaccinated chicks.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I've never vaccinated any of mine and the only way that I would have got vaccinated chicks as if tractor supply or southern states gets vaccinated chicks.

Did you get yours from there?

 

[FortCluck]

I didn’t realize they could have it! Guess I won’t be buying from them then.

Not that I was planning on it anyway since they’re not the best quality but I was considering getting some ISA Browns or something this year. Guess not now.

You can say that about any company that sells chicks... All of them have the capability to have Marek's

I wouldn't single out tractor supply and say that they are bad just because of one incident... Plus how was it directly pinpointed at tractor supply and not somewhere else that this person had walked or gone to. Not like Marek's can't be picked up anywhere else.

 

[FortCluck]

Did you get yours from there?

Yeah some of them...

I had a flock of 30 chickens before this one and all of them were from tractor supply and healthy.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

So you can definitely pinpoint it on tractor supply?

Are you sure you couldn't have got it from somewhere else?

Not me, I got it from a breeder. It can be hard to pin down the source of infection. My friend had her birds worked up at our local vet school and diagnostic lab (as did I) and given the timing and history of chicks and the rest of the flock, they were confident that their Marek’s came in Tractor supply chicks. My friend is now a huge advocate for vaccinating and says she will never buy another feed store chick.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I would guess that it depends on whether you have a hot strain or not. If the chicks were from vaccinated or infected hens, then the chicks hatch with their own antibody. If you only have a mild strain of MDV, then the antibody could give the chicks enough protection for them to develop their own immunity once they are exposed to the virus. Of course, you might not have wild MDV at all in your flock, then your broody raised chicks would also be fine, even if the vaccine strain was transferred from your vaccinated hens. If your hens do transfer wild virus to your unvaccinated chicks, you might see stunted growth or coccidiosis in the chicks, or neurological signs at POL, unless their antibodies protect them well enough that they become immune.

Hmm...I guess the only sure fire way to know is have a necropsy done. Does that tell you which strain or just that they're Mareks +/-?

 

[Shadrach]

Not in the parking lot. I think tractor supply has vaccinated chicks, but I'm not sure. They buy in large quantities.

So, you've got lots of people looking at chicks in bins at many Tractor Supplies as I understand it.
It's reasonable to assume the vast majority of these people already have chickens.
Out of the hundreds that pass through such places doors in a week and look into and maybe handle the chicks it seems probable that a significant percentage have been in contact with other chickens. Some of these people will be buying to replace lost birds. Some of this some will have no idea what killed their birds.
I suggest that your other precautions are a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

 

[ShrekDawg]

You can say that about any company that sells chicks... All of them have the capability to have Marek's

I wouldn't single out tractor supply and say that they are bad just because of one incident... Plus how was it directly pinpointed at tractor supply and not somewhere else that this person had walked or gone to. Not like Marek's can't be picked up anywhere else.

Hm that’s true!!

 

[Meg-in-MT]

I've never vaccinated any of mine and the only way that I would have got vaccinated chicks as if tractor supply or southern states gets vaccinated chicks.

I suppose you could call them and see if they vaccinate incoming chicks. Then you would know for sure. Well...maybe.

 

[CatWhisperer]

Thank you @Mixed flock enthusiast for all the research you have presented here. After 6 years of having chickens and never having an ill or injured bird I have been hit with Mareks. I lost 2 Onagadori pullets last month. Necropsied one myself and took the other to University of Arkansas Poultry Diagnostic Lab. The veterinarian there advised me to vaccinate my flock even though it may provide little benefit. I am sad that none of my birds will ever be able to leave my property but would wish this disease on no one. I have also had to treat my flock for coccidiosis at the same time. I am going to vaccinate. I wonder if I hatch eggs indoors will those chicks be safe to sell? I do practice biosecurity on my premesis and don’t visit other areas with poultry. My current flock were purchased from several different breeders and I wonder if the source of the infected pullets is where the disease originally came from. I would add that any hatchery that recommends vaccination probably has had the disease on their premises since it is so prevalent and difficult to eradicate. I don’t know if Mareks virus mutates like influenza but if not, I don’t see how vaccination could ‘create’ hotter strains as some people think.