Vaccinated with Unvaccinated??

[wundernurse]

Can I add 3 layers that have been vaccinated to a group of unvaccinated pullets? As far as the vaccinated I think it is cocci and Marek's. Thanks

 

[Snakeoil]

Won't hurt a thing.

 

[gritsar]

I disagree, with regards to the Marek's vaccine.
It's my understanding that in essence the hens vaccinated for Marek's are now carriers of the disease. If your pullets are under 8 months old or so they could catch the disease from the vaccinated hens.

 

[Momo]

Actually the Marek's vaccine does not make them carriers of the disease. It makes them carriers of the non-virulent form of the virus used in the vaccine. They don't shed much of the virus but they do shed some; if unvaccinated chickens were to "catch" it, it would not harm them in any event. The potential problem lies with the fact that being vaccinated for Marek's does not keep chickens from contracting Marek's; it just means that they don't develop symptoms of the disease. So a vaccinated chicken can contract the regular Marek's virus (of which there are several strains) and theoretically it can shed the live virus. There's no way to know if a vaccinated chicken has picked up the Marek's virus along the way because it will appear healthy, but it could pass the virus along. However, since Marek's is pretty much endemic these days I wouldn't be too worried about it, myself.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Thanks for the clarification. I just know that Ideal recommends that if you vaccinate some you should vaccinate all.
I chose not to have mine vaccinated in any case.

 

[pipermark]

Quote:
Very well put, wish you could have written my answer to the polio vaccine, thats exactly the same thing , except in children.

 

[crzychicken]

So if you put them together the unvaccinated chicks they will be fine even if they did pick up Mareks ? and does that affect Backyard flocks or mostly large farms

 

[cmom]

Any new birds I get that are vaccinated or not I quarantine them for at least a month before I introduce them to each other. I put them in adjacent runs for awhile so they can get used to seeing each other after I take them out of quarantine.

 

[Momo]

If the unvaccinated chickens pick up a virulent strain of Mareks you can expect them to get sick. Don't expect vaccinated birds to pass on any protection to the unvaccinated flock. Adult birds are more resistant to Mareks than young birds, though. You can also vaccinate adult birds; it doesn't have to be done at one day of age. You can do it yourself; it's easy.

Often it's not recommended for small backyard flocks to be vaccinated, because they have less chance of picking up the virus. However, when I got my first chicks last spring (30 chicks shipped from a backyard breeder), guess what ... they had Mareks. I ended up losing most of them as they grew older. I was told by a poultry veterinarian that Mareks is becoming so endmic that you should expect your flock will be exposed. Long story short, I vaccinated all the chicks I hatched this year and so far no losses.

 

[columbiacritter]

Can the really tiny bantam chicks, i.e. Seramas and Japs, be vaccinated? They are sometimes half or less the size of some standard chicks.