Vaccinating Chicks?

[TeePants]

I just ordered some Sebright hatching eggs, and assuming any of them hatch (lol) I definitely plan on vaccinating them against Marek's, but I was wondering if there was anything else I should look to vaccinate for? I know Coccidiosis can be a big problem for chicks who are not fed medicated feed (for my small flock I'd like to get them on something organic), but I have no idea where to get that vaccine.

I also read that it was best to double vaccinate with the Marek's - is this a good idea? I've never had to vaccinate an animal before but I believe it's administered at the back of the neck, under the skin? Should I have a vet do it? I don't know of any vets in town that deal with poulty, but I certainly don't need the vaccine in the quantities that it is sold online.

I realize I'm putting the chicken before the egg a little here, but I find a lot of the info re: vaccinating confusing.

With Marek's I've read to vaccinate within 1-3 days of hatching - is that also true for other vaccines?

For a point of reference, these will be the first chicks we've got at our place and will be kept indoors for the first month or so, but our neighbor a couple houses down has a flock of yard chickens so it's not unthinkable that if they're carriers it could spread to our chickens easily.

Would it just be easier to feed the medicated stuff? It's just that I've always bought natural/organic food for the rest of our animals...

 

[dawg53]

Jefferslivestock.com sells vaccinations for poultry. Here's a couple links you might be interested in:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps030
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vm062

 

[TeePants]

Thank you, I'm reading those links now!

 

[TeePants]

Ok, someone told me in the LA area I really only need to vaccinate for fowl pox. It's apparently something you inject in the wing membrane for day old chicks, but the revaccinating schedule was something I found kind of confusing.

Do I need to revaccinate at 12 weeks, or 7 weeks, or at all? One of the products boasted indefinite immunity.

How likely am I to royally screw this up and cripple a wing? I'm super worried about that, haha.

Will I need to vaccinate every new bird that comes into the flock later? Will it make my other birds 'carriers'?

And finally...Disposal? I can't remember if this particular vaccine asked you to incinerate it, I know the Marek's did which worried me because I er, definitely don't have an incinerator, lol. I also probably won't be keeping more than ...3-4 chickens at most. I doubt I will even have that many hatch since this is my first time and they are shipped eggs, if any do at all (FINGERS CROSSED!) so I feel kind of silly for considering buying a dosage for a gazillion birds for my pint sized batch.

Problem is I'd need to have it ready for hatch day. As long as I don't mix it with the dilutent, does it keep well? I'm waiting until like...day 14 or so to order anything because I want to make sure I've got some progress going on these eggs, but just in case I order them and the worst happens I'd like to know if I can use it later.