vaccinating my chickies

[inkypinky]

I've never given a chicken a shot before. ....Ive done the horses of course and goats, dogs, cats even ppl ( Im a tattoo artist and piercer too ( one would think I have a thing for needles or something lol

) Ive been reading the forums here while I gather my breeding stock of BCM and my EEs for our own eggs etc and I've come to the conclusion( i think) that I need to vaccinate against yucky stuff- which vaccines are a definate and which or all are contraversial.......company for vaccines? Best prices? Or do some get from vets? I dont trust the fridge at my local feed store so much- so I'd stay away from what they have..eew...so many questions....

 

[ADozenGirlz]

I always vaccinate my chickens for Marek's. It's just not worth the risk not to do it. Here are a few useful websites that discuss the disease and the "how tos" of vaccinating (First State tells you how to use 1/4 of the vaccine at a time so as to economize if you only are vaccinating a few birds).

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/poultry-health/mareks-disease.html
http://poultryone.com/articles/mareks.html

You can buy it different places, I've bought it through First State Vet Supply, but the shipping and packaging costs a fortune (around $50 total). I have bought it through Twin City Poultry Supply for about $25 and I have read that Randall Burkey is a place to buy it reasonably priced.

Whether to vaccinate for any disease is totally a personal preference and it's a good idea to keep reading up on it and researching until you develop your own opinions on the issue.

 

[Chickenmaven]

I just read the first link. Very interesting.
If you let hens raise their chicks, you can't vaccinate for Marek's, can you? Aren't you supposed to keep the newly vaccinated chicks seperate from the adults? How do folks navigate this?

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
Interesting question. It's true that you're not supposed to expose chicks to other chickens that may have been exposed to Marek's until they are vaccinated. My best GUESS would be that you could vaccinate on day one. It can't hurt and might help.

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I never vaccinate, never have and never will. I have never had any problems.

 

[Theicequeen]

can i jump in here and ask a question, are the chicks you get from Tractor vacinated?

 

[snowflake]

Interesting.

If all your adult chicks and new chicks from Hatchery have been vaccinated, how and when do you do new hatchlings. I have a broody and hope to have some new baby's in a couple weeks. Don't know about TSC you would have to call them.they don't say they are on their signs;so my guess is no, they don't.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
Not ordinarily.

 

[white01]

I called this morning and will have my bunch vaccinated before they ship, I just dont want to take any chances.

 

[crysmom]

first two batches of chicks I incubated 3 years ago i had 60% die or become incapacitated from mareks at about 16 to 20 weeks so since then I have had all my hatchery chicks vaccinated and have not hatched any of my own because of the mareks concern (mareks is airborne and this property had never had chickens on it so it must have come from some unknown farm)

This batch of chicks i'm incubating i'll vaccinate for Mareks I have the vaccine and the diluent but i'll need to read those links as to how to mix them up i'll be vaccinating next week.