Vaccinating your OWN chicks - DANGERS?

[outdoorsii]

I have a Q. about vaccinations for Newcastle, Mareks, etc in the 1st few days of the chicks life...MY CHICKS ARE SICKER THAN THEY WOULDA BEEN W/OUT THE VACCINES I THINK....

*My friend sold me some chicks that were vaccinated by themselves....is there a possibility that it was done wrong? B/c I bought these at ~1.5-2 wks old - they were kinda kept outside (coulda got a cold maybe?)

• Hatched Favucauna pullets on Jan 8, bought chicks Jan 16: noticed runny noses RIGHT after I put em w/my chicks who were same age & hadn't been exposed to ANYTHING until them (I know stupid shoulda quarantined even chicks)
• Jan 23: - Runny, smelly, & stopped up noses ONLY symptoms cept for a few stunted growth - so I started Dura 10 in water for 1 week...some got better...a cpl still had it...
• Feb 1 - Feb 5: I gave Tylan 50 orally .5cc/mL to chicks everyday. (few got better, some didn't)
• Feb 10: After waiting 5 days I bumped it up a notch giving them .5cc/mL of LA 200 orally everyday. (All got better cept 1 outta 9...I'm assuming they were just constantly passing it back & forth)
• Mar 23: No meds for 6 wks...NOW I'm tryin the LA 200 again - I have a 31ga. diabetic needle I'm injecting .5cc/mL every other day into breast muscle...tomorrow will be 4th dosage (dosed Mar 23, 25, 27) as far as I know as of yesterday none had ANY symptoms cept for them tryin to get over the stunted growth issue & being a little skinny.

I was just curious if they do in fact GET OVER this "disease" or whatever it is....are they still going to be carriers for life/contagious? b/c if so I cant have em no matter how precious they are...I'm not willing to put my flock at risk although I can't hatch anymore of this breed b/c I got rid of my Salmon Faverolles roo

Is it possible that the vaccinations weren't given correctly or w/too old of meds & that's what caused all of this? You'd think if that was the case it wouldn't be contagious, I know for sure it was contagious back when they were 2 wks old, but now they're nearing 3 mo.'s old; I need to see somehow if its contagious but I don't wanna infect any of my chickens - guess I needa find a spare roo...

Thanks for anyone that helps!

 

[Eggcessive]

First of all, I would be suspicious of chicks that needed a Newcastles vaccine--Mareks is pretty standard, but Exotic Newcastles is not found in the US at this time. I believe your chicks came as carriers of a chronic respiratory disease such as MG or coryza (because of the odor) and infected your others. Unfortunately, culling, cleaning, and waiting a couple of months is the only way to get rid of this disease on your property. iYou will probably be treating this and spending money on antibiotics from now on. Biosecurity is very important when bringing new birds home, and they should be quarantined for 4-6 weeks far away from the rest of the flock. Sorry about the sick chicks. If you start a new thread with "possible respiratory disease" in the title, I would think you may get more people helping you than the present title of your thread. Here is a good link listing the common diseases and symptoms: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044

 

[Spanishchick]

The rule is if meds don't work in the first few days, switch them. I wish you luck. You may want to lime wash everything.
I left this how to for someone else, hope it helps you. http://tinyfarmblog.com/liming-the-chickenhouse/

 

[realsis]

I've never vaccinated for Newcastle but I have vaccinated all of my own chicks that I've had for Mareks disease and their was NEVER ANY I'll effects at all whatsoever! I'm seriously doubting Mareks vaccine had any thing to do with the illness. That said, I'm not familiar with the Newcastle vaccine and I don't know weather it is a live vaccine.i know Mareks vaccine is NOT The Mareks virus. It is a similar turkey derived virus. So it is impossible that the mareks would give mareks since it's NOT the virus. But if the Newcastle is a live form of the virus it IS possible that they have a small form of the disease.you need to find out if the vaccine that was given for Newcastle was a live form of the virus or not. As I said I'm not familiar with that particular vaccine. But if it's a live form it will give them a bit of the disease. This is how they build antibodies toward the disease.they also can possibly be carriers after vaccinated. This is why it's VERY important to do your reasearch on what vaccine you are giving and the effects of that vaccine. You will be able to answer your own question if you look up the Newcastle vaccine that was given to these birds and find out if it's a live virus.if it is live that's likely why they are ill now. Also find out about carrier status after vaccinated. If they do have a virus antibiotics won't kill a virus. However they will help prevent a secondary illness. That can happen often with viruses. So I would do some research on exactly what was given to them in regards to the Newcastle and see if the vaccine is supposed to give them a touch of the illness. I hope this helps and wish you the best.

 

[Spanishchick]

Everyone who's has chickens for a while and farms vaccinates all they're own animals that I know. They castrate, brand, some do surgery, imagine a pregnant cow emergency? The vet is far away, the rancher learns to do cecareans. They stomach tube.....list goes on...
Vaccines are on the easy list on animal care.
There are reputable sources to buy vaccines.
I think a lot of sources would discourage self sufficiency however with some investigation a lot of things you can do yourself.
(C-sections require some certification). Trocharization, or puncturing the stomach of a cow or goat is also commonly learned. They are life saving.
I think that depending on each circumstance these things may be a really goid idea to learn. (Obviously much doesn't apply to chickens).