Vaccinating

[bangarain]

Hello! I'm questioning exactly what 'day old' chicks means for the purpose of vaccinating. When administering the Marek's vaccine, should it be given right out of the incubator, or should they be at least 24 hours old? Thank you!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You can vaccinate them in the egg (17 to 18 days). My understanding is no later than 24 hours old, and then isolated away from any older chicken for 2 weeks, so that the vaccine has time to take effect.

LofMc

 

[bangarain]

You can vaccinate them in the egg (17 to 18 days). My understanding is no later than 24 hours old, and then isolated away from any older chicken for 2 weeks, so that the vaccine has time to take effect.

LofMc

Thank you! I'm not comfortable vaccinating in ovo, so if my hatch is successful I'll make sure it's done before they go in the brooder! I do have mail order chicks coming as well, but those will be vaccinated before they arrive!

 

[K0k0shka]

The age doesn't matter at all. What matters is that they haven't been outside yet and haven't potentially been exposed to the Marek's virus (which could be out in the environment). You can vaccinate them at 1 day or 1 week or 1 month old, doesn't matter as long as they haven't been outside yet. The recommendation is at 1 day old just because that's the highest chance that they haven't been outside yet, so they are still "clean". After that people might start to take them out for short periods, and that may negate the effect of the vaccine. What the vaccine does is prompt the body to build up immunity before ever encountering the virus, so that if it ever does, it has the antibodies to fight. It takes a couple of weeks for immunity to build up, that's why the recommendation is to keep chicks inside for 2 weeks following the vaccine. So that's where the 1 day old recommendation comes from - get them as early as possible while they are still in the brooder anyway, to keep them clean, so that when you eventually want to start taking them outside to meet the world and peck some grass, they'll have protection.

I don't know if I'd feel comfortable with in ovo vaccinations either (I'd be worried about cracking the shell or not doing it correctly or it not reaching the chick), but I've done lots of post-hatch Marek's vaccinations and they aren't hard at all. There are lots of very helpful instructions and videos online. Good luck!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I usually vaccinate my chicks when they are 2 to 3 days of age but have done it as late as two weeks of age. As others have posted, important thing is that they haven’t been outside yet and exposed to Marek’s in the environment.

 

[ConnieRobin]

I'm really new to this and already have ten newly hatched chicks. Where do I get the vaccines for them? I'm going to keep them indoors until I figure this out.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You have to order it and make sure it comes in the correct temperature (or the vaccine won't work at all). Then give it to day old chicks

 

[K0k0shka]

I ordered mine from Meyer Hatchery. You can give it to any age chick, it’s just that the chances of success are highest if the chick hasn’t been outside yet and won’t go out for 2 weeks following the vaccine (to give the body time to build up immunity before encountering the virus in the environment).