vaccine question

[Hoodie]

I'm getting 20 buff Orpington chicks in the spring. My question is, there are so many vaccines. Coryza, bronchitis, cocci, mareks's disease....which ones should I vaccinate for? Should I vaccinate for as many as I can? Is it cheaper to have them vaccinated by a vet since its a small flock? Just trying to prepare my budget this spring.

 

[seminolewind]

I personally get Marek's and Cocci. But I've never had a respiratory infection here. Get it done at the hatchery. It's a lot cheaper.

 

[Eggcessive]

If these are your first chickens, then a Mareks vaccine is all that I would recommend. We never know if we have Mareks on our property, so since it is such a terrible disease with no cure, it is very much worth the extra dollar or so to do it. Coccidiosis vaccine would also be a good one, although I have never done this. That disease is curable with medication, but it would probably be worth doing. I would not recommend the others unless you have near neighbors with many chickens.

 

[Hoodie]

If these are your first chickens, then a Mareks vaccine is all that I would recommend.  We never know if we have Mareks on our property, so since it is such a terrible disease with no cure, it is very much worth the extra dollar or so to do it.  Coccidiosis vaccine would also be a good one, although I have never done this.  That disease is curable with medication, but it would probably be worth doing.  I would not recommend the others unless you have near neighbors with many chickens.

My adult hens have a respiratory thing going on right now :/ it's not Coryza, thank goodness. And the two who are sick have one swollen eye and that is it. No lethargy, eating and drinking well. I ran a course of oxytetracycline and it helped all but those two. Weirdness. And yes, this will be my first time having chicks. I have hens that I inherited from the owner of our house....they arnt in fabulous shape, poor things. But I'm doing what I can for them

 

[Eggcessive]

I would recommend getting a sick bird tested. That way you would know what to vaccinate for--MG is what it sounds like, but there are different strains. Speak to your state vet about the types of diseases they are currently seeing in your state or area. Honestly, I would close my flock, and not get any more chickens until the older ones pass on, but everyone does things differently. Chronic respiratory diseases are never cured, even if symptoms go away--they persist by making chickens in the flock carriers, and may reappear whenever a chicken is stressed.