Vaccines for backyard chickens

[tyarec]

Hi, some one please let me know the essential vaccines for backyard chickens which are important and helpful for the longlife of your flock. I have 34 days old chicks not yet vaccinated. What important vaccines are needed. Please let me know the procedure as well.

 

[realsis]

This is all going to be OPINION so I will tell you the vaccine I feel is most important and why, and how.First the ONLY vaccine I give my chickens is the Mareks vaccine. Why? Because they say Mareks disease is EVERYWHERE. Fact: Mareks can even travel in the wind and your birds can get it that way.Fact: Mareks is a heartbreaking paralyzing disease. Fact: your bird can even have Mareks and not show symptoms yet be a carrier and infect others who might not or might show symptoms. Fact: The vaccine is given AT TIME OF HATCH. Why time of hatch? because later they might already get exposed and it be too late. How do they get exposed? by going outside, by being around other birds. Fact: after vaccine the birds should be kept inside for at least a month while they develop immunity. Fact: immunity is NOT a instant process after vaccine. it takes at least a month.Fact the vaccine does not protect 100% but vaccinated birds ARE less likely to get Mareks. FACT: The vaccine is NOT THE MAREKS VIRUS. vaccinated birds will NOT give unvaccinated birds the virus.many get that confused. now the other thing is you CAN vaccinate older birds but if they have already been exposed it's not going to do much good after the fact. That's why the recommendation for the first day of hatch is written. How do you do it? Two ways. I've done it BOTH ways. 1. You can order the vaccine online and give it yourself.which can cost about 30.00 dollars with special shipping in a cold container(that's how mine came) 2. You can pay the hatchery fifty cents to do it on hatch day. it's done by injection both ways.now why don't I give other vaccines? Because of a personal experience. what happened? I gave my birds a "live virus" vaccine that WAS A small amount of the actual virus unlike the Mareks vaccine. well after I vaccinated my birds they caught the virus(they were supposed to build immunity to the virus by getting a small amount. Well they got the virus alright and everyone who got the virus died from it. it was a HORRIBLE experience. so now, I ONLY give the MAREKS VACCINE. Another thing is if my girls had made it, they could have been carriers and infect others because it was a live virus.SO that's my OPINION mixed with some Mareks FACTS. I suggest you do a LOT of reading and then make your choice from there. like I said, my birds only get the Mareks vaccine because I feel it's very important. I really hope this helps a bit. I wish you the best.

 

[tyarec]

Many thanks for your help. Do I need other vaccines which are essential.

 

[tyarec]

My chicks are now 35 days old. Marek's vaccine is helpful in this age.

 

[realsis]

If they were my own birds, yes I would give the vaccine. it wont hurt them and could possibly help save their lives. Order from First State Vet Supply Online as they ship the vaccine as it should be shipped keeping it cold. They give easy to understand, clear cut instructions. You can also get the syringes from them.Now, have they already been exposed? no way to tell but if they haven't I would not want to chance NOT giving the vaccine. it WONT hurt them. The injection is easy and does NOT go into the muscle or breast. it goes JUST UNDER THE SKIN on the back of the neck and hardly feel it.I do hope this helps you out and wish the very best for you and your birds. I can only give advice as if they were my own. This is what I'd do. This is really the only vaccine I give. To keep them healthy I recommend good vitamins which can also be purchased at first state vet supply as well.I also suggest a good probotic. when mine are chicks up to adult I give mine a probotic called PROBIOS. You can order it online. I give in the drinking water and it keeps their gut healthy and they never get dierehea. It's a great product. I also feed a good organic feed when they reach laying age with a probotic in that as well. Again, I do hope this helps and i'd order the vaccine as soon as possible.

 

[tyarec]

ok. thanks also tell me other vaccines names which are important

 

[realsis]

As I was saying this is VERY much Opinion. In fact, most backyard chicken owners only do the Mareks vaccine and that and the coccidosis vaccine are the Only ones I feel are important. Possibly the fowl pox vaccine as well. The coccidosis vaccine IS only given at hatch. I don't use it. Instead I feed MEDICATED chick feed. The food helps prevent coccidosis.I've personally not given the fowl pox to my birds.What I was trying to explain in a earlier post was other than Mareks vaccine, the others can do more harm than good in my opinion. I've had it personally harm my flock.When I first started out I was very much like you wanting to give many vaccines for the protection of my flock. what I didn't know then, and learned through sturdy after the loss of my vaccinated birds is that the other vaccines, most are LIVE VIRUS. meaning it gives the bird a small amount of the disease in order to raise immunity. What I didn't know was if they can't fight the virus, that alone can KILLS them, like it did mine. I also learned the live virus vaccines OTHER THAN MAREKS (the MAREKS vaccine is NOT Mareks) (it's derived from a similar turkey virus so it DOES NOT give them Mareks or make them carriers. But the others DO MAKE THE BIRDS CARRIERS of the other bad viruses your vaccinating to prevent! What this means is they will give new birds brought to your property or they are around the virus!! So the other vaccines are in my opinion not important. not only that they make carriers of the very disease your trying to prevent out of them! I am speaking from experience.I lost every bird that was vaccinated with the live virus of the disease itself. If your curious the vaccines avaible, look online at First State Vet Supply. He carries them. However, I can't in good conscience recommend anything but the Mareks vaccine which I feel is extremely important. so if they were mine, I'd only give Mareks. You can see the rest online at the vet store I recommend. If you do your research on the others I am fairly sure you will agree with me. it devastated me loosing my birds from giving the vaccines!I should have done more research first. That said, the only imordant vaccine is Mareks. The others can cause a lot more harm then good. I really hope I've helped you out a bit. let me know.

 

[keesmom]

You may want to talk to your state's poultry inspector or the local county extension office to see if there are any prevalent poultry diseases in your area that should be vaccinated against.

 

[tyarec]

Yes you did help me alot. Many thanks