Vaccines for laying hens - what should I give?

[kimberpaige]

We have a dozen laying hens and I don't know their vaccination history. What vaccines should I give them to offer them the most protection from illness and to also protect any new hens that we bring in (after quarantining, of course)? We are in Arkansas. I know for backyard chickens, most don't give many vaccines, but I'd like to prevent what I can.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

We have a dozen laying hens and I don't know their vaccination history. What vaccines should I give them to offer them the most protection from illness and to also protect any new hens that we bring in (after quarantining, of course)? We are in Arkansas. I know for backyard chickens, most don't give many vaccines, but I'd like to prevent what I can.

Welcome to BYC!

I would suggest going to the vet, maybe they can tell you what vaccines they had. @cherrynberry

 

[Eggcessive]

For a backyard flock, I would not vaccinate for anything at this point. When I get hatchery chicks, I get the Mareks vaccines for them. They are best given as day olds before they could possibly be exposed. Do you have neighbors with chickens or have any large poultry operations nearby? When you get chickens from another person, they can come from farms where they might have been exposed to something, such as a chronic respiratory disease. Look for watery, bubbly eye, nasal drainage, or sneeze/cough. Most people quarantine new chickens for a month, to look for any symptoms of illness or disease, to check for lice or mites, and to get a fecal float done by a vet to look for worms or coccidiosis. If you see any illness, isolate the chicken, and if a death occurs, send the body to your state vet for a necropsy and testing. Good luck with your flock.

 

[kimberpaige]

For a backyard flock, I would not vaccinate for anything at this point. When I get hatchery chicks, I get the Mareks vaccines for them. They are best given as day olds before they could possibly be exposed. Do you have neighbors with chickens or have any large poultry operations nearby? When you get chickens from another person, they can come from farms where they might have been exposed to something, such as a chronic respiratory disease. Look for watery, bubbly eye, nasal drainage, or sneeze/cough. Most people quarantine new chickens for a month, to look for any symptoms of illness or disease, to check for lice or mites, and to get a fecal float done by a vet to look for worms or coccidiosis. If you see any illness, isolate the chicken, and if a death occurs, send the body to your state vet for a necropsy and testing. Good luck with your flock.

We had about 8 hens that were doing well. We got another 6, quarantined them for a month, then had them in the same coop, separated by a fence for another 2 weeks. They've all been together in the same coop for a month now and last week, a few in both the old and new flock have gotten sick. So that's why I'm wanting to do what I can to prevent this from happening again, if I can.
None of them have died yet, but I'm not sure if one of them is going to recover from it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Well the way many respiratory diseases work, is that if one bird gets sick with mycoplasma (MG,) coryza, or ILT, the whole flock can be carriers for life until the last bird is dead. Infectious bronchitis virus can make them all carriers for up to a year. So finding out what is going around is helpful. That can be done by testing on your own through a lab, such as Zoologix, or seeking testing through an NPIP tester or the state vet. But many diseases are reportable when doing it through the state vet. Zoologix can send swabs to test a sick bird for up to 8 respiratory diseases. MG is a common disease and some online stores sell the vaccine. IB virus also is sold in a vaccine. But if it is IB, and you wait a year after the last sick bird gets well, they won’t get it again. MG is common in some backtpyard flocks and also some wild birds carry it. With MG, I would just close my flock to new birds. You could just medicate a sick bird or cull it and send it to the state vet for a necropsy, which also would identify which disease. You can also vaccinate for Mareks disease, but I don’t unless I am getting hatchery chicks where they give it. I hope this helps. Here is a link for Zoologix which does at home testing that you send back in:
https://www.zoologix.com/avian/Datasheets/PoultryRespiratoryPanel.htm

 

[kimberpaige]

Well the way many respiratory diseases work, is that if one bird gets sick with mycoplasma (MG,) coryza, or ILT, the whole flock can be carriers for life until the last bird is dead. Infectious bronchitis virus can make them all carriers for up to a year. So finding out what is going around is helpful. That can be done by testing on your own through a lab, such as Zoologix, or seeking testing through an NPIP tester or the state vet. But many diseases are reportable when doing it through the state vet. Zoologix can send swabs to test a sick bird for up to 8 respiratory diseases. MG is a common disease and some online stores sell the vaccine. IB virus also is sold in a vaccine. But if it is IB, and you wait a year after the last sick bird gets well, they won’t get it again. MG is common in some backtpyard flocks and also some wild birds carry it. With MG, I would just close my flock to new birds. You could just medicate a sick bird or cull it and send it to the state vet for a necropsy, which also would identify which disease. You can also vaccinate for Mareks disease, but I don’t unless I am getting hatchery chicks where they give it. I hope this helps. Here is a link for Zoologix which does at home testing that you send back in:
https://www.zoologix.com/avian/Datasheets/PoultryRespiratoryPanel.htm

Thank you! This was very helpful! Do you have any idea how much is costs to get a test run from zoologix or a NPIP tester?

Do you know if there's any harm in giving a vaccine for MG if they are a carrier? I would assume that would just be a waste of a vaccine, but wouldn't harm the hen.

Also, if we bring in other hens that are likely MG positive, we shouldn't have any additional issues, right? The harm would be in bringing in MG negative birds. But... if we vaccinate and quarantine all new hens before combining them into our flock, that should be effective in keeping everyone healthy, right?

 

[Eggcessive]

I think that Zoologix charges about $80 for 3 swabs, but I would call them and see if that is up to date. Of course shipping may cost extra. MG vaccine should not affect a bird who already has it in her body. If MG is confirmed, then vaccinating new birds may be a way of controlling the spread. I have no experience with vaccinating, so maybe someone else can advise you. There are a number of articles online about vaccines and ages for doing them.