VACCINES????

[sandyj]

I am going to be ordering 3 chicks from my pet chickens .com. They asked if I wanted the vaccine for maricks disease. My question is, what if I get a few more chicks elswhere and they are not vaccinated against this, will they get this disease because the other chickens carry the antibodies in their blood? You ask, why wouldn't I just order them all from MPC? I want to have a couple EE chickens who lay green or blue eggs and maybe a salmon favorelle for a tinted egg. The other 3 I would be getting at the neighborhood school spring hatch for their science class. I sort of like the idea of not knowing what kind they are and have it be a suprise. Please let me know about vaccine and if my other chicks could get this because they are not vaccinated!!! I have never owned chickens and am really excited about this new experience!!!!
sandyj "citychicker"

 

[Heidi]

A few years ago I ordered chicks and had them vaccinated for mareks. Then the following year I hatched chicks in which I lost a total of 12 to mareks because I didn't vaccinate them. If you decide to vaccinate for mareks make sure all of your new additions are too. I'm still hatching, but I vaccinate them myself as you can purchase it on line. There are several threads on this as well - just search it. Chickens can also catch mareks from wild birds.

 

[sandyj]

Heidi,
Where online do I go to order these vaccines. Where on the chick do you give the vaccine? Or is it some sort of liquid? Thanks for the heads-up!
sandyj

 

[jimnjay]

http://www.featherfanciers.com/

Got to this site's forum and read about Mareks in the section on Diseases. You can then goto the online store and order the vaccine. Peter Brown is happy to help answer any questions you have. Most are answered in the article on Mareks.

I just vaccinated for the first time and it was easy. If you are ordering from a hatchey I highly recommend vaccinating for Mareks.