vax question

[aidensmomma]

Do all chickens get vaccinated? Or only meat birds? Are there certain areas geographically where chickens should be vax'd for one reason or another? Do most chicks come vax'd? I looked around the forum before posting and I hope this is the right spot...thanks

 

[aidensmomma]

ok...so did i post this in the wrong place? did i ask an offensive question? or just a really stupid question? because no one seems to want to answer it! do chickens even GET vaccinations? hopefully someone will inform the uninformed

 

[sumi]

Hey, relax!

I do vaccinate my chickens against Newcastle. I have to where I live. There are other vaccines available against other poultry disease. Ask your vet about that.

 

[aidensmomma]

Thanks for the reply I thought I was being shunned... ha ha. I did some research, and Newcastle is not in the US correct?

 

[Izzymoon]

Here in Massachusetts they will come out from Boston and inspect and vaccinate your chicks for free at 16 weeks. They make sure they have a clean coop and food water etc. Mine are only 8 weeks (monday) but I may call them and see if they come out early. Here in Mass you need this certification to sell eggs.

http://www.mass.gov/agr/animalhealth/poultry/index.htm

 

[Adenium]

I'm in CT and used UCONN's poultry website and research here to decide. From what I read I understand there are two types of Newcastle...I think it's the more severe form that han't been seen for a while. I can't afford vax for everything but did order Mareks and a combo Newcastle-bronchitis from Jeffers livestock. Pricey mostly because of shipping but worth it for us. These hens will provide eggs but they're also pets and we don't want to cull or replace them. For one thing it would be heartbreaking and then we'd also be dealing with introducing younger replacement hens and all that. We hope to keep these girls for years....and it was pricey enough getting sexed silkies! For large fowl it's easy and cheap to at least get mareks done...we have to DIY because they don't do silkies. If you haven't, read the threads from leadwolf and others who have dealt with mareks. Wild birds can carry it in and it's a slow awful death or you will have to kill them to stop their suffering. Ours may get some other ailment but why not reduce risk.

Many will say don't bother for backyard flocks but I think that's from an assumption that they're utilitarian and relatively cheap to replace in small numbers. For us it's about more than number crunching.

 

[sumi]

I don't know where you get Newcastle, but I do know it's a biggie here. I live in an area with many ostrich farms and the farmers round here buy and distribute Newcastle vaccines to prevent backyard chicken keeper's flocks from getting the disease. I've been told that if one chicken gets it, the whole area will be put under quarantine. Very bad news if you have 1 000+ ostriches...