Washingtonians

[hallerlake]

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Am I the only one not unhappy about the rain? I was playing musical chairs with trees and shrubs last week, and I'd just as soon they got watered in. My sandy soil dries out fast.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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The dry stuff IS the vaccine, the liquid is just to use to mix it in.
Follow the directions & be ready with syringes and alcohol & keep the big bottle of mixed vaccine in a bowl with ice while you work .
You need small short needles for the birds, and a big needle to mix some of the liquid into the dry little bottle, then shake, then draw it back out & shoot it into the big bottle & shake.
Then draw some out & fill the syring & PUT THE SMALL needle on the syringe to shoot the birds under the skin at the back of the head/neck. Wet with alcohol, it is easy to shoot the needle in at an angle & upwards and squirt in a tiny "bubble" of vaccine.
It hardly takes any time at all.
It is easy.

yes ma'am I understand the vaccine part what bothers me is that I thought it was coming already mixed as in it would last longer than an hour?? does that make sense?? Like I just got goat vaccine, I don't have to mix it and I can draw my how ever many mils and give and put it back in the fridge till next time, with the dry of course, you have to mix it and use it and there goes what 978 vaccines down the drain?? Thank you CL for the instructions I appreciate it!!

I just don't want to waste the rest of the vaccine??? But, I guess I need to find a source for small quantities if that is possible, for now all I could find was the 1000 dose

I'm used to shooting dogs cats and occasional horses, little chicks will be interesting!!

There's some bovine vaccine (the clostridiuum sorts, for instance) that can't be stored after opening; it sounds from the number of injections the Mareks vaccine is for that they're packing for commercial hatcheries and don't care about the small user. It's also possible, though that there's a minimum amount of the vaccine that can be measured reliably, and reducing the size sold would cause problems with measuring and dosage.

 

[broodytood]

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I heard what works sometimes is a big zip lock bag of ice in her favorite nest box, or every nest box if she is determined!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

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Am I the only one not unhappy about the rain? I was playing musical chairs with trees and shrubs last week, and I'd just as soon they got watered in. My sandy soil dries out fast.

I had to put the mister on my ferns and the other fountain area plants (I want to redesign the fountain this year, so it's not running). It didn't matter if it was going to rain today: they were drying out by noon yesterday, so there you go...

 

[snapkrackelpop19]

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I read that you dip their bellies in cold water

It makes it so its too cold to sit on the eggs or something? Haven't tried it but maybe it'll work

I just caught my silkie tonight hoarding a bunch of eggs. If she holds out through tomorrow I think I'll be renting her out

. I'm on probation from hatching my own chicks since somehow by no action of my own I have ducklings hatching

 

[blueducklings]

Anyone out there with silkie or ameracana eggs for sale? CL??
No, I know it is not a duck. And no, I am not out of my mind...I met someone at the Dels in Auburn that really wants some eggs.
PM me will you?
I will check back soon. Too busy with my projects.

 

[cmsdvm]

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I heard what works sometimes is a big zip lock bag of ice in her favorite nest box, or every nest box if she is determined!

Put her in a wire cage for 5 days where there is no nesting material at all. It is possible to also break them up with a single oral baby aspirin.

 

[cmsdvm]

I ordered the Mareks vaccine from twin city, when I looked on line it didn't really have a description of the vaccine, like how it comes in, so I paid the extra shipping so it would be here fast, no problem it came in today, now I knew it was for 1000 birds, but.... I didn't know it had the dry mix !! I was so mad!! My fault I should have called before I bought it, sometime, vaccines don't have to be mixed and of course last much longer, but I only have 22 chicks to vaccinate and it says it's only good for an hour after mixing!!! guess I'm gonna call one of my vet friends and see if I can do something different. I really paid too much to have it shipped and not last that long!!!

Welcome to the world of poultry vaccines. They are pretty much all like that- huge quantities that must be used immediately. We have vaccination parties at our house, everyone brings their chicks over and everyone helps to vaccinate as fast as possible. Then, next time, we may meet at someone else's house and use their vaccine. We also vaccinate in batches. I hatch every week and vaccinate every 3 weeks. We also split the vaccine, but THIS IS TRICKY. I am a veterinarian, so I can get sterile bottles that used to hold saline or water. I take 50 mls of the 200ml bottle of diluent and put it in that bottle, reserving the rest for future use. Then, using sterile gloves, instruments, and blood tubes, I split the powder into fourths, putting 1/4 in each small blood tube and keeping 3 in the refrigerator. I mix that 1/4 with 50 mls of diluent and vaccinate as usual. If you are not perfectly sterile in your transfer, your diluent will be cloudy with bacterial growth and unusable when you come back to it in a few weeks. This has happened to me even with my precautions. A breeder I know killed her whole batch of silkies with the contaminated batch when she tried to do this. Better to have parties with your chicken friends.

 

[broodytood]

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I understand that Mareks is in the environment and can be spread in the air but was wondering if it is something that wild birds carry as well?

 

[cmsdvm]

Marek's is spread in the feather dander. Turkeys have a similar form which can actually vaccinated the chickens against the deadly form. It may be spread by wild birds, but is more likely to be acquired when you introduce an adult chicken into your flock.