When I buy new chickens should I get them vaccinated

[Cooper marvel]

Hi my name is Cooper and I am wondering when I buy new chickens for the spring should I get them vaccinated or not

 

[Athena2344]

Hello, my name is megan, and i would definantly get them vaccinated, it saves you time and stress worrying about if they catch something

 

[Eggcessive]

There are many vaccinations available. Most people only get chickens vaccinated for Mareks disease, and sometimes for coccidiosis. Those are the only ones I would worry about. Others will probably tell you they don’t get them vaccinated for anything, chosing to let flocks build immunity to those. It is just one’s own opinion which to do, but Mareks is a mostly fatal contagious disease that can cause paralysis and tumors in chickens. I have never gotten the coccidiosis vaccine, but if you chose to get it, do not feed them medicated chick feed. Learn signs of coccidiosis, and get Corid for treatment if needed.

 

[Cooper marvel]

Ok thank you

 

[Eggcessive]

There are some good articles to read if you Google vaccinating chickens, and look for TheChickenChick and the University of Florida or uflas links.

 

[ben0125]

Yes, you do not want Mareks in your flock.

 

[lazy gardener]

Marek's vaccine is a leaky vaccine, resulting in the virus becoming much more lethal. Check out this PBS clip.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/tthis-chicken-vaccine-makes-virus-dangerous

As for coccidiosis vaccine, I would not choose to use that either. For that matter, many of us never use medicated feed. I do not use medicated feed, and have never had issue with coccidiosis. I choose to build my birds immunity naturally by exposing them to the cocci in my soils. They get a plug of sod from my yard within the first 2 weeks of their lives, while their immune systems are strongest due to immunity passed to them from their mother.

When Momma hen takes her babies out of the nest, some of their first snacks include chicken poop, and soil from the chicken yard. That soil is loaded with both cocci and beneficial bacteria which jump starts their guts so they have a healthy immune and digestive system.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Yes, you do not want Mareks in your flock.

Giving a chicken a Marek's vaccine only masks the symptoms of Marek's. It's called a "leaky vaccine." So it doesn't always work (the vaccine used to be about 90% effective, but the disease has mutated strains), and sometimes, it masks the fact that your flock is hiding a really virulent strain--which can kill other birds that come into contact with yours. The vaccinated birds are not immune. They just don't (ususally) show symptoms.

Personally, if you're keeping the flock for eggs, I would get them vaccinated for Marek's. If you plan on breeding from your flock and selling or giving away chickens, I would not vaccinate them.

But there's as many opinions on chicken vaccination as there are for human vaccination, and I'll not pretend to be doing anything other than offering a personal opinion after maybe twenty hours' worth of accumulated research.

Here's a fairly good article.

X2, Lazy gardener. Didn't see you up there (I'm a slow typist)

 

[ben0125]

Giving a chicken a Marek's vaccine only masks the symptoms of Marek's. It's called a "leaky vaccine." So it doesn't always work (the vaccine used to be about 90% effective, but the disease has mutated strains), and sometimes, it masks the fact that your flock is hiding a really virulent strain--which can kill other birds that come into contact with yours. The vaccinated birds are not immune. They just don't (ususally) show symptoms.

Personally, if you're keeping the flock for eggs, I would get them vaccinated for Marek's. If you plan on breeding from your flock and selling or giving away chickens, I would not vaccinate them.

But there's as many opinions on chicken vaccination as there are for human vaccination, and I'll not pretend to be doing anything other than offering a personal opinion after maybe twenty hours' worth of accumulated research.

Here's a fairly good article.

X2, Lazy gardener. Didn't see you up there (I'm a slow typist)

 

[Eggcessive]

I would suggest reading a good thread called. The Great Big Giant Mareks Faq by Googling or doing a search here on BYC. I have both vaccinated and unvaccinated chickens, and fortunately have never had Mareks in my flock. Since it is a preventable disease I chose to have baby chicks vaccinated, but chicks who I have hatched have not been. Mareks was much more common in the 1950’s before the first vaccine was developed. Vaccination is always a touchy subject.