[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

Hi

I am  on vaccinating day old chicks upto point lay

At what stage from day old do you need to vaccinate chicks and against what and if any recommendations of products what is the cost and how long does it last

Thanks in advance and sorry if the question doesn't make much sense!

[Steph Hen]

Sorry can't help you, I don't vaccinate. i get the impression that only big breeders do?

I've lost a handful of chicks up to a few days old that have failed to thrive, few that had splayed legs (not my stock) but I've bred hundreds In recent years and not had any illness (maybe I'm just lucky?)
I have lost few older hens - an egg bound two year old hen, two to foxes, couple of unknown traumas, but not to illness. Do hens need to be vaccinated?

[Rosemary]

Worst batch of POL I ever bought were vaccinated to the hilt. Dropped like flies.

[lord flynn]

most garden hybrids are vaccinated, other than that silkies and sebrights for mareks. Agreed-I wouldnt vaccinate or buy vaccinated birds again unless there was no choice. I only have one left and she's not laid anything you'd want to eat for nearly two years (she's four).

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

Hi
Ye I agree steph hen I've got chickens and never lost one and never vaccinated but I plan on selling day old POL etc so was thinking maybe I should vaccinate but if the cost is too high then it wouldn't be worth it

Thanks

[chrismahon]

You may get a lot of returns Princessrubyk. The viruses flare up under the stress of moving and sometimes kills the bird or regularly makes them very ill. I can't see any point in vaccinating in a small, well looked after, flock. IB, ILT, Mycoplasma and Mareks is far too much to deliberately give any chicken in my opinion. The egg quality suffers as well.

[Marches Farmer]

If you keep 'em clean and dry, give the correct food and always have clean water available and run a closed flock or only buy in hatching eggs you should, with luck, never see any of the diseases commercial flocks vaccinate against.

[Clansman]

Give your vet a call Princessrubyk.

They will have access to vaccines however they are normally manufactured in a minimum off 1000 dose vials or occasionally a 500.

Its a while since I did it but its not hugely expensive even though there is a lot of waste.

I'm pretty sure someone on here did it recently or was looking for someone else to share the vaccine with?

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

Thanks for the advice

[Victorian Farmer]

some chicks die not strong enough for the vaccines

[HesterF]

I saw this programme on a link posted on another thread yesterday:

http://www.chickensforsaleinkent.com/index.php/vaccinations

Quite an extensive list! Quite apart from the other considerations, even if each one is only 50p or something, you'd still be pushed to cover your costs. I sell my hens for £35 and even then I don't make a profit given the food and bedding they take to get to POL so it's hard to justify spending a few pounds on vaccinations too.

H

[Mammyshaz]

The vaccines start from day old. There are set times for each vaccine, some are live vaccines so the bird vaccinated can pass on the disease at times of stress even when not affected themselves. For this reason only vaccinated stock should be kept with other vaccinated stock.

Ask your local poultry vet if there are local disease problems. Unless you are breeding large batches to sell on I wouldn't necessarily vaccinate unless it was for a specific breed which was more vulnerable to such diseases as Mareks. Or if there was a disease problem in your area.

[Stereo]

Most vaccinated birds I have bought from big breeders are hopeless. Most die within a couple years and egg quality usually fails after a season or 2. Usually you get IB signs on the points of the eggs and then they stop laying. I'm not sure if this is down to the vaccination itself or the genetics of the parent stock. A big rearer was telling me the other day that all his light sussex (look like them anyway) come from Poland or Bulgaria and the parents are selected only to pass on sexing features in the feathers so that they can be sexed at hatch. They don't care about shell quality, laying ability, hardiness, foraging skills, not roosting in nest boxes etc.

I usually hatch from hens which have survived a couple molts and are still laying good strong and nicely shaped eggs. I want birds who are active, roost well, eat well and are out on the forage when possible. Also heavier birds so the cockerels make a good meal. Try to keep your growers on fresh grass where possible (we use Salatin style chicken tractors) and get them on grass as soon as possible.

I can't actually recall losing one of our own bred hens early.

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

Thanks that's answered my question