AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Your opinion. medicated chick starter or not???

whats the different between them.
and what is the better option

I plan on showing my chooks
so what vacs should i give them???

and how do i vaccinate a day old???!!!

if anyone has any good sites that would be great

THANKS

2 trains of thought on this and it can be a very 'hot' topic
one side is Black the other Blue

starter and grower medicated for Coccidiossis - some say it is a must others say dont waste your money
starter to 9 weeks grower to POL regardless of what the packaging says or strictly according to packing [breeders choice]
do not feed them 'treats' as this dilutes the medicant - feed them treats they are only babies after all
only once you see the first egg start introduing other foods - slowly - refer to above re packing

Coccidiossis is believed to be the leading cause of death in OZ Mareks is 2nd [no disputing this]

Mareks vaccine is given as an injection just under the skin at the back of the neck within the 1st 24hrs of hatching it is believed to have a 80-85% 'take' rate as opposed to a 90-99% mortality rate in infected birds
some believe you can breed resistance against it but as it goes in 7yr cycles it may just be that their flock is in the middle of this cycle
Fowl Pox vaccine is used in areas high in mosquitoes - I dont remember the age for the first lot to be administered but it can be given at any age after POL [someone else will know this one]

re your question 'How do I vaccinate a day old?'

"carefully and wearing clean clothes with clean hands and clean hair" this is to minimise any risk of transfer from a potential carrier chook

Chicks are hatched with a poor immune system - this develops and matures over 3 weeks =
keep the chicks isolated for the first 3 weeks and keep them clean so their immune system can develop properly - if they are compromised and have to battle disease in this time they may not grow into healthy adult birds or they may circum to Mareks from 20-36 weeks old
grow them out seperate to adult birds - introduce them no earlier than 20-22 weeks

the 'opposing team' would say
dont vaccinate let them roam in the dirt with the other birds and let them get what immunity they can that way

at the end of the day - the choice is always the breeders

edited to add a word

okay thanks for you reply ^^

I completely agree with soozorps & can I add that is a totally balance & unbiased answer. I use Medicated but that is my choice and it works for me and I wouldn't change that. It is a "by choice" thing and all we can do is offer our individual opinion

okay thanks...

another question to through at you,

Mareks.. when was the last break out for this??
and from what iv heard it breaks out every 7 years??

This answer is NOT meant to scare monger just stating a bit of well known info

Mareks is always 'here' it is transmitted via airborn infected chook dander hence the need [if you take this route] to keep them isolated and never go near them 'dirty' expecially in the first 3 weeks

the 7yr cycle is =
1st year of mass infection heavy losses up to 99%
what birds actually GET Mareks and survive will pass on an amount of immunity to their offspring any that do not get the disease will grow well obviously - consider any bird that has survived Mareks a carrier - consider any bird that has shown no symptoms not to have had the disease even tho it may just not have exhibited any symptoms and is actually a carrier

2nd year after initial infection
losses are less due to an amount of immunity from parents

3rd year - a smaller amount of immunity has been passed on from the 2nd yr birds some losses to be expected

4th thru to 6yr immunity being passed on is lessend each year with slightly increased losses each year until

year 7 - it all starts again = 7yr cycle

#note that some breeds do show a greater resistance to the disease than other breeds - BUT within breeds it also breaks down to the lines themselves

and now just to 'stir the pot'
If anyone that has been breeding birds for a number of years [lets say 10 or more just to be generous ] says they have never had Mareks on their property - well - - - - they live on the Moon as Mareks is airborn transmitted and if the bird breathes the bird has a 50/50 chance of breathing in infected dander and contracting the disease wether from the property it lives on or from dander blown in from another property - it has been reported that birds living isolated [20+k away from nearest neigbhour birds] and never going off their property have contracted Mareks = strong winds can blow dust for kilometres - just look at the red dust storms recently

hmmm interesting

thanks

thats totally confusing buy yet it make total sense

That would be the best info on Mareks I have read any ware its also the most honest, thanks

Yr welcome - and read it three times one straight after the other then read it once more the next day = that is what I was told to do regards absorbing any new info
but I am glad my wierd way of telling made sense


Thanks and 'really!??!' So many know abt it - but I have found so few actually 'tell' abt it - me - cant shut me up

So true Sue some like to sugar coat reality



Raf