Marek's Disease

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Sun May 04, 2008 11:53 am

That is the vet I use for poultry and birds also - he's an avian specialist so that is probably the best place to go.

I also have young children :lol:

but braved the drive to Nulkaba as it was worth it for me to know the chicks were done properly. Our GPS navigator thingy took me through some pretty bumpy dodgy roads to get there, though - next time I'll stick to the main roads!

Deb :-D

snarby97 · **Posted:** Mon May 12, 2008 4:56 pm

fyi - i found a company who will split the 1000 doses of freeze-dried marek's vaccine into 8 portions for me. :-D

the freeze-dried one is kept in the fridge until mixed with the diluent (kept at room temp). the guy from the company told me the official line is that once it is mixed with the diluent it is supposed to be used within one hour but that he knows that a lot of breeders mix it, put it in the syringes and freeze it straight away (normal freezer). i asked him how effective this was and he said he didn't have any data on this. :-?

another question - i was thinking to perhaps keep one of the 8 portions and sell the other 7, so that next time i need a new batch i will be getting another fresh lot. BUT - are there any rules in australia re who is allowed to sell vaccines? ie. would i be breaking the law to advertise and sell it? :?:

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Mon May 12, 2008 5:26 pm

Hi snarby97,

Good researching! :-D

Not sure about the legality of reselling it, but I"m sure you could find people in the area who would be interested in sharing it and thus making it more cost-effective for you. I for one could be interested in future batches (I don't have any chicks just at the moment). Just asking around and finding people by word of mouth would be fine.

Sharing it and not making a profit (but covering costs including freight) couldn't pose any legal problems.

I would be a bit hesitant to actually advertise it, because you would then be opening yourself up to potential problems with the supplier, and there would be questions of liability if someone bought it and used it and it didn't work - ie. their prized rare bird dropped dead of Marek's when they thought it was vaccinated. Mightn't be your fault, but it could get ugly.

How long does the freeze-dried, undiluted vaccine last in a normal fridge?

How good are you at giving needles?? That's the only part that worries me about doing it myself! :oops:

Deb

snarby97 · **Posted:** Mon May 12, 2008 11:16 pm

thanks for the advice, deb. that's what i was kind of thinking also.
i have vaccinated about 40 or so chickens so far - the more i do the better i get at it. the first ones took me a couple of jabs each to get them done (ie. get the right amount of vaccine in)

but mostly do ok first go now

.
the vaccine has an expiry date on it - so it can be in the fridge unmixed up until close to then. the guy from the company actually said that the vaccines are usually ok for at least 6 months after that date anyway.

snarby97 · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2008 10:00 am

i spoke to the guy at the company again and he said that when the vaccine goes out of date, they retest it and if it is still good they apply to the APVMA to get a permit to extend the expiry date on the vaccine. he reckons most of the marek's vaccine in australia currently has had it's expiry date extended. when i was organising with the vet to get some through them i remember the vet saying that when he got it he noticed it was past the expiry date and he contacted the company who sent him paperwork to show that it was still fine.

Hero · **Posted:** Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:22 am

You can split the pill part yourself with a good razor and save it in individual bags and mix the appropriate amount of liquid at time of use. You must vaccinate in the first 24 hours of life. Another method is to breed from birds that are two years old or older, you will eventually breed immunity to Mareks into your flock.

snarby97 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:06 am

Interesting! Why 2 years of age specifically? :?:

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:17 am

Oh my goodness you're back, snarby97!

This does sound interesting.

greenaus · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:15 am

I had a think about it and if I'm correct, patience is the key.

Breed from your birds that are 2 years or older.

Breed from their offspring that are two years or older (patience). This may require luck, too. If you're breeding daughters to father and mother to son, it breeders aged 4 yrs +.

Continue.

Continue.

If they die of Marek's before two years, they don't get bred from.

If they don't die ...

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:18 am

That makes sense, so you are breeding from the strongest stock possible (although they mightn't live to see their grandchildren

) and "survival of the fittest" should mean that if the offspring encounter Marek's down the track they have otherwise strong systems and may recover.

However, it doesn't actually mean they have a genetic immunity as such, does it? More that they have a better chance of fighting it off because they are strong birds - ie. it's a resistance rather than an immunity. And I guess if they are VERY resistant then the end result may be the same.

That is a good idea about splitting the pill, Hero. Because I am a bit of a perfectionist (bad personality trait) I would want to be able to weigh the bits of pill to make sure I had it exactly right though. :roll:

Deb

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