Advice needed-do chickens need vaccinations?

[hellymelly]

I am about to get chickens,and I have read that they should be vaccinated,but my local chicken seller (!)Does not vaccinate.Is this something I can get done anyway when I get them,or is it bad if its not done early? What about salmonella,can they carry that or is there a vaccine? Any help gratefully received,I want to be able to eat soft boiled eggs ....

never heard of chickens being vaccinated.
ours arent.

you can also get salmonella from frogs and toad, they carry it on their skin... just thought i'd pass that on.

I bought a couple of "keeping chickens" guides and they say you should buy vaccinated chickens,I think that if you get an eglu the chickens are vaccinated- but the person I was thinking of buying from said she has never done it,so I am not sure what to do.

Don't you just pop to the vet? I am clueless! can't find any advice about salmonella or camphylobactor,do you get them tested? Do you happily eat your eggs with uncooked yolks?

I got mine a couple of weeks ago and they are fully vaccinated. I've heard that you need to buy in bulk, some of the vaccines are just in their drinking water, or sprays.
Heres their vaccine programme;
Day 1 Mareks & turkey herpes virus,
Day 8 Salmonella
Day 18 Bursal diseaase, Bronchitus M41
Day 28 Bursal disease, Newcastle disease
Day 35 Salmonella, Bronchitus 793B
Day 42 Newcastle disease, Bronchitus M41
Day 45 Mycoplasma Galisepticum
Day 52 Infectious Laryngotracheitis
Day 63 Bronchitus 274
Day 77 Turkey Rhinotracheitis
Day 91 Avian encephalomyelitis
Also edd drop syndrome, wormed and blood tested.
So fairly extensive, but I guess I paid for it, my POL pullets were £12each, and £15 for our arucana.

Ours have been vaccinated - but they came from the breeder ready done.

I am pleased as DD eats lots of our eggs and I was a little concerned about Salmonella.

I haven't vaccinated any of my hens or hatchlings, we occasionally worm with verm-x and they get apple cider vinegar in their drinking water once a week. I've not lost a hen to illness in the entire time I've kept them.

It's very much a personal preference but if you're concerned it might be worth your while getting advice from either your vet or from a specialised poultry forum? Practical Poultry magazine has a forum on their site filled with very knowledgeable types

Your chooks should be vaccinated if you want to keep them healthy. They can pick up all sorts of diseases from wild birds that come to drink and eat from their feeders and drinkers, as well as diseases from dirty coops and unwashed drinkers and feeders. Ark Birds and Bees Kent sell hybrid that have been vaccinated and wormed. They're website is www.arkbirdsandbeeskent.co.uk

Don't usually visit this board, but I'm a vet and I keep chickens. The trouble with poultry vaccinations is that they generally come in batches of 250 or 1000 doses, so it's basically impossible to get backyard bred birds vaccinated - so they will only be done if you get them from a big commercial breeder. Personally I buy eggs from ebay and hatch them out when I need new birds - then the risk of disease transmission is less (though some diseases pass through the egg or can be passed via wild birds, of course). Not many of the diseases they can be vaccinated against are of concern to human health (except salmonella), so the main reason for doing them is for commercial flocks so they don't lose lots of birds suddenly. For backyard birds, worms and mites etc are more likely everyday problems. Personally, I eat raw eggs and don't worry about it; your vet could send off samples to test for Salmonella and Campylobacter for you, but people rarely bother IME.

We've never had vaccinated chickens. Have been keeping chickens for 8 years, frequently eat them raw in meringue etc and have never had salmonella (touch wood!!)

Hi, I have just got chickens and they are vaccinated...some breeders vaccinate some don't...if you google chickens for sale in what are you leave and their website will show if they have vaccination program. I'm trying to find out...forgot to ask..... If this is ongoing yearly program. Hope this is of use to you..good luck..fantastic..had chickens before and they were not vaccinated but feel better about eating the eggs now!!!

Alice 15 ... As I bought them vaccinated do you have an annual program or is the program up to 18 weeks for life? Thanks

I keep backyard chickens, and personally I am now against vaccinating them. This is because after we had this done by a breeder friend of ours several of the chicks got weak and never really grew much after that and eventually died. They seemed perfectly healthy before this. Further, keep our chickens in fully enclosed screened in coops (because the raccoons are so bad here). Therefore, there is little chance that wild birds will come drink from their water source as the vet said.

Also, I found an article about the pros and cons for vaccination here:
www.osteosinefaq.com/the-best-vaccination-is-a-healthy-diet
while it is primarly about people, it does touch on pets such as chickens and dogs.

Also, about eating RAW eggs. I don't think it's what's inside the shell of the egg that people get salmonella from. I think it's when the egg is cracked open and comes in contact with small particles of the outside of the egg (when poorly washed) like chicken feces. I always wash my eggs with soap and hot water before I refrigerate them.

I always wash my eggs with soap and hot water before I refrigerate them

I didn't think you were supposed to do that as it washes off the protective layer that prevents bacteria entering the egg?