Vaccinating new chicks

Vaccines only come in large doses,usually 1000, but there was talk of selling in doses of 500, but don't know if that happened.

All vaccines are given up to point of lay age, so you wouldn't be able to vaccinate your girls if they are 16 weeks plus.  A full vaccination programme takes 16 weeks and many vaccinations.

When we bred our own chickens, we only sold healthy stock, because our housekeeping was really good.  I know that isn't what you want to hear, but it's a difficult subject for small breeders.

Vaccines can be given either in the water, or more often by injection, and the equipment isn't that cheap either.

It's not as easy as that, but if your housekeeping is good there is less chance of the hens catching anything.  But they can still get problems, wild birds can bring things in, they can eat slugs and things that could give them worms or other things.

But they have a better change of a healthy life if they are well looked after.  But saying that, we've had people on here and people we've ome into contact with buying 'fully vaccinated' birds and they still die!

there is a vaccination programme in this link to show you what vaccinated birds go through.  In this case, they go up to 15 months!

It would cost you so much to vaccinate that you'd had to charge the earth for the birds and no one would buy them.  If you are a big breeder, and you were going to vaccinate regularly, then the costs will come down a lot.

link

some of the vaccines are live vaccines (same as the human ones) and some can end up coming out in their pooh which is why some people advise not to mix vaccinated and none vaccinated - just incase the none vaccinated birds catch the live vaccine in the pooh - similar to when we give our babies their polio vaccine the mums also get a dose of the vaccine as it can come out in the babies pooh (not sure why dads dont get offered it as they can change the nappies too).
I have had ex batts which would have been fully vaccinated and none vaccinated together but I guess at 52+ weeks the ex-batts vaccines were no longer live so I never had any problems.

I would be happy with good housekeeping not to have vaccinated birds. The programmes were really brought in due to commercial hen houses and the unnatural conditions they are kept in making ideal breeding grounds for illnesses. There is no fail safe method even if they are all vaccinated with everything