Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated Chicks? | Healthy Home Economist

Does it matter whether or not you purchase vaccinated or unvaccinated baby chicks to create or develop your yard flock of egg-laying hens?

With Easter simply a few weeks away, I assumed I’d pen just a few phrases about shopping for chicks to your youngsters this Holiday.

Like many dad and mom, I bought baby chicks for my youngsters at Easter, who rapidly grew inside just a few weeks to egg-laying birds that we stored in a yard coop.

As I’ve been a yard poultry keeper for a few years now, I assumed I’d opine on my expertise with vaccinated versus vaccinated birds over time!

Does it actually matter? The reply would possibly shock you.

Most Hatcheries Vaccinate Chicks While Still within the Egg

Vaccination within the hatchery has all the time been thought-about by the trade to be the “best case scenario” for baby chicks. (1)

For a few years, just a few vaccines had been administered. These included:

• Marek’s illness (MD)
• Infectious bronchitis (IB)
• Coccidiosis
• Newcastle illness (ND)
• Swollen head syndrome (SHS)

In current years, new developments in chick vaccination have occurred with vaccination by eye drop, coarse spray and high-quality spray, subcutaneous injection at day previous, and the more and more widespread ‘in-ovo’ injection just a few days earlier than the chick hatches. Below is a video of the method.

This has allowed many extra injections to happen.

Vaccinated Hens Don’t Lay As Long!

In my expertise holding egg-laying hens, those who had been vaccinated as chicks don’t have a tendency to put eggs very lengthy.

While they appear to put usually for the primary yr to yr and a half, after that, egg manufacturing declines sharply in contrast with unvaccinated hens.

By comparability, unvaccinated hens I’ve stored over time will lay usually till they’re 5-6 years previous!

Vaccinated Hens Are Sickly

Another drawback with hens that had been vaccinated as chicks is that they are usually far more sickly.

To offer you some concept, out of a batch of 6 vaccinated chicks I raised somewhat over 3 years in the past, solely 2 stay (and a kind of is presently sick and has solely ever laid deformed eggs).

Some of you is perhaps questioning why I bought vaccinated chicks to start with.

The motive is that I used to be below the impression that the feed retailer the place I purchased them had unvaxed chicks. Unfortunately, this was a mistake on my half.

This mistake, nevertheless, gave me a perspective for comparability, which I’m now sharing with you!

Weaker Hens Preferred by Predators

Another factor I’ve seen over time is that the vaccinated hens are focused extra by predators.

For instance, over the past 5 years we’ve more and more skilled hawk assaults in our neighborhood on account of some heavy improvement in a rural space to the north of our neighborhood.

Without exception, the hens which have fallen prey to the hawks had been vaccinated.

Predators instinctively know which animals are the weakest and sickest. They are likely to go for these animals because it offers the next charge of success.

Is it only a coincidence that each single hen I’ve misplaced to a hawk over the previous few years was vaccinated? Perhaps, however provided that they had been extra sickly anyway, I doubt that it was happenstance.

Always Insist on Unvaxed Chicks!

My suggestion to those that preserve yard hens is that it’s price it to spend the time searching for out unvaccinated chicks.

And, in fact, after you have these cuties, make sure to feed them organic unmedicated feed!

You spend loads of time elevating these infants into adults, and sickly birds that don’t lay as lengthy usually are not funding in my expertise.

In addition, who is aware of what the decreased dietary worth of their eggs is perhaps on account of this medicalization?

For instance, considered one of my vaxed hens persistently lays deformed eggs (and all the time has). I’ve by no means had an unvaxed hen lay the sort of egg.

Even if the egg appears regular, nevertheless, are the yolk and white really the identical? We don’t know at this level. I haven’t discovered any analysis that has seemed into it.

Where to Get Unvaccinated Chicks

There are 3 ways to make sure that the baby chicks you choose for your loved ones to develop up into egg layers are unmedicalized.

Feed Store

Some feed shops may have unvaccinated chicks.

Hint: These institutions will nearly all the time be independently owned.

However, some regionally owned feed shops may have vaccinated chicks too, so make sure to ask and don’t assume (which was my mistake!).

Hatcheries

While fewer and fewer hatcheries are providing unvaccinated chicks, there are nonetheless just a few round.

Hoover’s Hatchery is the one I like to recommend wanting into (you choose vaccination standing at checkout).

The minimal buy is 15 chicks, so shopping for with a buddy or two is a good suggestion in case you solely need just a few chicks at a time.

Hatch Your Own!

Another nice choice is to hatch your individual chicks.

All you want is a rooster and a DIY egg incubator to get started.

We bought a big, formidable, and but light cockerel from an area rooster sanctuary. You don’t even have to boost them from a chick in case you don’t need to.

Note that hatching chicks laid from unvaccinated hens goes to provide the most effective outcomes!

Have you seen a distinction at your own home between the health and egg-laying capability between vaccinated and unvaccinated hens?

Please share your expertise with us!

References

(1) Vaccination within the Hatchery

(2) Poultry Vaccinations

(3) Hoover’s Hatchery