Introducing vaccinated birds to non-vaccinated Marek's survivors

[Bethemma]

I am wanting to give a home to some ex-battery hens which I can potentially pick up on Sunday.

I believe that all 'commerical' chickens are vaccinated against things such as marek's. This is good because unfortunately my small flock was exposed to marek's in the past. The hens that survived have been healthy for years but are presumably still carriers. I just wanted to check that:

a) it is still ok to introduce vaccinated hens to marek's survivors as presumably all should most likely be immune?

b) am i putting my existing hens at risk from other diseases apart from marek's by introducing vaccinated birds (perhaps from other live vaccines)?

Grateful for any advice

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

There are different strains of Mareks and the vaccines I believe only protect against around 5 or 6 of them. So birds could still get sick. When introducing any new birds to a flock there's always risks involved. You have to decide what risks you are willing to take.