Hardly anybody vaccinates against mareks at home, its not practical with just a few birds.
It didn't use to be widespread, the advice about keeping a closed flock, but I will agree, just based on personal experience, although its not something you are likely to achieve or necessarily want to achieve in the early days of chicken keeping because you are finding your way and what you like or the calibre of bird you have to work with. I have only experienced a very mareks-like disease once (you can only tell definitively if a bird has had mareks via a post mortem and hardly anyone has that done unless there is a compelling reason), and that was from a pair of bought in local 8 week old pullets, only one fell ill and died several weeks/months later and there was no flare up subsequently, so maybe it wasn't mareks, who knows. The surviving sibling went on to be a super layer and Mum. I don't remember quite why I was buying them now, but I have learnt my lesson. My advice is to try to buy from a reputable breeder if you go for non-hybrids. I used to source mine via shows, my local poultry club, and the back of Practical Poultry magazine, where you'd get to know the names, particularly those of experienced breeders.
