Five effective poultry vaccination regimes

Our national poultry industry is estimated to comprise 45 million backyard chickens and 18 million commercial hybrid birds worth KS 60 billion according to industry statistics.

The poultry industry is evolving very fast and chick producers are now more concerned than ever about the importance of vaccinating their flocks to minimize losses that occur following a disease outbreak.

In today's fast-changing world, consumers are changing their demands. More and more are asking for anti-biotic-free production, a new development in vaccinations, robust health and nutrition, and a more sustainable production system.

Proper vaccination is an integral part of poultry rearing with observed direct benefits in controlling both viral and bacterial diseases of poultry. The primary objective of immunizing any poultry flock is to reduce the level of clinical disease and to promote optimal performance either in egg production or meat production. In countries where vaccinations have been enforced through legislation or through awareness campaigns, some diseases of poultry have been completely wiped out and these include but are not limited to Gumboro, Newcastle disease, fowl pox, and fowl cholera.

Here are 5 basic best practices one needs to employ to guarantee good vaccination.

The aim of any vaccination program is to protect your birds against known local disease challenges and rare diseases and for those farmers in breeding ventures, to protect progeny against early disease challenges. A good program should be simple but broad enough to give maximum protection to the birds. The more the vaccines are combined, the better as this will reduce the number of handling and stress to the birds. For example, the Newcastle vaccine can be combined with the Infectious bronchitis vaccine, Fowl pox can be combined with the chicken anaemia vaccine.

Buy your vaccines from reputable registered agro vets or poultry centres approved by Kenya Veterinary Board (KVB) and dispensed by registered Veterinary surgeons or Paraprofessional vets recognized by KVB. The vaccine should be transported with cool packs in a well-insulated box or thermos flasks from the shops to your farm. If the vaccine arrives hot, call the manufacturer or distributor, and do not apply such vaccines even if their expiry period is still valid. Storage temperature should be maintained at 35-45o F (2-8o C) in the fridge at home if you are not going to vaccinate immediately. Avoid freezing, extreme heating, and intense light, these will denature your vaccines.

Identify and train the vaccination crew on the correct vaccination procedures. Every vaccine has an indication of how it should be applied. Most respiratory disease vaccines are given through the spray method while inactivated vaccines are correctly injected and needles changed after every 500 birds. For drinking water vaccination, make sure the birds are thirsty, hard water is softened, and vaccine stabilizers are applied. For spray vaccinations, make sure the droplet size is correct and the curtains are closed to avoid drafts. Do not rush vaccination procedures, make sure you have enough time to do the vaccination for the entire unit.

Never vaccinate sick or stressed birds or birds experiencing abnormal mortality trends. If you are keeping laying birds, do not administer vaccines between the period of onset of lay to peak egg production. Doing that will result in a drop in egg production. All killed vaccines should only be given during the rearing period unless prescribed by a Vet.

Poor storage and transport of vaccines will result in poor response to vaccination and hence low antibody generation. Stick to your vaccination schedule, an early vaccination or poor timing of maternal antibodies may result in failures. Some people buy the wrong vaccine. Vaccines are like drugs and cannot be sold over the counter, one needs a prescription note from a veterinarian to purchase a vaccine with full advice on timing and administration procedures.

For more information contact me - [email protected]