Chicken Vaccinations

Vaccinations

Credit: Biovision-Infonet

Vaccination regime recommended for commercial chicks, but also applicable to improved management of indigenous chicken (Sigma feeds chicken recommendations):

Age	Vaccinate against	Application
1st week	Marek and Newcastle disease	Subcut (neck)
2nd week	Gumboro	In drinking water
3rd week	Lasota + IB (Newcastle)	In drinking water or eye/nostril drop
4th week	Deworming, IBD forte	In drinking water
5th week	Lasota + IB	In drinking water
6 – 8th week	Typhoid	Injection
9th week	Deworming (every 2-4 weeks)	In drinking water
8 – 10th week	Fowl pox	Wing stab
12 – 14th week	Typhoid	Injection
16 – 18th week	Renewed Newcastle (where disease is prevalent)	Optional

There are four fundamental ways of vaccinating birds: 
1) Eye drops
2) Injections
3) Skin piercing.
4)  Orally (in feed or water)

• For scavenging poultry, you should avoid mixing vaccines with drinking water or feed, as it is difficult to give the right dose. Research has shown that protection against e.g. Newcastle disease is highly variable if vaccine is given through water or feed. Giving the right dose is essential for the vaccine to work properly. A too high dose of a live vaccine may kill a young chick, whereas a too low dose will not give adequate protection. Thus, it is important to consult a veterinarian or auxiliary veterinarians (barefoot vets, village vaccinators) for further advice before carrying out a vaccination.
• Tools for application normally include a clean apron (green or other dark colour if possible) vaccine vial (B) stored in a cool box (C), soap to clean hands (D), clean needles (E), clean syringe (G) and a clean box for needles and syringe (F). Needles and syringe should be boiled in water for 5 minutes and cooled before re-use
• It is important to treat the clean syringe and needle carefully. Do no touch the end of the needle after cleaning. Put the needle gently on the syringe holding the needle with the sharp end upwards . Put the vaccine vial upside-down and press the needle gently through the plastic seal of the vial cap. Pull the syringe handle gently down, while sucking the vaccine out of the vial until the syringe is full. Press the syringe handle back until you reach the right volume.
• Ensure that there are no air bubbles trapped in the syringe or the needle. Air bubbles will give the wrong dose to the chickens. Normally a full 1 ml syringe will match 10 doses, one for each of ten adult birds. This however depends on the weight of the bird and the type of vaccine, and the application method.
• The most common methods for vaccinating adult poultry are eye drops (A), injections in the breast or thigh muscles (B) or by piercing the skin of the wing (C). The most common methods for young chicks are eye drops and skin piercing. When the birds grow older, injections are given in the breast or thigh muscles. Depending on the vaccine type, eye drops may also be used for adult birds. Please consult the local veterinarian for clarification and technical information
• Vaccines should be given either early morning, before letting the birds out of the chicken house or when the local birds are easy to catch resting in the trees. When vaccinating adult poultry for the first time, you should preferably be two persons, one holding the bird, the other one vaccinating.

General precautions for vaccination with live vaccines: 

• All vaccines should be stored in a refrigerator before use.
• Some vaccines are heat stable, which means that the vaccine will tolerate high temperatures. However, heat stable vaccines should also be stored in a cold place to keep them viable. You should always keep vaccines out of direct sunlight.
• When using vaccines in the field, you should as far as possible transport them in a cool box with ice.
• The syringe, needle and other equipment to be used for vaccination should not be cleaned by any chemical disinfectants, as these may destroy the vaccine. They should instead be disinfected in boiling water and be used after cooling.
• The vaccines must be mixed or diluted in cold distilled water, and care must be taken to ensure that the vaccines do not come in contact with direct sunlight. 
• It is best to vaccinate birds during the cool hours of the day, either in the morning or evening.
• Some mixed vaccines should be used within 30 minutes. Otherwise they will be useless and should be thrown away.
• Always consult a veterinarian or an auxiliary veterinarian before conducting a vaccination campaign.

8. Information Sources

• A. M. Wachira, KARI, Kenya: Various working papers and presentations.
• AIC, Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya
• Acamovic, T., Sinurat, A., Ntarajan, A., Anitha, K., Chandrasekaran, D., Shindey, D., Sparks, N., Oduguwa, O., Mupeta, B. and Kitalyi, A. (2005). Poultry. In: Livestock and Wealth Creation – Improving the husbandry of animals kept by resource-poor people in developing countries. Ed. by Owen, E., Kitalyi, K., Jayasuriya, N., and Smith, T. – Natural Resources International Ltd. ISBN 1 904761 32 1.
• Haynes, C. (1985). Raising chicken. TAB books Inc. USA, ISBN: 0-8306-1963-1
• Keeping Village Poultry. A technical manual on small-scale poultry production (www.poultryproject.com)
• Kitalyi, A.J. (1998). Village chicken production systems in rural Africa – Hausehold food security and gender issues. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 142. Rom. ISBN 92-5-104160-1
• Ondwasy, H., Wesonga, H. and Okitoi, L. (2006). Indigenous chicken production manual. KARI Technical Note No.18, February 2006. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. ISBN:9966-879-62-5
• Sonaya, E.B. and Swan, S.E.J.: Small Scale Poultry Production. FAO Animal Production and Health Manual

Last updated on:

Tue, 07/31/2018 – 11:07