Drinking Water Vaccination In Chicken

1 2 G.H. Hudson , T. Vasanthakumar and Atmakur Venkatesh 3 Department of Livestock Production Management, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Orathanadu- 614 625 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Livestock Production Management, VCRI, Orathanadu. 2 Assistant Professor, Livestock Farm Complex, VCRI, Orathanadu. 3 IV B.V.Sc & AH student, VCRI Orathanadu

G.H. Hudson

Introduction

Vaccination is a commonly employed disease prevention technique in commercial chicken and backyard flocks. It allows the birds to build up immunity against a particular disease by mimicking the natural infection without any harmful effects. Vaccination in chicken can be done through different routes namely in-ovo injection, intramuscular injection, s u b c u t a n e o u s i n j e c t i o n , ocular/nasal routes, feather follicle, w i n g s t a b m e t h o d , s p r a y vaccination and through drinking water. Drinking water vaccination is a simple, quick and most practical method of mass vaccination technique in chicken. Vaccines for the diseases like New castle disease, Infectious bronchitis and Infectious bursal disease can be administered through drinking water.

Equipment

Drinking water vaccination should be carried out with dedicated equipments. The buckets and equipments used for disinfection / other medications should not be used as it may contain residual amount of disinfectants, antibiotics etc which may inactivate the va c c i n e . L i v e va c c i n e s a r e susceptible to ultraviolet light, heat, heavy metals, chlorine, organic matter, disinfectant, detergents, etc. Hence, these factors should be k e p t a w a y f r o m v a c c i n e s , equipments and water used for vaccination. Excessive bio-films in the drinker line should be removed by using the suitable products and the drinkers should be clean.

Calculation of water intake

Accurate vaccine dosing and d i l u t i o n s a re e s s e n t i a l f o r s u c c e s s f u l d r i n k i n g w a t e r vaccination. Early morning is the recommended period of drinking water vaccination, since birds will exhibit their maximum activity, such as first feeding period and therefore have peak water consumption. The amount of water consumed by a flock in two hours period is known, dilution can be made accurately. This can be done by monitoring the water intake of the birds during the same time period of the previous day before vaccination. Digital water meters can also be used to measure water consumption. N o r m a l l y , v a c c i n e s a r e administered in drinking water for a period of two hours. If the vaccination time is less than 1 hour and 30 minutes, all the birds will not receive the proper dose of vaccine. If it is above two hours, the vaccine may get inactivated in the drinking water itself. General rule is that for every 1000 broilers a 1000 dose vaccine can be dissolved in the maximum of 40- 45 liters of water. However, the amount of water required depends on the age group of birds, environmental temperature, strain of the birds etc. Sufficient drinker space should be provided so that, 2/3 of the birds in the flock should be able drink water at a time. Water can be with held for a period of 1-2 hours before vaccination to stimulate thirst and thereby encourage water consumption. Some of the drinking water/ vaccinated water remains in the dead spaces of the drinker system and become unavailable for the birds. This should also be taken in consideration for calculating the quantity of water needed.

Calculation of amount of Water in a Tank