PROCEDURE FOR DRINKING WATER VACCINATION IN POULTRY ( BROILER & LAYER )

Introduction

Mass vaccination of a flock via drinking water is a simple and quick method of vaccine administration. It is less stressful for the birds as it does not require individual catching, handling and vaccine administration. However, mass vaccination methods require careful management if they are to be as effective as individual vaccination methods.

This article gives a few simple rules that should be followed to ensure that mass vaccination via drinking water is as efficient and effective as possible.

The Objective ——-

The objective of mass/drinking water vaccination is to give every bird in the flock the correct dose of the vaccine. Effective vaccination will provide the best possible protection for the flock from field challenges and/or provide passive protection via maternally derived antibody to the progeny.

The Vaccination Procedure ——

A vaccination schedule and the vaccines will be provided by your veterinarian.

The aim of drinking water vaccination is for the water containing vaccine to be consumed by the flock over a period of 1½ – 2 hours. If the time is less than 1½ hours then not all the birds will receive a dose of the vaccine. If it is longer than two hours the vaccine may die before it is administered to the birds. In order to achieve this aim, the amount of water that is normally consumed within a 1½ -2 hour period by the flock must be estimated. This can be accurately done the day before vaccination by measuring the amount of water consumed by each house, over a two-hour period, commencing 45 minutes after feeding. On the day of vaccination the water is withheld for 60 minutes prior to vaccination, so that the flock will consume more water than normal. To account for this, an extra 5% must be added to the calculated water consumption.

Table 1: Daily Water Consumption Guidelines*

Age Daily Water Consumption per Day**

(litres per 1,000 birds)

2 to 3 weeks 25

4 to 6 weeks 30

7 to 10 weeks 50

11 to 15 weeks 60

*House temperature of 18 – 20oC

** The quantity of water dosed with vaccine will usually be about 50 – 60% of the normal daily water consumption.

Protection of live vaccines-———–

The vaccine will not be effective or will be killed if there is chlorine or a high hard metal content in the water. The water that is to be used for vaccination can be treated with low fat milk solution (two grammes of skimmed milk powder per litre of water) or with a commercially available vaccine protection product supplied by the vaccine company to neutralise the chlorine and protect against hard metal content. Neutralisation of the chlorine must take place at least 20 minutes before the vaccine is added.

Excessive bio-film in the drinker lines will reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine. Bio- film and scale should be removed from the drinker lines using suitable products and drinkers (cups, bell drinkers etc.) cleaned as part of a routine procedure at clean-out.

Storage and transportation of vaccine:—————-

• Vaccine should be stored in a dedicated fridge at a temperature of 2 – 8oC. A min/max thermometer should be used to check the temperature regularly.

• Amount of doses required should be calculated to nearest 1,000.

• Transport from the place of storage to the place of administration should occur in a cool bag/Styrofoam box, ensuring that the temperature is maintained between 2 – 8oC.

Equipment needed for vaccination process:————————

• Plastic container (approx. 80 litres in

size).

• Watering cans, a water proportioner

system or a dedicated (ideally)

vaccination tank (approx. 5 – 10 litres in

size).

• Measuring jug.

• Clean bucket or vessel to mix and draw

vaccine from.

• Skimmed milk.

• Stirrer (plastic).

• Stick (plastic): a paddle for example.

Vaccine preparation and administration –

some key points:——————–

1. Vaccine preparation must be on a clean

surface (disposable kitchen role or clean

newspaper on a clean table top is suitable).

2. Disposable gloves must be worn for the entire procedure.

3. Chlorine neutralisation solutions must

be made up as low volume stock solution (5-

10 litres) and then mixed through the larger volume of water for vaccination. Leave for 20 minutes to neutralise any chlorine which may be in the water.

4. Remove the metal caps from the vaccine bottles.

5. Put approximately one to two litres of

the chlorine neutralised water in a small

container. Submerge the vaccine bottle into

the solution and remove the rubber bung.

6. Ensure that the pellet has dissolved.

7. Gently but thoroughly stir the solution to mix and then add to the rest of the water (calculated from the previous day’s intake during a 1½ – 2 hour period after feeding, plus 5%) for vaccination.

8. Thoroughly mix the solution with the

rest of the water in the water tank and stir it

with a plastic stick or place the solution under

the proportioner, submerging the suction

tube.

9. Allow all drinkers to fill with vaccine

containing water before lowering them to bird

level. In the case of nipples take a bucket to

the far end of the nipple line and drain off the

existing untreated water. As a rough guide,

one litre of water should be removed from

each three metre length of nipple line.

Repeat this for each line in the building until

coloured vaccine water appears. Once drained, nipples should be lowered to the normal height for the birds.

10. Walk the flock at least twice during the vaccination process to encourage uniform consumption and make sure that vaccine is flowing to all the drinkers.

11. Observe the drinking behaviour and

ensure to your own satisfaction that all the

birds are drinking and are receiving a dose of

vaccine.

12. Monitor the consumption rate of the

vaccine to ensure your calculations are

correct and that the vaccination solution will

be consumed over a two-hour period. Note –

the vaccination solution will be consumed

quite quickly at the start of the process.

13. Only when the vaccine water in the drinkers is finished should the mains water be turned back on. The vaccine must not be diluted by the addition of mains water.

14. All equipment must be clean, but the vaccine must not come in contact with disinfectant.

Cleaning and storage of vaccine equipment

• Wash vaccine equipment with clean

water. No detergents/disinfectants to be

used.

• Store all equipment in a sealed plastic

bag and store in clean area of farm.

• Water system should be sanitised.

Vaccination timetable——————–

Before the day of vaccination a Vaccination Timetable should be drawn up. Where multiple sheds are to be vaccinated on the same day a timetable for each shed must be prepared and vaccination only performed when it is practical to keep to the correct timings to ensure the correct vaccination of each shed.

Below is an example of a vaccine timetable for one house:

• 8am to 8.45am – Feed and water.

• 8.45am – Turn water off and let birds drink

remaining water in drinkers (20 minutes approximately).

• 9.05am – Raise drinkers or lines out of the

reach of the birds.

• 9.05am to 10.05am – Water withdrawal

time. Make up vaccine to dose the volume of water that will be drunk in about 1½ – 2 hours.

• 10.10am – Drain residual water from each

line/bell (1 litre/3 metres of line) until milky/white coloured water appears and then lower lines/bells to the birds.

• 10.10am to 12.10pm – Vaccination

period. Walk flock twice during vaccination, check flow of vaccine along all water lines and to all drinkers.

• 12.10pm – Turn on mains water after vaccination. Clean water proportioner

Evaluation of drinking water vaccination—————-

It is important to assess the efficiency of

vaccination once it has been completed. This

can be done by using a commercially

available dying product which stains the

tongue. It is advisable to use dye tablets at

least once per flock to assess the vaccination

technique. There are several products

available. The blue intensity on the tongue of

the birds after vaccination varies between

products and decreases with time after

exposure (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Blue dye on the tongue of the bird to assess vaccination technique.

Figure 1. Blue dye on the tongue of the bird to assess vaccination technique.

The manufacturer’s instructions should be

followed carefully when assessing the

efficiency of vaccination using this technique.

One hundred birds from at least three

different locations in the house should be

examined for tongue colour to see if the blue

colour of the tongue corresponds

approximately to a dose of vaccine. If the

vaccination technique has been successful at

least 90% of the birds examined will have

well-stained tongues in accordance with the

manufacturer’s guidelines.

If there is any doubt about how well the

flock has been vaccinated then the line

manager or veterinary surgeon

responsible for the flock should be

informed.

Serological interpretation———-

It is important to remember that just because

the birds seem to have been vaccinated

properly it does not mean they are protected

from the disease for which they have been

vaccinated. Protection can be assessed by

looking for the presence of antibodies against

that disease. This can be done using the

simple biochemical technique ELISA

Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbant Assay)

which detects the presence of an antibody in

a sample. Vaccination has been successful if

the level of antibodies (or titre) in the sample

are high and if the variation in titre responses

between individuals is low. In general, it

takes about three weeks after vaccination (or

challenge) for the birds to develop antibodies.

Antibody titres should be determined by

taking blood samples from a representative

sample of the population (20 birds). These

birds should be chosen at random. The

amount of antibodies produced by an

individual will depend on a number of factors

including:

• Method of administration. For example,

drinking water vaccination provokes a

stronger production of antibodies than spray vaccination.

• Dose.—————

• Vaccine programme. What type and how

hot is the vaccine? For example, in

general terms the hotter the vaccine the more immunogenic (more production of antibodies) it will be.

• Age.

• Type of bird.

• Nutrition.

• Immunosuppresion.

When evaluating vaccine response two parameters to consider are:

• Titres which refer to the level of

antibodies that the individuals have

produced and therefore give an indication of how their immune system has responded.

• Coefficient of variation (CV) which refers

to how “similar“ to one another individuals

are within the population in terms of antibody titre. In general for any disease the CV should be less than 50%.

In addition it is also important to establish a

baseline antibody response for your

individual farm. This will provide the expected

titre or antibody response and CV for all the

diseases that the birds are vaccinated

against. These baselines are generally

produced by taking the average titre for the

last 12 months across the entire farming base

with the same vaccination programmes. If the

baseline titre is different to the expected titre

indicated by the vaccine manufacture then an

investigation should occur and corrective

action taken where necessary. More

information on evaluating vaccination

responses can be obtained from your local

veterinarian.

Conclusions————–

Mass vaccination via drinking water is a

simple and quick method of vaccinating a

flock and can provide good, uniform

immunisation against disease. Due to the

lower level of bird handling it can have

measurable benefits to bird performance over

individual vaccination; such as better weight

gains, uniformity, egg production and

hatchability. However, such benefits will only

be realised through effective management of

the vaccine procedure and appropriate

monitoring of the birds response to

vaccination.