Julius moracha
New member
How do experienced farmers go about vaccinating all their brood say of 1000 birds, does it have to be one by one?
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Chickens Vaccinating large brood
- Thread starter Julius moracha
- Start date
Vaccination through drinking water is recommended
Mixing Vaccines in Drinking Water
1
Calculate the amount of water you will need to prepare. Your vaccinations should be mixed in with roughly the amount of water your chickens can drink in 2 hours. For 2-3 days prior to vaccination, check your water meter readings in 2 hour intervals. This will give you a rough idea of how much water you will need when it comes time to vaccinate.
You can also check with your vet or the vaccine manufacturer for their recommended dosage and mixing instructions. Many will provide tables with the vaccine estimating the amount of water you need based on the age of your birds and the current air temperature.
2
Clean your watering system. It is very important that your watering system be clean and free of chlorine. Stop running chlorine, disinfectants, and other medications through your watering system at least 48 hours before planning on vaccinating your chickens. You should also clean all buckets, jugs, whisks, and other tools you plan on using during the vaccination process.
You can clean your watering system and tools with the same cleaners you typically use. Remember to rinse them thoroughly, though. It may be helpful to do 2-3 full rinses, since even trace amounts of detergent can impact the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Check the pH of the water coming through the system after you clean. A reading greater than 7.5 is considered too high for the vaccines, while anything below 6.0 is too low.
3
Stop running the water prior to vaccinating your chickens. In order to make sure that your chickens actually drink the vaccinated water, you should stop running water to them for a short period prior to vaccine administration. Pause water flow for 30 to 60 minutes in warm climates, and for 60 to 90 minutes in cooler climates.[15]
4
Stabilize the water using skim milk powder or a chlorine neutralizer. Stabilize the water by placing 500 grams of skim milk powder for every 200 liters (52.8 US gal) of water. You can also use a chlorine neutralizer like Cevamune® by adding one tablet for every 100 liters (26.4 US gal).
The water should be stabilized 20-30 minutes prior to adding the vaccine.
5
Prepare the vaccine in a clean bucket. Fill a clean bucket with 2 liters (0.5 US gal) of the neutralized water, and submerge your vaccine bottle in the bucket. Once the bottle is completely submerged, remove the rubber stopper and allow the vaccine to diffuse completely into the water. Remove the bottle, making sure it is completely empty, and thoroughly stir the mixture.
Remember to wear rubber gloves throughout this process to keep the water clean.
Once the solution is thoroughly mixed, add the water back into your water tanks and mix the vaccination mixture fully with the rest of your water.
6
Start running the water to your chickens. When you turn the water back on, the chickens should start to drink. This is how they will receive the vaccine. If you use automatic drinkers, let them fill with the vaccinated water completely before you lower them to the chickens. Try to get the chickens to drink all of the vaccine water within 2 hours.
Do not put chlorine or other medications back into the water for at least 24 hours.
For houses with manual or basin drinkers, equally divide the vaccine solution across the basins. For houses with bell drinkers, open the overhead tanks to let the birds drink.
Mixing Vaccines in Drinking Water
1
Calculate the amount of water you will need to prepare. Your vaccinations should be mixed in with roughly the amount of water your chickens can drink in 2 hours. For 2-3 days prior to vaccination, check your water meter readings in 2 hour intervals. This will give you a rough idea of how much water you will need when it comes time to vaccinate.
You can also check with your vet or the vaccine manufacturer for their recommended dosage and mixing instructions. Many will provide tables with the vaccine estimating the amount of water you need based on the age of your birds and the current air temperature.
2
Clean your watering system. It is very important that your watering system be clean and free of chlorine. Stop running chlorine, disinfectants, and other medications through your watering system at least 48 hours before planning on vaccinating your chickens. You should also clean all buckets, jugs, whisks, and other tools you plan on using during the vaccination process.
You can clean your watering system and tools with the same cleaners you typically use. Remember to rinse them thoroughly, though. It may be helpful to do 2-3 full rinses, since even trace amounts of detergent can impact the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Check the pH of the water coming through the system after you clean. A reading greater than 7.5 is considered too high for the vaccines, while anything below 6.0 is too low.
3
Stop running the water prior to vaccinating your chickens. In order to make sure that your chickens actually drink the vaccinated water, you should stop running water to them for a short period prior to vaccine administration. Pause water flow for 30 to 60 minutes in warm climates, and for 60 to 90 minutes in cooler climates.[15]
4
Stabilize the water using skim milk powder or a chlorine neutralizer. Stabilize the water by placing 500 grams of skim milk powder for every 200 liters (52.8 US gal) of water. You can also use a chlorine neutralizer like Cevamune® by adding one tablet for every 100 liters (26.4 US gal).
The water should be stabilized 20-30 minutes prior to adding the vaccine.
5
Prepare the vaccine in a clean bucket. Fill a clean bucket with 2 liters (0.5 US gal) of the neutralized water, and submerge your vaccine bottle in the bucket. Once the bottle is completely submerged, remove the rubber stopper and allow the vaccine to diffuse completely into the water. Remove the bottle, making sure it is completely empty, and thoroughly stir the mixture.
Remember to wear rubber gloves throughout this process to keep the water clean.
Once the solution is thoroughly mixed, add the water back into your water tanks and mix the vaccination mixture fully with the rest of your water.
6
Start running the water to your chickens. When you turn the water back on, the chickens should start to drink. This is how they will receive the vaccine. If you use automatic drinkers, let them fill with the vaccinated water completely before you lower them to the chickens. Try to get the chickens to drink all of the vaccine water within 2 hours.
Do not put chlorine or other medications back into the water for at least 24 hours.
For houses with manual or basin drinkers, equally divide the vaccine solution across the basins. For houses with bell drinkers, open the overhead tanks to let the birds drink.
nedward
Veterinarian
vaccines that are administered by injections e.g wing web stab for fowl pox and intramascular injection in the case of fowl typhoid the birds have to be injected one by one. others like newcastle are administered through drinking water or eye drop ,thus for this case if you have large flock you can chose drinking water or eye drop depending on how much labour you have. remember the bottom line is efficiency and effective administeration of the vacinne.
I suppose you are asking about day old chicks from the brooder. Mode of vaccination depends on the specific vaccine being used and against which disease.In a brooding facility, normally chicks will be vaccinated against Marecks disease and yes this is done by subcutaneous injection and yes it is done chick by chick but there are automated apparatus to help in that.