Dr. Robert Evans
Dr. Robert Evans is a retired poultry technical consultant. Evans has more than 20 years of experience in microbiology, immunology, parasitology and food safety and served as a member of the Elanco Poultry Technical team for 15 years.
The development and proper implementation of a breeder vaccination program plays a critical role in the health and productivity of your breeder birds, as well as the success of your commercial operation. Breeders are long-lived birds and are in your facility for about two years, which is a long time to keep them healthy and productive.
In this introductory article, I will highlight five key areas that can affect your program’s success. Future articles will take a deeper dive into these topics.
Autogenous Vaccines
There are limited vaccines available for the turkey industry and evolving disease challenges or a novel variant of an existing disease require a heavy reliance on the use of autogenous vaccines. For example, reovirus is a constantly moving target for many turkey producers. Selection of the proper isolates, timing new serial orders to ensure supply, and managing isolates are important factors to maximize your autogenous vaccine and maintain proper inventory.
Vaccine Schedule
While most programs have vaccine application timing established, unforeseen factors can necessitate timing modification. Also, changing disease challenges may require the addition of a new vaccine or more frequent dosing. Understanding how birds respond to vaccination will help establish proper timing intervals to maximize immunity.
Science vs. Logistics
If science is the sole driver of a vaccination program it will provide very good protection at an astronomical cost with a schedule that is difficult to maintain. Likewise, if minimizing labor cost and streamlining logistics are the only consideration, the result will be a very cheap and concise program that does the bird more harm than good.
How can a happy medium be identified?
Monitoring and data can help identify trends and potential problem areas. Are titer levels post-vaccination low, indicating poor administration or were too many antigens given at once? Has disease incidence increased without an increased challenge?
Monitoring Vaccination Process
Assessing vaccination efficacy is a critical step in the process. While most operations have a serology program in place, assessing crew performance at vaccination can be just as critical. Observing the vaccination process will allow assessment of bird welfare and stress, vaccine storage and mixing, equipment maintenance, and technique.
Equipment
While one of the more mundane topics regarding vaccination programs, it would be shocking to know how much money is wasted each year in vaccine, labor, and lost production due to improper equipment, rendering vaccines ineffective and leaving birds unprotected. It’s important to have protocols in place to monitor equipment and there need to be clear actions to take if deviations are identified. Employees should be incentivized to prioritize doing the right thing over speed. Employees also need to have the tools required to do their job properly.
A good vaccination program is critical for the success of your turkey breeders, but vaccines must not be used as a crutch. Vaccines used unnecessarily can compete with your more critical ones and may render them less effective.
An Elanco representative can talk with you to help verify your breeder vaccine needs and make sure the products you’re using are being managed correctly. Contact your Elanco representative today.
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