Vaccinating laying chickens is one of the effective ways to boost the immunity and productivity of the birds. It is simply the introduction of the disease-causing pathogens or their product into the bird’s system, such that they gain resistance over the subsequent attack from the pathogen. The vaccination chart for layers is an important document needed to run a successful poultry farm. This vaccination chart lists all the vaccines that laying birds must receive and the best time for their administration.

All You Need To Know Before Vaccinating Laying Birds

The vaccination of laying birds begins when they are newly hatched and ends when the birds are no longer productive. There are some vaccines that are administered at the chick’s stage, while some are given toward and during the active laying period. One of the benefits of layer vaccination is that it is an aggregated program; it is a foundation on which the immunity of the layering bird is built.

For layers, there are two types of vaccines: the inactivated vaccines and the live vaccines. The inactivated vaccine is also called killed or modified live vaccines, it contains dead or modified viruses that stimulate an immune response but can’t cause disease. The live vaccines are also called attenuated vaccines, they contain live viruses that have been weakened so they can’t cause disease but still stimulate an immune response.

This vaccination of layers is done in two stages: the brooding stage and the rearing stage. The brooding stage starts from day 1 to 4 weeks of age, while the rearing stage starts from about 4-16 weeks. These vaccines could be a repetition of the ones administered during the brooding stage weeks. At 16 weeks, the pullets are set to lay; hence, they are transferred to the cage, where they spend the rest of their life in case of a battery cage system or a laying pen if the deep litter system is adopted. 

All laying birds are vaccinated against Marek’s disease, Newcastle disease NDV, Infectious Bronchitis, Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD Gumboro), Avian encephalomyelitis, and Fowl Pox at different ages. The vaccines are usually given before the commencement of the lay. When layers start to lay, administration of vaccines is not really common, unless there is a prevailing disease, usually Newcastle Disease.

In addition, poultry vaccines are available in small-dose and large-dose vial varieties, depending on the number of birds you are vaccinating; the small-dose varieties are between 100 – 200 doses, which can be given to 100 – 150 laying birds. The large dose is between 1000 – 5000 doses. At times, it is best to double dose the laying birds, meaning, if you have 150 laying birds, vaccinate them with a 200-dose vaccine. This ensures the layers are fully vaccinated and reduces the risk of vaccine failure.

Lastly, vaccines are administered through different routes; some are administered through drinking water, some are eyedrops, through the eyes, and some are administered through the wing web or aerosol. The routes of administration of each vaccine have been stated in the vaccination chart below. Vaccination is a timely operation; you must adhere to the specific duration of each vaccine; a miss of a vaccination schedule can be catastrophic to the health and productivity of the layers as they grow older.

Vaccines Given to Layers and The Diseases They Treat

Each of the vaccines given to laying birds is designed to protect the layers against a prevailing disease and infections. No two vaccines protect against the same poultry disease or infection. So, it is important to know the name of the poultry disease each vaccine prevents before administering before having the vaccination, hence, this title:

• Newcastle Disease Vaccine: One of the most common bird diseases is Newcastle disease. This is a viral infection that affects many kinds of poultry, including chickens, turkeys, pigeons, and quail. It usually causes head shaking, respiratory problems, and muscle weakness in birds. The vaccine administered to prevent Newcastle disease is called the Lasota vaccine.

• Infectious Bursal Disease Vaccine: This vaccine is given to laying birds before they lay their first eggs. It helps prevent bursal disease in young chicks by giving them immunity against this disease before they hatch into the world. The vaccine used to prevent the infectious bursal disease in chickens is called the Gumboro vaccine.

• Fowl Pox Disease Vaccine: Fowl pox is a viral disease that affects chickens, turkeys, and other domestic fowl. The disease is transmitted from bird to bird by the bite of contaminated mosquitoes. The virus causes very severe lesions on the skin and around the eyes, mouth, and vent of infected birds. It can also cause respiratory symptoms such as coughing and sneezing. This vaccine prevents fowl pox in chickens by giving them immunity against the virus that causes it, so they can’t get sick when they come into contact with it later on in life even if they haven’t been vaccinated yet (which happens sometimes).

• Marek’s disease vaccine: Marek’s disease is a viral disease that affects mainly young birds between the ages of 2-4 weeks old. It is spread through contact with other infected birds or contaminated environments. The symptoms include reduced egg production, weight loss, paralysis, and death in extreme cases.

• Infectious Bronchitis Vaccine: Infectious bronchitis is an infectious disease caused by a virus that is spread among chickens by direct contact with nasal secretions from infected birds or through contaminated drinking water, feed, or equipment. Infectious bronchitis causes respiratory distress in young chicks but rarely causes clinical illness in adult chickens.

Vaccination Chart for Layers From Day Old to 4 Weeks (Brooding Stage)

Vaccine	Duration/age of the bird	Route of administration
Marek’s	Within 24 hours of hatching	Subcutaneous
IBD Gumboro	Between 2-4 weeks	Through drinking water or spray
Newcastle i	2 weeks	Through drinking water
Infectious bronchitis i	0- 4 weeks	Through drinking water
Fowl Pox	0-6 weeks	Through the wing web
E. coli	0-6 weeks	Through drinking water
Salmonella	Day 7	Through drinking water

Vaccination Chart for Layers 4 – 16 Weeks (Point of lay)

Vaccine	Duration/age of the bird	Route of administration
Newcastle ii	Within 5-8 weeks	Through drinking water
Infectious bronchitis ii	Within 5-8 weeks	Through drinking water
Newcastle iii	Within 10-12 weeks	Through drinking water
Newcastle iv	Within 14-16 weeks	Through drinking water or intramuscular
Infectious bronchitis iii	Within 14-16 weeks	Through drinking water or intramuscular
Avian encephalomyelitis	Within 6-15 weeks	Through drinking water or wing web

How To Dilute Vaccine In Water

The route of administration of poultry vaccines is not the same as that of poultry medications. Poultry vaccines are administered through aerosol, intraocular, wing jabs, subcutaneous, and orally through drinking water. Drinking water is the most common as you can see from the above vaccination charts.

Most of the vaccines are available in freeze-dried form, packed in vials and stored at a temperature below 8⁰C. When administering vaccines through drinking water, the vaccine vials are diluted in drinking water at a rate of 1 liter to every 100 doses of vaccine; this means if you have 100 – 150 birds, you are administering a 200-dose vaccine, you need 2 liters of water to dilute the vaccine.

Mix the vaccine in clean, non-chlorinated water; open the vial under the water and leave it for about 10 – 15 minutes for effective dilution of the content. If you are using chlorinated water, add 2.5 g of skimmed milk powder per liter of water to neutralize the chlorine. The powdered milk also helps to preserve the virus activity.

For effective intake of the vaccine by the birds, it is best you induce thirst before the vaccine is administered. You can do this by simply withdrawing water over the night when the vaccination Is scheduled for the next day or withdrawing water from the birds for about 2 hours before vaccination. This trick will make the birds want to drink the vaccine-containing water as soon as they get it. You will be sure all the laying birds have access to it.

Pour the vaccine-containing water into the drinkers and watch your birds drink as if they are taking normal water. Withdraw the drinkers after 2 hours, even if they did not finish the water. Vaccination only takes 2 hours. Pour out the remaining water, rinse your drinker well, and serve clean, cool water.

To know if the birds have effectively taken the vaccine, you would observe that the birds appear weak and tend to cuddle together. Some may appear shivering. Do not be worried. They are just fine.

Precautions For Administering Vaccines for Layers

There are some precautions you must follow to enhance the efficacy of the vaccine and avoid vaccine failure.

• Store the vaccine at a temperature below  8⁰C before usage.

• Discard the vial after administration of the vaccine.

• Give anti-stress two days before and after vaccination. This is because vaccines are stress-inducing; hence, the laying birds need anti-stress in the form of multivitamins to cushion the stress.

• Do not vaccinate sick layers. Vaccination is for the prevention of diseases and not the treatment of diseases. Use drugs to treat sick birds and not a vaccine. You can resume vaccination when the birds are stable

• Give layers of vaccines during the cooler part of the day. The best time to administer vaccines to laying birds is early in the morning before the birds eat.

• Ensure the drinker is clean, and if you are using nipple drinkers, ensure all the nipples are dispensing water.

• Do not use detergent to wash the drinkers before vaccination

• Wait for at least 21 days after vaccination before slaughtering the birds.

Lastly, vaccination in layers is compulsory; the health of the layers is the wealth of the farmer. The layers must always be healthy; any deviation in the normal state of health leads to a drop in production and, conversely, reduces the profitability of the farm enterprise. Hence, the health of the layers is paramount to the success of the farm.

Remember to share using the share button above!