Let’s talk Newcastle Disease Vaccine

Since there seems to be a widespread Newcastle disease outbreak all over, let’s talk about Newcastle disease vaccines.

First, cost of 100 doses of Newcastle disease vaccine in Livingstone is K19. How much is one death of a chicken worth to you?

Second, how do we do it right?

1.    Buy the vaccine from a reputable supplier (vet or chemist with a fridge and hopefully with a power backup in case of power cuts). Buy the next one up from your number of birds. E.g. for 50 birds - 100 doses, 100 birds - 100 doses, 120 birds - 200 doses, 300 birds - 500 doses and so on. Never less.

2.    Transport it cold, but not frozen. The two ice cubes it’s usually supplied with is fine if you are near and go straight home. If not, carry a flask or coldbag or cold packs or all of the above. I’ve carried vaccine by bus from Lusaka to Livingstone without “losing my cool” by putting a small cold box inside two cold bags with plenty ice.

3.    If you are not using it immediately keep it cold, but not frozen. (Mine is usually in a fridge inside a coldbag with a coldpack because of power cuts).

4.    When you are ready to give your birds, remove the drinking water for 30 minutes to 1 hour before. In the case of free-rage chickens, round them up and enclose them for a bit. They should be a bit thirsty.

5.    Calculate the water you need as follows: no of birds x age in days x 1.5/1000. For example, my 300 birds of 3 weeks old needs 300 x 21 x 1.5/1000 = 9.45 litres or about 9 and a half litres.

For adult birds try to estimate what they will drink in 1 hour.

6.    Do not disinfect your drinkers or anything you are using the day you vaccinate and preferably the day before also.

7.    Carry the vaccine vial by the neck or in a bag not in your pocket or in your warm hand. Put the right amount of water in a bucket and open the vaccine under the water. Mix it well. The easiest way is by pouring some into a drinker and back into the bucket several times. If you have stabiliser or skim milk powder you can add it before adding the vaccine.

8.    Pour it into as many drinkers as you can and spread them around the house so that all birds drink. Ideally in an hour or less they have finished the vaccine and all have drunk some.

So, then you need to repeat this process twice for broilers, (usually day 14 and 20), four times for layers and maybe about every three months for village chickens.

FAQs

·       Ca you vaccinate sick chickens? Yes, but don't. It will make them worse not better. It's prevention not treatment.

·       Does the vaccine completely prevent outbreaks? Not in my experience, but it drastically reduces the death rate from around 90% to between 5 and 15%.

·       Does "not-vaccinating" work? Yes, perfectly well until there is an outbreak.

·       Are there other ways to vaccinate? Yes

Some Newcastle vaccines are injectable. They are quite expensive.

You can also put the same oral vaccine we use in drinking water and put it in a small amount of liquid and drop one drop in the eye of each bird. This may be more effective as it ensures each bird gets the same dose, but it is a lot more work to do.

·       Do herbal remedies work? Moringa, chillies, zundu, and numerous herbs are said to prevent Newcastle disease. You will only know if you do not vaccinate, you use the herbs, there is an outbreak in your neighbourhood and you are spared. I haven’t tested them myself. However, I firmly believe that anything that improves your chicken’s nutrition would help disease resistance and therefore I am in favour of using anything that will add nutrition. But do not omit vaccine if you love your chickens or your pocket.

·       Do vaccines leave harmful residue that is of concern to humans? No. Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system to respond with antibodies by introducing a weak or dead version of the disease.

·       Do antibiotics work for treating Newcastle disease? No. Only antivirals do. It is a virus not a bacteria.

There are a number of different types of Newcastle disease vaccines the commonest of which is called LaSota. They are all more effective than not vaccinating.

Now go protect the farmer as well and get your covid-19 vaccine.

by Ruth Henson