- ✓Apply the biosecurity rules of a broiler farm
- ✓Carry out a drinking-water vaccination prescribed by the local vet successfully
- ✓Prepare catching and sale, and keep the flock’s records
Vaccination: the NEXTEKCI rule
NEXTEKCI broiler chicks are not vaccinated at the hatchery. At the Agnibilékrou hatchery, only the brown laying hens are vaccinated against Marek’s disease. For broilers, vaccination is done on the farm, following the protocol of your local vet: the vet chooses the vaccines, the dates and how to give them, according to the diseases present in your area.
If birds fall ill or there are abnormal deaths, call the vet without delay.
Biosecurity
- One age group per farm, all in, all out.
- Fenced farm, few visitors (with a register), footbath at the entrance, clothing and boots kept for the house only.
- No backyard poultry or other animals around the house; rodent control.
- Dead birds collected every day and destroyed away from the house.
Source: Cobb.
Giving a vaccine in the drinking water properly
When the vet prescribes a vaccine to be given in the water, the method decides how well it works: a badly prepared vaccine, or one drunk by only part of the flock, gives poor protection.
- Vaccinate early in the morning, with a vaccine kept cold (2 to 8 °C).
- Stop chlorine and water treatments 72 hours before.
- Withhold water from the birds for 1 hour at most beforehand.
- Add 2.5 g of skimmed milk powder per litre of water, 20 minutes before the vaccine, to protect the vaccine.
- Provide an amount of water drunk in 1 to 2 hours: about (thousands of birds × age in days × 2) litres.
- Check: coloured tongues in 75% of birds after 1 hour and 95% after 2 hours (with a dye made for this purpose).
Source: Cobb.
For 10,000 birds aged 14 days: 10 × 14 × 2 = 280 litres of vaccination water, to be drunk in 1 to 2 hours. Skimmed milk powder: 280 × 2.5 g = 700 g, added 20 minutes before the vaccine.
Catching and sale
- Withdraw feed 8 to 12 hours before slaughter; leave the water until catching starts.
- Catch at night or early in the morning, in dim light, calmly, to avoid bruising and fractures.
- Fewer birds per crate in the hot season; transport in the cool hours.
Source: Cobb.
A bird injured or bruised during catching loses value with the buyer: the team’s calm shows in the price obtained.
The flock’s records
| When | What to record |
|---|---|
| Every day | Deaths, feed, water drunk, minimum and maximum temperature, treatments |
| Every week | Average weight and uniformity |
| For the flock | Chicks received, vaccines and medicines, feed delivered, sale weight and price |
Source: Cobb.
These figures are used twice: during the flock, to react quickly (a drop in water, a rise in deaths); after the flock, to review it with the profitability calculator on the website and decide what changes for the next flock.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Have your local vet draw up the vaccination protocol before the chicks arrive.
- ›One age group per farm, all in, all out: this is the rule that protects all the others.
- ›Insist on complete records and review each flock before ordering the next one.
For the technician
- ›Footbath, dedicated clothing, visitors’ register, dead birds collected and destroyed every day.
- ›Vaccine in the water: chlorine stopped 72 hours before, skimmed milk 20 minutes before, coloured-tongue check.
- ›Feed withdrawn 8 to 12 hours before slaughter; calm catching, at night or early morning, in dim light.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- What is the next vaccination planned by the vet, and has the water been chlorine-free for 72 hours?
- What percentage of coloured tongues did you count after 1 hour, then after 2 hours?
- Are today’s records complete: deaths, feed, water, temperatures, treatments?
Key points
- •NEXTEKCI broiler chicks are not vaccinated at the hatchery: vaccination is done on the farm, following the local vet’s protocol.
- •Biosecurity: one age group, fenced farm, footbath, no backyard poultry, dead birds destroyed every day.
- •Vaccine in the water: early morning, chlorine stopped 72 hours before, 2.5 g of skimmed milk per litre 20 minutes before.
- •Vaccination water: thousands of birds × age in days × 2 litres; check 75% after 1 hour, 95% after 2 hours.
- •Feed withdrawn 8 to 12 hours before slaughter, water left until catching; calm catching in dim light.
- •Records: every day, every week, and for the whole flock.