Kenchic has introduced hatchery vaccination in all day-old broilers against Gumboro, Newcastle and Infectious Bronchitis diseases.

With intensification of broiler production, total or partial condemnation of carcasses has risen due to poor growth rates, cellulitis, water belly, downgrades, high mortality, etc.

Because of these enormous losses, the broiler industry has constantly tried to improve the facilities, optimize the stocking densities and even improve some management techniques. Furthermore, broiler producers continuously seek new ways of reducing the condemnation rates at the slaughter house.

Recently, more and more trials have demonstrated that concentrating the vaccination in the hatchery could significantly improve the profitability to the farmers. Indeed, the reduction of vaccinations applied in the farms can contribute to reduced mortalities during growing, minimal condemnation at the processing plant and consequently avoidance of huge financial losses that farmers could experience.

The vaccination of the day-old chicks in the hatcheries effectively started in the 70's with the use of Mareks vaccine. Now vaccines against Newcastle disease, IB and Gumboro are available for day-old vaccination.

Kenchic has subsequently introduced TRANSMUNE vaccination against Gumboro and VITABRON against Newcastle and Infectious Bronchitis diseases in day-old chicks at the hatchery. These vaccines have wide spread use in Europe, Brazil, China and emerging markets in Nigeria as well as the Middle East.

There are several benefits in moving vaccination from the farm towards the hatchery. These include:

• The vaccine is handled by a Kenchic team that is well trained and monitored. Centralization of controls at the hatchery ensures that the vaccine is precisely administered as per the manufacturers guidelines.
• The vaccines cold chain storage guidelines are well adhered to at the hatchery level to match the producer's requirements while the chain could be broken at the farm level.
• Vaccination cover is 100% on all chicks at the hatchery compared to 70-80% success rates at the farm. It further reduces stress on the birds in the farm and ensures early and improved disease resistance/immunity.
• Sophisticated and consequently expensive equipment is more affordable and relevant for a big structure like a hatchery than for a poultry farm. Also, equipment can be better monitored and better maintained in the hatchery than on the farm. Vaccine application becomes more effective. The farmer has more time left to look after the vaccinated birds instead of bothering on vaccination.
• Spray vaccination, which is the best method for administration of respiratory vaccines like ND or IB, is much easier to apply and consequently highly efficacious when given in the hatchery than when applied on the farm. This vaccination requires a dust-free environment for effective immunization. The farmer will only do one single Newcastle disease vaccination in the Broiler farm at day 14 instead of 2 vaccinations as done previously. This will reduce stress to the birds, reduce the use of vitamins before and after vaccination, reduce post-vaccination reactions and the cost of treatment.
• Better growth rates.
• Low mortality in the event of disease outbreak.

Farmers are however requested to entrench biosecurity measures on their farms to provide additional protection to their birds and reduced exposure to threats.

We strongly recommend this vaccination to all farmers and with acquisition of automatic vaccinators, all Kenchic day-old broiler chicks will be vaccinated at the hatchery against Gumboro, Newcastle and Infectious bronchitis diseases. We are the sole providers of this vaccine in East and Central Africa.

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Kenchic adopts a two-prong approach in dealing with Gumboro and Newcastle diseases of poultry at Hatchery.

Gumboro disease

The disease was first isolated in a village called Gumboro in USA in early 60's but by 1980s' the virus had spread to the rest of the world.

This viral infection attacks immune system of young birds destroying the B lymphocytes in their immature stages in the Bursa. The virus is hard to kill and can survive in moist old litter for 4 months. The virus can mutate and change its form avoiding the immune system of the bird. It is common in huge poultry complexes, where birds are raised in multi-age systems. Chickens are more susceptible at 3-6 weeks of age when Bursa is at its maximum rate of development and filled with B cells.

The affected birds discharge whitish diarrhoea, huddle together, massive mortality is observed in non-vaccinated flocks and mortality pattern has a bell shape curve and disappears in 7 days.

Newcastle disease

It is a disease of poultry caused by a Ribulavirus causing both respiratory and enteric infection in chickens of all ages.

Virus enters via any mucosal surface: multiplies in epithelium spreading via the blood stream to other organs, where fast multiplication occurs leading to rise in virus concentration in the blood, multiplies in all organs especially respiratory and intestinal tract, and in case of virulent strains in the nervous system. Virus shedding occurs by faeces and air (aerosol, dust).

The most obvious clinical signs are sudden and massive mortality, with neurological signs like star gazing, limbs paralysis, twisted necks, with inability to feed resulting into greenish diarrhea. For birds in production, there is significant drop in egg production.