Yes, we had a tough first week, but we lived through it although the losses were up to 10% of what we received, this is pretty high, but being inexperienced we can put it to the costs of learning on the job.
The vaccination schedule is every week for the next 12 weeks, with Newcastle and Gumoboro being alternated, I will post our vaccination schedule once I get round to typing it up.
Here I explain how we setup for vaccination for those who like me are learning on the job. Pre-vaccination checklist:
- No vitamins or other medication in the water for the day before
- No water provided to the chicks for 2 hours before the vaccination, apparently to assist in ingestion especially the ocular ones which are administered one drop in each eye
First we created two separate areas within the brooder using plywood
The vaccination operation was manned by 3 people – two vaccinating and one picking up the chicks and passing them to the other two. The reason for this is efficiency (due to split roles), but also to ensure that the operation is done quickly so that the vaccine remains chilled.
And once the vaccination is done the plywood is removed and the chicks are back to using the whole room as their playground. Also there is countinous monitoring for any changes in the behavior and feeding habits
Want to learn more about vaccination procedures from experts you can go to http://www.poultryhub.org/health/health-management/vaccination/