Why are chicken vaccinations so important? Most chicken raisers ask this question, and simply assume they are unimportant.
Poultry vaccines are widely applied to prevent and control contagious poultry diseases. Their use in poultry production is aimed at avoiding or minimising the emergence of clinical disease at farm level, thus increasing production.
Vaccines and vaccination programmes vary broadly in regard to several local factors (e.g. type of production, local pattern of disease, costs and potential losses) and are generally managed by the poultry industry.
In the last decade, the financial losses caused by the major epidemic diseases of poultry (avian influenza and Newcastle disease) have been enormous for both the commercial and the public sectors.
The potential threat of disease outbreak in vaccinated poultry flocks cannot be 100% avoided but losses can be minimized to the very minimum.
Vaccination protects millions of birds from contracting contagious and deadly diseases – and have resulted in improved flocks and production efficiency. This, however doesn’t necessarily protect birds in unhygienic and unsafe environments.
Vaccines can provide benefit in terms of reducing the presence and severity of symptoms, and mortality, caused by diseases even for unvaccinated chickens. Spending on vaccines is important because failure to do so has dire ramifications.
I’m sure you’d rather lose 500 cedis on vaccines than lose birds worth over 10,000 cedis.
Vaccinations enhance immunity for birds, or at least some. Most vaccinations provide full immunity to birds where if they are exposed to the disease, they will get no illness. Some vaccinations such as the one for Gumboro Disease, give birds some immunity such that even if diseases strike their effects wouldn’t be devastating.
When you vaccinate your birds against diseases, you make the job easier for yourself in the long run. It may seem like a hassle to pay for the vaccine, do it yourself or have a vet do it, and having to be careful not to stress out your chickens, but if it prevents diseases it’s all worth your time.
It’s frustrating walking into the coop with dead, lame, paralyzed chickens. It stresses the owner out a lot, because they have to quarantine, find out what their bird(s) have, cure it, and keep them healthy in the future. All the frustration could be simply stopped by vaccinating your birds. One of the depressing parts of poultry production is to go to your farm and find a bird(s) dead. If vaccines will prevent that, why not?
Conclusion: Vaccinating your birds gives your birds good immunity to disease, prevents outbreaks of diseases, and makes the job of raising chickens easier for you. So look into vaccinations, vaccinated chicks when you get them, and keep your birds healthy!
Pkom 