For chickens from one day of age
One dose per chicken to be administered by eye drop, with drinking water or by spray. The quantity of water to be used depends on the method of administration. Never use less than 1 dose per chicken.
For eye drop administration
Use 30 to 50 ml of deionised water per 1000 doses (birds) depending on the type of eye-dropper to be used. One drop is equal to one dose (0.03 to 0.05 ml depending on the reconstituted volume) of the vaccine solution is administered into one eye per chicken. The deionised water should be at room temperature when used. Hold the chicken so that one eye is pointing upwards and allow one drop of vaccine to fall into the eye. Chickens should swallow during vaccination.
For drinking water administration
Discontinue any drinking water medication 24 hours before vaccination. Water containing a high level of free chlorine should not be used. A general indication is that if chlorine can be detected in the water by smell or taste it could deactivate the living virus. If so, half a litre of skimmed milk should be thoroughly mixed into every 20 litres of water or skimmed milk powder added at a rate of two grams per litre of water before adding vaccine.
Only perfectly clean and rust free utensils and drinkers (preferably plastic) free of any trace of disinfectants, detergents, soap, etc should be used. Ensure that there is enough drinking trough space to allow all chickens immediate access to the vaccine. No untreated water should be made available until the treated water has been consumed.
Withhold drinking water for 2 hours before vaccination to stimulate thirst. Remove the aluminium seal from the vaccine vial. To dissolve the vaccine pellet, the rubber stopper should then be removed whilst the vial is immersed in a plastic measuring jug containing 1 litre (approximately 1 quart) of clean cool water. Half fill the vial with water, replace the stopper and shake to dissolve any remaining vaccine. The vaccine concentrate should then be added to and thoroughly mixed with sufficient drinking water to last for approximately 2 hours.
The approximate drinking water requirements for vaccination can be calculated from the age of the chickens. Use as many litres of water as the age of the chickens in days, per 1000 chickens, up to a maximum of 40 litres per 1,000 chickens. Distribute the diluted vaccine evenly in the drinkers. Do not expose prepared drinking water vaccine to sunlight.
The vaccine solution is best divided so that the drinkers are charged at least twice with vaccine to ensure a more widespread uptake.
If nipple drinkers are employed, ensure that header tanks are continually refilled with water containing vaccine.
The vaccine may be used in automatic watering equipment. However, the main supply should only be turned on when all the vaccine treated water has been consumed. Return to regular watering only after the vaccine water has been consumed.
For coarse spray administration
The product can be used in most types of spray equipment. The equipment should provide a coarse spray (droplets between 80 to 160 µm). The distance from the spraying head to the bird must be approximately 50 cm. Dilute and administer the reconstituted vaccine at a rate of one dose of reconstituted vaccine per bird, according to the directions of your specific coarse spray vaccination equipment. It is recommended to use 0.15 to 0.5 litres of water per 1000 birds depending on the type of spray equipment to be used.
During spraying and for about 20-30 minutes thereafter, ventilation should be switched off or reduced. Dimming light sources is recommended to avoid unsettling the animals.