Avishield ND

Chickens: 1 dose by coarse spray or oculonasal use from the age of 1 day. The vaccine can be administered in drinking water at the time when birds are drinking continuously from the drinking system.

Turkeys: 1 dose by coarse spray, oculonasal use or in drinking water use from the age of 14 days.

Method of application depends on the epizootiological situation, age, category and number of animals. The veterinarian should determine the optimum vaccination schedule according to the local situation taking into account the information provided in section 4.4.

It is extremely important that all birds receive the full dose of vaccine. Details presented below should be strictly followed to achieve this.

If prolonged immunity is required, chickens can be revaccinated after 35 days. Revaccination in turkeys has not been investigated.

1. Oculonasal use

Reconstitute 1,000 doses of the vaccine in 100 ml distilled water.

A dose of reconstituted vaccine is 0.1 ml, i.e. two drops, irrespective of poultry age, weight and type. Instil one drop into the eye and one drop into the nose opening.

2. In drinking water use

Reconstitute the vaccine in cool and clean water without traces of chlorine, other disinfectants or impurities in a number of doses corresponding to the number of birds to be vaccinated.

The vaccine should be reconstituted immediately before use.

The volume of water for reconstitution depends on the age of the birds, the breed, the management practice and weather conditions.

In order to determine the quantity of water in which vaccine will be reconstituted for the vaccination of chickens in a younger age category (until the third week of life), the following guideline applies:

- multiplying the number of birds in the thousands with the day of life (e.g. 1 thousand chickens in the 7th day of life = 1 x 7 = 7 L)

It is important to reconstitute the vaccine in the amount of water which will be drunk within 1.5–2.5 hours (taking into account the different types of drinking systems for poultry).

In order to make the birds thirsty, withdraw the supply of drinking water up to 2 hours prior to vaccination (depending on the air temperature).

Always make sure that there is food available when vaccinating. Birds will not drink if they have no food to eat. The drinking system should be clean, without traces of chlorine, other disinfectants or impurities.

3. Coarse spray

It is recommended to reconstitute 1,000 doses of the vaccine in 150–300 ml of distilled water. The number of doses to be used corresponds to the number of birds in the flock. The volume of water for reconstitution should be sufficient to ensure an even distribution when sprayed onto the birds, and will vary according to the age of the birds being vaccinated and the management system.

The reconstituted vaccine suspension should be spread evenly over the correct number of chickens, at a distance of 30–40 cm using a coarse spray, preferably when the chickens are sitting together in dim light. The spray apparatus should be free from sediments, corrosion and traces of disinfectants and ideally should be used for vaccination purposes only. During and after vaccination ventilation should be switched off in order to avoid turbulences.