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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #397815
Research Project: Developing Improved Control Strategies for Avian Coccidosis

Location: Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory

Title: Administering Eimeria maxima oocysts through drinking water improves coccidiosis vaccine uptake in broiler chickens

Author
item Jenkins, Mark
item CLINE, JOEL - Wayne Farms
item Parker, Carolyn
item Obrien, Celia
item BURLESON, MARK - Wayne Farms
item SCHAEFER, JON - Zoetis

Submitted to: Journal of Applied Poultry Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/23/2022
Publication Date: 11/3/2022
Citation: Jenkins, M.C., Cline, J., Parker, C.C., Obrien, C.N., Burleson, M., Schaefer, J. 2022. Administering Eimeria maxima oocysts through drinking water improves coccidiosis vaccine uptake in broiler chickens. Journal of Applied Poultry Research. 32(1).Article e100312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japr.2022.100312.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japr.2022.100312

Interpretive Summary: Poultry producers increasingly use vaccination to prevent outbreaks of avian coccidiosis, but the standard method of vaccination (spraying chicks at the hatchery) compromises efficacy owing to non-uniform administration. Here, we compared that method to an alternative: administering vaccine in drinking water to 3-day old chicks. We performed a series of studies using a laboratory strain of E. maxima (APU2) and/or a commercial Eimeria vaccine. Superior results characterized vaccination via drinking water, regardless of vaccine source (mean percent positive: 90% vs. 16%). Water delivery leads to patent E. maxima infection in virtually all chickens, favoring this method as a means to control outbreaks.

Technical Abstract: Vaccination against avian coccidiosis in increasingly being used by the poultry industry to prevent outbreaks of this parasitic disease, but problems with non-uniform administration of spray vaccination at the hatchery is affecting efficacy. The purpose of the present work was to compare Eimeria maxima oocyst uptake between hatchery spray vaccination (day 0) and in-house drinking water (day 3) administration. A series of studies utilizing either a laboratory strain of E. maxima (APU2) and/or a commercial Eimeria vaccine (Coccivac®B52) was conducted to optimize drinking water application. Regardless of vaccine source, administering Eimeria oocysts through drinking water to 3-day-old chicks was superior to spray vaccination (mean percent positive: 90% vs. 16%). This paper provides details of a method for administering a coccidiosis vaccine through the drinking water to 3-day old chicks that leads to patent E. maxima infection in virtually all chickens.