MSD announces broiler ‘Convenience Program’
MSD Animal Health has announced its’ Convenience Program, an innovative disease prevention initiative that gives broilers protection against respiratory diseases earlier in their life cycle with no impact on weight gain.
The program allows poultry producers to improve their respiratory disease control, their process and the performance of their operations.
With the Convenience Program, the vaccination process moves from the field to the hatchery where producers will realise increased efficiency and control of respiratory diseases with labour-saving vaccination techniques (such as: in-ovo injection and hatchery spray).
Rapid increases in population bring increased demand for poultry meat. As a result, broiler production is evolving rapidly. Improved breeding, superior management techniques and breakthroughs in molecular engineering, in-ovo administration and feed efficiency are creating real opportunities for poultry operators to take flock performance to the next level.
To translate the full genetic potential of a broiler flock into bottom line performance it is essential to maintain superior flock health. Superior flock health begins with providing a clean, stress-free environment and a quality diet but must also include a cost-effective plan to prevent disease.
The most serious and common respiratory diseases in poultry are Newcastle Disease (ND), Infectious Bronchitis (IB) and laryngotracheitis. Protection against outbreaks of these diseases in the flock has long been accomplished through vaccination, using protocols developed for each flock that are based upon disease prevalence and risk. However, given the advances in broiler genetics and management mentioned above, broiler life cycle is becoming shorter and conventional vaccination during the growth cycle can actually interfere with the optimal growth curve.
The Convenience Program is about process improvement as well as vaccines. It hopes to move a large portion of respiratory disease prevention activities from the field to the hatchery. Producers will realise cost savings by vaccinating in larger numbers using mass vaccination techniques developed for both in-ovo and day-old chicks. Vaccination quality may also improve due to the enhanced monitoring and stability that can be achieved in the hatchery environment.
MSD Animal Health respiratory vaccines have been engineered to work together effectively when combined, but without adverse reactions. These vaccines include Innovax-ND, Innovax ND-SB, Innovax ILT, Nobilis NDC2 and Nobilis ND Clone 30 for Newcastle disease, infectious laryngotracheitis and Marek’s disease. For infectious bronchitis, MDS’s Protectotype vaccines Nobilis IB Ma5 and Nobilis IB 4/91 provide protection against IB.
MSD Animal Health will provide extensive consultation to flock managers to help implement The Convenience Program to ensure it delivers its maximum impact on flock performance both in terms of flock health and cost savings.
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