Hematological responses of broiler chickens placed ondifferent vaccination schedules.

Abstract

An experiment was conducted using two hundred day-old Hubbard broiler chicks to determine the haematological responses to different vaccination schedules. The birds were grouped into two treatments coded C (Conventional) and A (Alternate) consisting of 100 birds each with ten replicates per treatment. Each replicate had 10 birds. Broiler chickens in group C were placed on conventional vaccination schedule (Control), while chickens in group A were placed on alternate vaccination schedule, at starter and finisher phases, respectively, over a 63-day period. The same feed and water were given ad libitum to the two treatment groups. Blood samples were collected to analyse for haematological parameters using three parts differential Abacus junior hemo-analysing machine against Newcastle disease and Infectious bursal disease vaccination in broiler chickens in the two groups. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the haematological parameters measured as follow; Haemoglobin at week 5 (9.150 g/dl, 8.380 g/dl), lymphocytes at week 6 (17.10 %, 14.30 %) and Monocytes at week 6 (2.50 %, 2.20 %).The haematological parameters of broiler chickens placed on different vaccination schedules revealed a weekly increasing trend in their values which agrees with the report of Addass et al. (2012) that the majority of haematological parameters for broiler chickens increase within the period of vaccination which could be in response to circulating antibody titres. It was concluded that alternate vaccination schedule in broiler chickens did not adversely affect the performance and health status of the broiler chickens and is therefore recommended for use by broiler chick farmers.