Why the Poultry Youth Prefer the #KUKUSTAR Vaccine

Chicks receiving their KUKUSTAR vaccinations.

It has become common knowledge that the youth hold the power to change our future. The same goes for the poultry world. A generation of healthy, young birds will not only help prevent the dreaded Newcastle Disease from spreading and wiping out the poultry population, but it will help provide a better future for the household of a rural poultry farmer looking to get out of poverty.

One of the biggest threats to young domestic birds is Newcastle Disease, a virus that is 100% fatal in chicks and wipes out newly hatched birds in days. The virus is easily spread through contact between healthy birds and bodily discharges from infected birds, whether it is through direct contact or through a third party like shoes and clothing of a human being. What makes it even more lethal is that the virus can survive for several weeks in this state. So how should we protect these vulnerable, young birds?

In the past there has not been much of an option for one-day old chicks because the only vaccine available was the LaSota strain, which makes them fall sick. For this reason, they have had to be vaccinated with a different type of vaccine called the B1 strain and then, when the birds are 14 days old, they must get another vaccination with a booster dose of the LaSota strain. Other challenges with this vaccine is that it is only for chickens, is administered primarily through drinking water or aerosol spray, which is not conducive to the habitat of free-range poultry which do not usually have designated drinking sources and because most households only have a few birds. Furthermore, the LaSota vaccine is not thermostable at room temperature and as a result, it can only be used for three hours once it leaves its refrigerated state, thus making it inaccessible to most rural poultry farmers living in poverty. Beyond three hours at room temperature, the vaccine is no longer effective.

With the I-2 Thermostable KUKUSTAR® Newcastle Disease vaccine, we are able to vaccinate day-old chicks and other poultry in the same method and intervals as we would adult birds (through an eye drop once every three months), and without the need of a booster vaccine. It can also last up to three days at room temperature, allowing us to reach farmers and their young poultry in rural settings. KUKUSTAR® is affordable, easy to administer, thermostable, and straightforward. Most importantly, it gives these young birds a fighting chance against the killer poultry disease while also giving farmers the opportunity to improve their household income and livelihood through increased turnover of free-range poultry.

Chicks walking around after their KUKUSTAR vaccinations. 

Trading a meal for an improved livelihood (The Art of Poultry Farming)

 

                                        Dorothy (the hen) receiving her vaccination.

I first met Dorothy (the hen above) about two months ago when she showed up in our garden as a gift from an uncle. Although everyone was determined to see her tanned to a crisp, covered with rosemary, and surrounded by potatoes, I was determined to save her and give her a chance at life before death. Little did I know was that I was saving more than just one life. I was saving 13. 

The art of poultry farming in rural Africa follows a similar story. Becoming a poultry farmer is not about going out and buying several chickens. It is about the farmer focusing their efforts on acquiring one or even two hens and providing them with the food, vaccinations/medications, and safety they need to stay alive and lay eggs. You might ask why not include a rooster? Well that is because purchasing a rooster is not always a necessity as these tend to roam through the village offering free services until they are exchanged for other roosters or sold periodically to allow safe breeding to continue. 

Farming poultry in a rural setting is easier than farming cows, goats and even agriculture because the landscape, weather conditions and food availability are more conducive for free-range poultry. The agricultural food waste that is predominantly from cereals as well as food left over from meals gives the birds a continuous supply of food. They also require little open space and are able to find water on their own while roaming through the village. 

As for Dorothy, two months after relocating to a village in Eastern Uganda, she had 12 chicks that are alive and well. For a rural farmer, that means that one has gone from owning one chicken to 13. Now with the arrival of the KUKUSTAR® vaccine that can protect chickens against the vicious outbreaks of the highly fatal Newcastle Disease, Dorothy and her 12 offspring have a chance to survive and prosper. The other good news for this farmer is that if Dorothy keeps up her productivity she is expected to lay eggs three to four times in a year, which would bring the farmer a total number of 36-48 new arrivals in a year. 

Now if Dorothy and her  12 original offspring  chickens were to be kept in a clean and safe environment, and are able to get the vaccinations like KUKUSTAR® that they need, then depending on the number of female chicks that hatched, the farmer could find themselves with even more hens down the road that will be able to join their mother Dorothy in laying eggs. In the case of Dorothy, five of her chicks are female and by the time their mother lays eggs for the fourth time, her five daughters will have joined her to form a breeding team of six. If the daughters were to keep true to Dorothy’s genes, this team of six will be driving towards hatching 72 new chicks every time they hatch, clearly sending the farmer firmly on the path out of poverty. 

The reproduction rate and low maintenance costs make birds, especially chickens, the perfect animal for rural farming and for uplifting the quality of life of rural peasant farmers. In the past, outbreaks of Newcastle Disease have put a dent in rural poultry farming, and discouraged others from investing in what could be a lucrative business if done properly. This is why giving them access to vaccines like KUKUSTAR® is of great importance because saving these chickens will in turn improve or even save the lives of the people who own them.  

Watch the interview with George Mukiibi-Muka where he talks about the Art of Poultry Farming in rural Uganda - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATGFS0TPPOQ&feature=youtu.be&a

Dorothy and her chicks.

To be or not to be immunized...#savethechickens

The threat of Newcastle Disease (NCD) on poultry is not one that should be taken lightly. Each year millions of birds are lost to NCD.  The young members of the flock fare very badly. In chicks the death rate is 100 percent.  And although some adult birds are able to survive a disease outbreak as the result of a degree of natural immunity, this applies to only a handful.

In the study that lasted 16 weeks, the researchers used 50-Day old chicks, one of which was Sheila, as the sample for the study. When the chicks were three weeks old, the researchers took 30 birds, put them into a separate unit, and then vaccinated them with a single dose of KUKUSTAR®, which is administered through an eye-drop. Sheila and the other 19 birds were left in the same unit and did not receive the vaccination.

Fourteen weeks after the experiment first began, and 11 weeks since the 30 birds had received the KUKUSTAR® vaccine, 15 of the vaccinated chickens were then transferred back into the same unit with Sheila and her other 19 colleagues that did not receive the vaccine. During that time, all 35 reunited birds (the 15 vaccinated plus the 20 unvaccinated), were enjoying each others company until were all injected with a vicious strain of Newcastle Disease virus isolated from the field. Unknowingly to Sheila, this would mark the beginning of a battle for her life. 

Fourteen days after the 35 birds were infected, the 15 vaccinated birds were symptom-free,just like their other 15 vaccinated counterparts that had been kept as controls in a separate unit. As they continued to enjoy their new environment and company they rapidly saw the population in the NCD-infected unit decrease as all 20 unvaccinated birds, including Sheila, fell sick and 19 of them died during the two-week span. The sole survivor was Sheila who by pure luck survived due to her natural immunity, so she was able to recover. Had she been younger, she would not have survived. However, Sheila's immunity will not last a lifetime and her chance of surviving another NCD infection down the line is even smaller.

With all this in mind, Brentec Vaccines will soon be making the KUKUSTAR® vaccine available on the market and will give chickens like Sheila a fighting chance as we approach a season where NCD is most prevalent. The vaccine, which was previously too expensive or unavailable to many poultry farmers, will give the farmers the tool they need to fight a disease that wipes out millions of their birds every year.

Where the chickens roost at night...#savethechickens

 Photo from tripadvisor.co.uk

Every day the sun sets over the equator and every day chickens in Uganda seek refuge for the night hoping to survive countless predators, including thieves. For a successful farmer, the possibilities are endless, most often locking their chickens away in huts or chicken coops for the night to ensure their poultry’s safety. However, for the few that can afford very little, a different way of providing safety for their chickens emerged decades ago. This innovative method involved training their chickens to climb up nearby trees so that they can roost in safety.

Now if you know anything about chickens, they do not really fly. They leap or jump off the ground for short periods of time with the use of their wings so casually flying up into trees is not an option for them; they must climb. Through what could be classified as Ivan Pavlov’s  “Classical Conditioning” form of learning, the farmers conditioned their chickens to roost in the nearby trees when night fell. This behavior is instinctive in chickens, so training them to roost in trees every evening is a natural and unforced behavioral change, hence why it became a common practice.

The chickens in rural Uganda are the true definition of free-range, spending their days roaming farmlands and their nights sleeping freely in trees. Like the ladders in chicken coops, the chickens hop up the trees to a safe height where they can comfortably rest their eyes and know that the probability of them opening their eyelids the following morning is relatively high. Please note however, that this was not always the safest choice for chickens because back in the day when there were fewer settlements and more wildlife, attempts to find safety in trees were futile. This was because the most common predator in the area was none other than the tree-lurking leopard.

The new fight for these chickens these days however, is not only finding safety from obvious predators during the night, but the silent predators that come in the form of diseases and parasites. One of these killers is Newcastle Disease (NCD), a contagious bird disease that wipes out thousands of chickens every year. These chickens do not have a fighting chance without a vaccine against NCD. However, with the new KUKUSTAR I-2 Thermostable NCD vaccine, Brentec Vaccines is giving farmers the chance to protect their poultry from a much bigger threat.

Time is of the Essence…#savethechickens

Photo by Kristian Rangel Vallari

As millions of unsuspecting chickens leave their innocent footprints on Ugandan soil, they are unaware that what lies ahead of them is yet another seasonal battle. Their enemy once again is the deadly Newcastle Disease (NCD), a disease that will wipe them out in masses if they are not vaccinated against it. The dry season is approaching and so begins the mass movement of these birds, which is the driving force behind the spread and infection of NCD amongst poultry in rural Uganda. As they travel from household to household and farm to farm, they rub shoulders against their fellow fowls, increasing their risk of infection drastically and leaving them vulnerable to the deadly disease that has been waiting patiently to make yet another dent in the chicken and poultry population in the area.

The beginning of the dry season is marked by holidays where the chickens punch in frequent traveler miles as gifts, merchandise and rare treats at holiday feasts. It is also the time when farmers lay down their tools and focus on the business aspect of their farms and households because most farming comes to a halt with the absence of rain. The mass transit of the birds from place to place allows the disease to travel to new destinations through infected birds and with humans, who carry the disease most often through contact with infected offal. The proximity of the birds in the various modes of transport during transit and also at their new destinations is when the birds are most susceptible to infection. This makes it the most opportune time for Newcastle Disease to strike and become an epidemic.

The pressure is now on Brentec Vaccines as we race against the clock. With the upcoming launch of the KUKUSTAR I-2 Thermostable NCD Vaccine, which was designed to make the vaccine easier to transport to even the most remote areas in Uganda, it is imperative that we get the ball rolling and reach out to these rural farmers. We must achieve this before the movement of the chickens becomes almost identical to holiday travelers through Heathrow Airport, making it impossible to control the spread of the disease. If farmers can act quickly and we are able to give them access to the vaccine, we could save thousands of chickens from the death grip of Newcastle Disease.

You can follow Brentec Vaccines on Facebook (Brentec Vaccines) and Twitter (@BrentecVaccines). Together we can #savethechickens.