VACCINATION DATE

PREDICTION (VDP)
WITH BIOCHEK SOFTWARE
Prediction of the vaccination date is based the following:
• Maternal antibodies interfere with a live IBD vaccination.
• During the first few weeks of life of a chicken, the titer of maternal antibodies will
decline to a level low enough to allow for vaccination.
• Maternal antibody decline curves become approximately linear when you
plot Log2 MAB titers over time, making prediction on when to vaccinate
possible.

When one knows the titer a certain age and one knows the half-life of maternal
antibodies, one can predict when the titer will be at a level allowing for
vaccination date prediction. The half-life of maternal antibodies largely depends
on the growth rate of the type of chicken. Fast growing birds (i.e. Broilers) will
have lower MAB half-lifes than slower growing birds (i.e. Layers).

So, if you want to predict the date to vaccinate one needs to know the following:
• half-life maternal antibodies
• Target titer
• present titer of maternal antibodies

Half-lifes of Maternal Antibodies

Following are the values we’ve found for the different type of chickens:

TYPE BIRD BLEEDING AGE HALF-LIFE

BROILERS DAY 1 3.8 DAYS

DAY 3 - 7 3.0 DAYS

BR. BREEDERS DAY 1 4.5 DAYS (ESTIMATED, NOT DETERMINED) DAY 4

- 10 4.0 DAYS (ESTIMATED, NOT DETERMINED)

LAYERS DAY 1 5.5 DAYS

DAY 4- 10 5.0 DAYS

Target Titers

INTERMEDITE PLUS (HOT) VACCINES : OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE 400 - 500

INTERMEDIATE VACCINES: OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE 100 - 250

Vaccination Cover (% VC)

NO. VACCINE % VACCINATION COVER
APPLICATIONS (For prediction 1st application)

SINGLE 75%
MULTIPLE (2 applic.) 20 - 40%
MULTIPLE (3 applic.) 05 - 15%

Note: Gap time in Days between consecutive vaccinations should be approximately 1 to 2x half-life.
(Gap time Broilers 3-6 days, Broiler Breeders 4-8 days, Layers 6- 12 days)

2
There are several methods in the BioChek software with which one can predict the
date to vaccinate, for now, we recommend to use the DEVENTER method. This
method corrects for variation in titers. (For more information on this method please
see pages 7 & 8).

Please keep the following in mind when predicting the day to

vaccinate:

• VDP is as good as your sampling is.

• Make sure your samples are representative for the flock you want a prediction for.
• The quality of the chick selected for bleeding will affect the maternal antibody
titer level. Always take first quality chicks.
• The number of samples. When taking less than 18 samples there is a good
chance that a statistical error is made.
• VDP is a estimation to help you to optimize the timing of vaccine application, and
will never be 100 % failure proof.
• Can not compensate for bad hygiene, mistakes in vaccine application, low
dosage of vaccine, wrong choice of vaccine type etc, etc

How does it work when using BioChek software:

(All of this is done after you’ve tested and saved the data of the flock of which you
need the prediction)

First go to the CONFIG menu, select reports, select vaccination date prediction and
finally select “DEVENTER METHOD” and click on SAVE!!!!

1. GO TO MAIN SCREEN OF BIOCHEK WINDOWS SOFTWARE.

2. CLICK ON BUTTON

3. SELECT “ VACCINATION DATE PREDICTION”

, AND CLICK ON

4. FILL IN THE TIME PERIOD FOR THE FLOCK(S) YOU WANT A PREDICTION FROM.

(Not necessary when prediction is on samples tested today)

3
5. CHOOSE THE TYPE OF PREDICTION: (FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE 13. , PAGE 5 & 6 )

A. MAKES ONLY ONE PREDICTION PER FLOCK.

B. MAKES A PREDICTION FOR BOTH INTERMEDIATE (IM) AND INTERMEDIATE PLUS (HOT)
VACCINES IN ONE PRINTOUT.

C. MAKES A PREDICTION FOR BOTH INTERMEDIATE (IM) AND INTERMEDIATE PLUS (HOT)
VACCINES, AND FOR A GIVEN RANGE OF %VC IN ONE PRINTOUT.

ENTER THE VALUES FOR OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE, MAB HALF-LIFE, AND
% VC (FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE 13. , PAGE 5 & 6 )

6. FILL IN THE RELEVANT CODES FOR THE SPECIFIC FLOK(S)

(Not necessary when prediction is on samples tested today)

7. CLICK ON BUTTON
8. SELECTED FLOCK(S) WILL BE SHOWN AS FOLLOWS:

9. CLICK ON BUTTON
10. PRINTOUT WILL APPEAR ON SCREEN

11. CLICK ON ICON TO PRINT TO PRINTER.

12. CLICK ON TO RETURN TO PREVIOUS SCREEN.

4
13. EXAMPLES OF VDP REPORT TYPES: A)
, MAKES ONLY ONE SIMPLE PREDICTION PER FLOCK FOR THE VACCINATION
PARAMETERS AS GIVEN.
ENTER THE VALUES FOR OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE, MAB HALF-LIFE, AND % VC (75% IS
DEFAULT SETTING).

THE FOLLOWING REPORT WILL BE GENERATED:

B) , MAKES A PREDICTION FOR BOTH INTERMEDIATE (IM) AND

INTERMEDIATE PLUS (HOT) VACCINES IN ONE PRINTOUT.
ENTER THE VALUES FOR OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE FOR IM AND IM+ VACCINES, MAB
HALF-LIFE, AND % VC (75% IS DEFAULT SETTING).

EXAMPLE OF PRINTOUT:

5
C) , MAKES A PREDICTION FOR BOTH INTERMEDIATE (IM) AND
INTERMEDIATE PLUS (HOT) VACCINES, AND FOR A GIVEN RANGE OF %VC IN ONE PRINTOUT.
ENTER THE VALUES FOR OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE FOR IM AND IM+ VACCINES, MAB
HALF-LIFE, AND THE RANGE % VC (75- 30% IS DEFAULT SETTING).

EXAMPLE OF PRINTOUT:

6
Background on DEVENTER LOG2 METHOD

• SUITABLE FOR ALL TYPES OF BIRD : BROILERS, BREEDERS, LAYERS

• FLEXIBLE BLEEDING DATES FOR TESTING , 1-10 DAYS POST HATCH
• ALLOWS PREDICTION FOR FLOCKS WITH NON-UNIFORM TITER DISTRIBUTION
• ALLOWS PREDICTION AT VARIABLE LEVELS OF VACCINATION COVERAGE

DEFINITIONS:

MAB HALF-LIFE - THE NUMBER OF DAYS IT TAKES FOR THE MATERNAL

ANTIBODY TITER TO BE REDUCED BY 50%.

OPTIMAL TITER - THE MAXIMUM MATERNAL ANTIBODY TITER LEVEL AT TO

VACCINATE (OTV) WHICH THE VACCINE CAN BREAK THROUGH, WITHOUT
BEING NEUTRALIZED BY THE MATERNAL ANTIBODIES.

% VACCINATION COVER - PERCENT OF INDIVIDUALS IN THE FLOCK THAT HAVE

MAB TITERS SUSCEPTIBLE TO VACCINATION (AT OR BELOW THE
OTV). (DEFAULT SETTING = 75%)

DAYS TO VACCINATION - THE WAITING TIME IN DAYS TO VACCINATION. DATE OF

VACCINATION - THE DATE OF VACCINATION. (= BLEEDING DATE +

DAYS TO VACCINATE)

AGE OF VACCINATION - AGE OF THE BIRD IN DAYS AT VACCINATION.

(= AGE (DAYS) AT BLEEDING + DAYS TO
VACCINATION)

HOW TO DETERMINE DATE TO VACCINATE?

STEP1 DETERMINE MAB HALF-LIFE VALUE BY BLEEDING SEVERAL SIMILAR FLOCKS AT 2

BLEEDING DATES , FOR EXAMPLE 4 AND 10 DAYS.
USE THE FOLLOWING FORMULA TO CALCULATE THE MAB HALF-LIFE VALUE:

AGE (DAYS) AT - AGE (DAYS) AT

2ND BLEED 1ST BLEED

HALF-LIFE VALUE =
LOG2 TITER - LOG2 TITER
AT 1ST BLEED AT 2ND BLEED

13 DAYS - 4 DAYS 9

= = = 3 DAYS
13.4 - 10.4 3

7
STEP2 DETERMINE OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE BY CONSULTING WITH YOUR VACCINE
SUPPLIER.

FOR DEFAULT TITERS , YOU MAY UTILIZE THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES:

HOT VACCINES : OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE 500

INTERMEDIATE VACCINES: OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE 250

STEP 3 DETERMINE % VACCINATION COVER.

THE DEFAULT SETTING IS 75%, WHICH IS SUITABLE FOR MOST FLOCKS WITH A RELATIVE
UNIFORM TITER DISTRIBUTION (CV% < 50%).

ONE HAS THE POSSIBILITY TO AJUST % VACCINATION COVER, WHEN A FLOCK HAS A NON-
UNIFORM TITER DISTRIBUTION AND MULTIPLE VACCINE APPLICATIONS OVER TIME ARE
NEEDED TO COVER THE ENTIRE FLOCK.

AN EXAMPLE OF A VACCINATION COVER AJUSTMENT IS GIVEN BELOW: NO. VACCINE

% VACCINATION COVER
APPLICATIONS (For prediction 1st application)

SINGLE 75%
MULTIPLE (2 applic.) 30 - 40%
MULTIPLE (3 applic.) 10 - 15%

STEP4 BLEED FLOCK(S) AT 1 - 10 DAYS OF AGE AND TEST SAMPLE USING THE BIOCHEK SYSTEM.

YOUR BLEEDING AGE SHOULD BE THE SAME AS THE INITIAL BLEEDING AGE USED IN STEP 1,
FROM WHICH MAB HALF-LIFE WAS CALCULATED.

NOTE: FOR BROILERS IT IS ADVISED TO BLEED NOT LATER THEN 7 DAYS OF AGE.
NON-EMULSION CHICKS SHOULD BE PREFERABLY BLED AT DAY 1 - 4. EMULSION BROILERS
SHOULD BE PREFERABLY BLED AT DAY 4 - 7.

8
Deventer Method : How does it work?

DEVENTER FORMULA FOR PREDICTING THE OPTIMAL DAY TO VACCINATE (OTV)

STEP 1. RANK TITERS IN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE (from small to large):

TITER RANK
1828 1
2187 2
2452 3
2468 4
2693 5
3013 6
3089 7
3557 8
3703 9
3849 10
3927 11
4602 12
4657 13
4709 14
5061 15
5246 16
5361 17

2.DETERMINE MAB HALF-LIFE 3.5

3.DETERMINE OPTIMAL TITER TO VACCINATE (OTV) 500
4.DETERMINE %VACCINATION COVER (%VC) 75
(=% POPULATION SUSCEPTIBLE TO VACINATION
WITH TITERS AT OR BELOW OTV)
5. NO. SAMPLES 17
6.DETERMINE TITER RANK TO PREDICT FROM= NO. SAMPLES X %VC = 13
4657
7. DETERMINE TITER AT PREDICTION RANK

8.PREDICTED VACCINATION DAY =

= (LOG2 TITER - LOG2 OTV) X MAB HALF-LIFE = 11 DAYS