A Vaccine That Chicks Can Eat

Chicken producers may soon have an alternative way to vaccinate newborn chicks. USDA scientists have developed a gelatin-filled bead that hold low doses of the vaccine and can be fed to the chicks. Traditionally, farmers use a conveyor belt and electronic spray to vaccinate chicks from intestinal diseases like coccidiosis, which causes slow growth and weight gain and sometimes death. The spray method can often miss chicks, leaving them vulnerable. According to the study, chicks that swallowed the gelatin beads had a greater vaccine uptake than the group that was sprayed. Read more.