Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Different Immunization Schedules of Avian Reovirus Vaccine

In order to study the antibody fluctuation of commercial avian reovirus（ARV）vaccine under different immunization schedules and its influence on the performance of chickens, we set up two immunization schedules: immunization schedule 1（live vaccine +2 doses of inactivated vaccine）and immunization schedule 2（live vaccine +3 doses of inactivated vaccine）. The optimal immunization program was screened by ELISA method to detect the positive rate and titer of antibody, and to evaluate the death rate, egg production rate and weight gain of chickens. The results showed that the rise and fall of the antibody in immunization schedule 1 and 2 were basically the same. The antibody reached the maximum at 21 weeks of age and then maintained at a relatively high level. The antibody titer of program 2 reached 1.91×10⁴ at 21 weeks of age, while the maximum value of program 1 was only 1.42×10⁴, and the antibody level was significantly lower than that of program 2 at the later stage. During the brooding and rearing period, the mortality rate of parental generation chickens under program 2 was 4.38%, which was lower than that under program 1（6.34%）, and the peak egg production rate was increased by 1.43% compared with that under program 1. The mean value of maternal antibody of commercial broilers in program 2 was 8.53×10³, which was significantly higher than that in program 1（6.76×10³）. Meanwhile, the mortality rate of commercial broilers in program 2 was 46.8%（0.49%/0.92%）lower than that in program 1, and the body weight of broilers in 1 week old was about 12 g（164 g/152 g）. The results showed that schedule 2 was superior to schedule 1 in both the level of antibodies induced and the performance of chickens. These results provide a reference for formulating the immunization schedule of reovirus vaccine for poultry farms in China.