On this episode of The Turkey Talk Show, we are joined by Dr. Evan VanBeusekom with Hybrid Turkey, Dr. Ben Wilemen with Select Genetics, and Tye Rinner, a turkey farmer out of Washington, Iowa. We discuss the work the hatchery's are doing with the new Avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV) vaccination and the next steps farmers should take as the vaccine becomes available to the commercial market.
On this episode of The Turkey Talk Show, we are joined by Dr. Evan VanBeusekom with Hybrid Turkey, Dr. Ben Wilemen with Select Genetics, and Tye Rinner, a turkey farmer out of Washington, Iowa. We discuss the work the hatchery's are doing with the new Avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV) vaccination and the next steps farmers should take as the vaccine becomes available to the commercial market.
Sheila and Gretta praise the work of the industry, with the new aMPV vaccine rolling out soon. The vaccine can't totally eliminate mortality because it doesn't eliminate the infection, but it will help control the virus. It is important to plan in advance and communicate with each other because every operation will have different plans.
Joining us today is Dr. Evan VanBeusekom of Hybrid Turkey, speaking about what is currently happening in the hatchery's and their work with the aMPV vaccine. Hybrid Turkey has been working on implementing and getting the aMPV vaccine on the market. We discussed the learning curve that will happen because everyone will have to learn methods of spray vaccines, rather than the most common application, which is through the water. In Hybrid Turkey's hatchery's, all poult's born after February 26th have been vaccinated with Vaxxinova's aMPV vaccine for Type A, and just in the last few weeks a Type B vaccine from Zoetis has been approved and is starting to be introduced to hatchery's. We know there will be a lot of questions about how much this vaccine will cost farmers, and currently with Hybrid until January 2026, any Tom or Straight Run customer will have no cost to get the vaccine because they are understand that a lot of farmers have had huge financial losses with aMPV. After that time, it is still unsure the exact cost, as every vaccine manufactures has different import cost.
We know that aMPV will never go away and it will become apart of the industry's daily routine to vaccinate against it, and there are questions as to if there will be enough supply to go around. We discuss the issues that could arise with supply, and what Hybrid Turkey is doing to resolve those. Right now the best thing farmers can do is prepare for when they are able to get their hands on the vaccination. Consider which Type of the vaccine you would like to request, and if you are willing to substitute it for the other strain if the one you prefer isn't readily available. There is more cross protection from Type A to Type B than from Type B to Type A, but consider what will happen if you get either. The vaccine types are interchangeable, it just depends on what is best for your farm, depending on the Type you want, your financial position, labor availability, etc. For some farms, it might be best to spend slightly less and get the Type B vaccine. With the Type B you would have to booster more often if you have the labor available. For other farms, willing to pay a little more for Type A vaccine, they wouldn't have to booster as often.
Sheila and Gretta also spoke with Ty Reiner, a turkey farmer in Washington, Iowa. He has had experience raising turkeys since 1996, and has had his own operation since 2019. Ben Wileman, a Veterinarian for Select Genetics, one of the top suppliers of poults in the country, joins us to also discuss what Select Genetics is also doing with the aMPV vaccine. Dr. Wileman discusses how farmers have the choice if they want the vaccine to be applied at the hatchery or if they want to administer themselves it upon the poult's arrival to their own farm. Dr. Wileman also reinforces what Dr. VanBeusekom said, and explained what you could be doing right now to prepare for the vaccine getting to commercial flocks. It is good to talk to your vet and make a plan for the Type you want and the procedures you will implement to administer the vaccine. Ty, asks the question of the actual administration process of the vaccine, and Dr. Wilemen stress the importance that when spraying, the goal is for the course droplet to come in contact with the mucosa layer in the eyes and nose, which stimulates the immune system, as there has been some confusion as to if they want the birds to directly inhale the vaccine.
Call to Actions