Effects of vaccine strains of infectious bronchitis virus on egg quality in unvaccinated and vaccinated laying hens

Abstract

The effect of two vaccine strains of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV - VicS and A3 strains) on internal and external quality of eggs was studied in Isa Brown hens in full lay. Birds were either unvaccinated for IBV or had been vaccinated during rearing. The main effects of exposure to the vaccine viruses were that VicS resulted in paler coloured shells, mainly in the unvaccinated birds and the eggs from the hens challenged with VicS were more elongate than the other groups. These findings are consistent with our earlier findings with field strains of IBV and differ from those reported in the literature for different strains of IBV.