Family Poultry Training Course/Trainers' Manual - Health & Disease Prevention

From Poultry Hub

Modern poultry production is constantly under threat from disease particularly if birds are under stress (crowded, high temperature, predators) and out - of - doors. Medication is expensive. In most commercial hatcheries, chicks are vaccinated at day old. Farmers who hatch their own chicks, or buy from a local hatchery will need to be very cautious, and may have to vaccinate the chicks themselves. This topic will not be covered here in detail as it is specialised. Advice should be sought from a poultry adviser. Newcastle disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) are discussed briefly in the Trainee’s Manual (section 7.1 and 7.2).

Cleanliness is top priority. This means leaving sufficient time between batches (2-4 weeks) of chicks to thoroughly clean out and disinfect the poultry house and allow time for measures to work. (Jaye’s Fluid is widely available and a good, cheap general purpose disinfectant for equipment and houses).

Birds kept on the floor are particularly prone to some diseases because they come in contact with their excreta. There are some elementary rules that should be followed:

• Never allow other poultry on your farm
• Never allow other poultry farmers near your chickens
• The farmer should keep special boots/shoes for working in the poultry house and keep them there
• Remove old litter, dirty bags, and contaminated rubbish and bury them or dump them far away in an eco - friendly manner
• Wash thoroughly with detergent feeders and waterers (always keep them clean –discard mouldy, damp feed, it may contain toxins that make your birds sick or die)
• Very sick birds should be removed, killed and buried or burnt
• All in - all out systems are preferred (same age). Do not mix birds of different ages
• A foot bath containing disinfectant or lime should be placed at the entrance to the poultry house and soles of boots dipped into it
• Observe your chickens at least three times a day especially when they are very young

Diseases

Nutritional deficiencies result in metabolic diseases and these have to be distinguished from diseases spread by different classes of organisms. Also poor nutrition not only reduces bird performance, but makes birds more susceptible to disease organisms.

There are several classes of diseases which relate to the organism that causes it:

Disease Type	Cause
Bacterial	fowl cholera, coryza, chronic respiratory disease, Mycoplasma pullorum
Viral	fowl pox, Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, egg drop syndrome, Marek’s disease
External Parasites	lice, mites, ticks, fleas
Intenral Parasites	tapeworms, round worms
Protozoa	coccidia, blackhead

Viral and bacterial diseases are difficult to diagnose. There is need for a specialist with laboratory backup to identify diseases. Once the birds have contracted a disease, it may be too late to treat it effectively although for some bacterial diseases antibiotics in the drinking water may be successful.

Respiratory diseases can be identified when the birds cough and wheeze. Only a few may die from infectious bronchitis if they are put on a mineral supplement (electrolyte replacer) to make up for mineral losses that occur in the watery excreta.

External parasites can be treated with chemical sprays, and for internal parasites the chemical is put in their drinking water. A dust (sand) bath helps to control some external parasites.

Blood in excreta may be a sign of coccidiosis - common in meat chickens. Mortality can be high in infected birds and any treatment is often too late. Birds on a slatted floor or in cages are less likely to become infected than those on solid floors. In commercial practice, a coccidiostat is usually added to broiler diets.

Chickens can be vaccinated using four methods (1) by placing a drop in the eye (2) put vaccine in the birds’ drinking water (3) spray the birds with the vaccine (3) inject with a needle usually into the wing.

[Unit IV. Trainer should focus on disease prevention and how to clean out, disinfect and rest a poultry house. Classification of organisms can be shown by way of diagrams].

Next section: Unit V Family Poultry Training Course: Trainers' Manual - Commercial Broiler Production