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Common poultry diseases and their control measures |
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Fowl Coccidiosis
This disease is
caused by a protozoan parasite of the intestine and can cause
very heavy losses in poultry particularly up to the age of 12
weeks.
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Symptoms:
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The chicks
lose weight and their appetites.
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Their
feathers become ruffled and soiled.
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Combs are
pale and they tend to huddle together in corners.
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Droppings are
watery and greenish or brown in colour often containing blood.
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Control Measures:
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Preventive:
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Use of
Bifuran in feed at all times.
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Keep the
litter dry and loose and keep chicks isolated in freshly
sterilised pens.
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Curative
measures:
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Use Bifuran
in the water according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
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Isolate sick
birds.
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When the
attack dies down disinfect litter and sterilize pens.
Ranikhet Disease
A highly
infectious and fatal viral disease, it attacks poultry of all
ages. Also known as New Castle disease.
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Symptoms:
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Inactivity,
droopiness and sleepiness.
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Pale combs
and wattles which later turn blue.
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Full and
distended crop.
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Gasping for
air, wheezing and coughing.
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Green
diarrhoea with foul odour.
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The head may
be twisted to the side, drawn back or down between the legs.
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Convulsions,
paralysis and incoordination.
(b)
Control measures:
Fowl Pox:
A viral disease
that can affect birds at any age resulting in high mortality
rates.
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Symptoms:
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Formation of
greyish spots or blisters on wattles which after several days
enlarge and develop into wartlike eruptions with scales.
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Removal of
scales results in rough, raw bleeding wounds.
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Formation of
hard crust in 10-14 days.
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Control Measures:
A bacterial
disease contaminated through feed, water and by contact through
carriers.
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Symptoms:
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Watery
discharge from eyes and nose and sometimes sticking of
eyelids.
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Noticeable
difficulty in breathing, shaking of head and wheezing.
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Odorous,
cheesy droppings.
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Soiled
feathers under the wings with fowl odour.
b
Control Measures:
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Observe
strict sanitary condition and make certain that an adequate
source of Vitamin A is provided in the diet
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Infected
birds should be culled and destroyed and the house, feeders
and waterers thoroughly disinfected.
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An injection
of antibiotics is also helpful.
Worm Infestation:
Internal
parasitic worms are common in poultry and will always be present
in small numbers. However, when present in excess they can
seriously affect the health and productivity of birds.
Control measures
External Parasites:
There are many
different external parasities harboured by poultry. The
commonest are mites, fleas, lice and ticks.
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Symptoms:
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Control Measures:
Tick, lice, and
flea powder should be rubbed into the feathers and skin of the
birds.
When each batch
of birds is cleared spray the entire house and surrounding
ground with malathion or any suitable pesticide.
A regular spray
of creosote will kill these pests and, at the same time,
preserve the structure of the house.
Fowl Cholera:
A bacterial
disease contaminated mostly through feed and water.
Acute Form:
Chronic Form:
Control Measures:
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Affected
birds should be segregated.
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2.Treated
with (0.2 per cent) Sod.Sulphamezathine in drinking water or
by injecting broad spectrum antibiotic, like `Terramycin’ (40
mg per kg by wt.)
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3.Control is
achieved by timely vaccination.
Marek's Disease
The disease is
caused by a virus which is spread from an infected chicken to a
non-infected one through the air, poultry dust, by contact,
sometimes faeces. Greatest susceptibility from 6-26 weeks of
age.
Symptoms:
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Paralysis of
legs and/or wings
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Laboured
breathing
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Whistling and
circling movements
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Unilateral
and bilateral blindness.
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On postmortem
examination whitish nodules in muscles of thigh, neck,
kidneys, testes and in ovaries are seen.
Control Measures:
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