Poultry Health and disease

management
Introduction
 Why learn disease management and
control?

 Diseases kill
 Interfere with normal growth
 Reduce productivity (eggs/ meat)

 Diseases lead to heavy losses to

farmers
Introduction

 What is disease?
 Disease is
 Unhealthy condition of body.
 Illness

 Sickness

 Abnormality

 Disordered
 Introduction
 What causes diseases?
 Microorganisms
 Parasites (Internal and external)
 Malnutrition
 Injuries
 Chemical ( eg Sodium chloride poisoning).
Characteristics of Healthy birds

 Alert and on guard

 Bright eyes and comb
 Walk, run, stand and scratch
 Continuously Eat and drink
 Normally Lay eggs
 Normally Smooth and neat feathers
 Soft compact droppings Breathe quietly
A healthy chicken
Characteristics of Unhealthy birds

 Unhealthy birds/sick birds

 Tired and lifeless
 Dull eyes and comb
 Sit or lie down
 Eat and drink less
 Lay less or stop laying eggs
 Ruffled and loose feathers
 Wet droppings with blood or worms, diarrhea
 Cough, sneeze and breathe noisily.
 Health and disease management

 Starts at the hatchery and continue to maturity

 Poultry Well fed and managed & effectively

vaccinated against known disease usually
remain healthy.
 In case of disease outbreak, Sick birds should
be isolated and dead birds removed burnt or
buried
 Apply strict sanitary measures in all houses.
 Notify veterinarian as soon as possible.
Unhealthy bird
Rules for disease prevention

 Give access to the right feed and clean

water, in particular for small chicks;
 Build shelters against wind and rain
 Clean houses regularly and apply lime
wash/disinfect the floor and walls
 Provide dry litter regularly where
applicable
 do not put too many birds together
Rules for disease prevention-
CONT’D
 Different species of poultry for example
hens, turkeys, pigeons, ducks and guinea
fowls should be kept separate
 Separate chicks from adult birds except
from the mother hen
 Vaccinate chicks against the most
important diseases and revaccinate if
necessary
 Isolate and treat sick birds – if medication
is not available then kill the sick birds
 Burn or burry killed birds.
Components of Health and disease
management

 Prevention of diseases/parasites
 Feeding
 Hygiene
 Space
 treatment
Feeding
 Supplementary feeding in particular for
small chicks, is one of the most important
means of preventing diseases.
 Store Feeds in a dry and clean place
always to avoid contamination and spread
diseases.
 Provide your poultry with clean water
daily to avoid the spread of waterborne
diseases, such as Fowl Cholera.
Hygiene

 Dry and clean housing is essential for

diseases not to spread or develop.
 Before the poultry litter is brought into
the house, houses and shelters should be
cleaned and disinfected with lime wash
or other disinfectants.
 As soon as the flock has been moved
out, remove manure, clean and disinfect
Loose equipment and houses.
 Cull all birds that are unthrifty and out of
production.
SPACE
 Too many birds kept together may
cannibalise/wound or even kill each other,
as the stronger ones peck the weaker.
 Do not keep local breeds in confinement
without free access to outdoor areas.
 Provide a space of 5 square meters per
adult bird in a run system.
 When space is limited, diseases are
passed more easily from one bird to
another.
Disease treatment
 Viral diseases cannot be cured, but may
be prevented or controlled if the animals
are vaccinated before the disease occurs
in the flock.
 Bacterial-Many bacterial diseases can be
treated with the use of antibiotics. It is
important to diagnose the disease in
order to choose the right antibiotic.
 Parasites can be treated with traditional
and conventional medicine
(anthelmintics).
Disease treatment- contd

 Fungal diseases might be treated

with antifungal
 Nutritional diseases or disorders can
be prevented by mixing the correct
feed with minerals and vitamins, or
giving access to a diversity of
feedstuffs e.g. green grass, green
vegetables etc.
Important diseases
 Diseases in poultry are divided into three categories

 Importance of a disease is judged by mortality rates

and effect on production
 High importance
 high mortality (more than 30% of the flock),
 highly contagious and difficult treatment.
 Medium importance
 medium mortality (10-30%) of the flock and/or difficult
treatment.
 Less importance signifies not common,
 lower mortality and/or easy treatment
High important diseases
Disease with high mortality (more than 30% of the
flock), highly contagious and difficult treatment

 Newcastle Disease
 Avian Influenza (AI)
 Fowl pox
 Fowl cholera (pasteurellosis)
 Coccidiosis (internal parasites)
Medium important diseases
Disease with medium mortality (10-30%) of the flock
and/or difficult treatment.

 Pullorum disease (Baciillary white diarrhea)

 Fowl typhoid
 Gumboro (Infectious Bursal Disease, IBD)
 Infectious coryza
 Chronic respiratory disease (Mycoplasmosis)
 Roundworms and tapeworms (Internal
parasites
 Mycotoxicosis (fungal poisoning
 External Parasites
Less important diseases
Not common, with lower mortality
and/or easy to treatment.
 Marek’s disease

 E. coli infection

 Scaly legs

 Nutritional diseases
Newcastle Disease

Highly infectious viral disease

 Very common during dry seasons
 Affect all ages.
 High flock mortality rates( 30% - 80%).
 The chickens signs:
 Loss of appetite
 heavy breathing, greenish droppings, and
sometimes bloody diarrhea.
 May show nervous symptoms and paralysis and
sudden death and all symptoms may occur at the
same time.
 No treatment and control is by vaccination of all
birds from two weeks of age.
Signs of Newcastle disease
Avian Influenza (AI)
Viral disease, highly contagious Occurs naturally in ducks
and other waterfowl may spread to chickens.

 High flock mortality, blue and swollen comb and wattles.

 Transmission thro’ contaminated feed and drinking water
from ponds.
 No treatment. Best prevention is strict hygiene and
slaughter of sick birds.
 AI can presently NOT be prevented through vaccination of
birds.
 Burn of all birds in the flock and disinfect all chicken
houses a disease outbreak.
 Notify a veterinarian, if you suspect an AI outbreak.
 Virus can infect human being. Do not eat infected birds.
Fowl pox
 A viral disease, a trouble disease in hot
areas( spread by mosquitoes & lesions of
affected birds) esp. dry seasons .
 Affects all ages
 Mortality 3-5%
 Signs-loss of appetite & scale eruptions
on combs, wattles face and around the
eye.
 No treatment. Vaccine is available and
highly effective.
Signs of Fowl pox
Fowl Typhoid

 May occur in all ages of .

 mortality rate 5%-80%.
 Symptoms are loss of appetite, severe
greenish diarrhea and sudden death.
 Infection from hen to egg. Bird to bird
and mechanical via humans, rodents and
insects, feed and drinking water.
 No treatment & prevention/control is by
Vaccination.
Coccidiosis (internal parasites)

 Affects all ages,

 Signs loss of appetite ,bloody droppings , droop.

 Treatment anticoccidiastat- antibiotics in feed or
water.
 Prevented by regular and thorough cleaning of
troughs and poultry houses between batches.
 Overcrowding aids spread.
 Damp litter conducive to coccidia multiplication.
 Gumboro
(Infectious Bursal Disease, IBD)
 Viral disease
 Only seen in chicks younger than 6
weeks .
 Not common in small-scale village
based systems.
 Common symptom: Diarrhoea.
 No treatment. Control by
Vaccination
Signs of Gumboro
Infectious coryza

 Symptoms:
 Runny nose
 swellings under the eyes
 drop in egg production.
 Treatment by adding antibiotics in
drinking water.
Chronic respiratory disease
(Mycoplasmosis)

 Symptoms:
 Runny or blocked nose
 Swollen face
 Drop in egg production
 Rare deaths.
 Treatment by adding antibiotics in
drinking water.
IBD
Roundworms and tapeworms
(Internal parasites)
 Very common in all ages in rural based production
systems.
 Signs:
 Poor health

 Weight loss

 Drop in egg production

 Bloody diarrhoea

 Treatment is by anthelmintics in the drinking water

once or twice a year.

 Careful hygiene may prevent heavy infection.

Internal Parasites
Mycotoxicosis (fungal poisoning)

 Symptoms: Weakness, pale combs

 Prevention: Proper storage of feed

to prevent growth of the fungi.
External Parasites

 Attacks all ages any time, but occurs more

frequently in humid chicken houses with bad
hygiene.
 Signs- Adult birds are clearly disturbed and spend a
lot of time pecking and polishing feathers.weight
loss and possibly loss of feathers.
 Treatment:
 Spray or dust with pesticides, ashes and oil. Ashes
and sulphur powder may be used where the hens
do dust bathing.
 Nests may be protected by putting a few tobacco
leaves mixed with ashes in the nests.
External Parasites
Scaly legs
Marek’s disease

 Viral disease
 Seen only in birds older than 16
weeks.
 Signs; Initially the birds may show
paralysis of one or both wings/legs.
 No treatment, but commercial
vaccines are available.
E. coli infection

 Common among newly hatched chicks,

 Symptoms in older birds include
 respiratory distress
 stop of egg production.

 The best prevention is improved hygiene of eggs for

hatching and of the nests.

 Treatment of sick chicks by antibiotics.

Nutritional diseases
 Symptoms:
 Bone deformation and feather loss.
 The birds walk with difficulty; they limp. Legs are
deformed.
 Some deficiencies may cause feather loss

 Treatment, if detected in time: Supplementary

vitamins and calcium, fresh grass and cow dung.

 Control- Allow birds to access normal vegetation

 therefore rare in scavenging chickens.

Nutritional disorders
 Medication

 Involves use of drugs.

 Parasitic diseases, such as lice or worms
anti-parasitic drugs or by applying simple
methods such as bathing in oil.
 Bacterial diseases( antibiotics).

 For viral diseases - no treatment.

Vaccination
 All poultry should be vaccinated against
the most common viral disease(s) in the
area.
 Vaccination schemes at village level
should cover Newcastle Disease and Fowl
Pox.

 Other viral diseases such as Gumboro and

Marek’s disease may be covered by
vaccination, but they are often less
important at village level.
Vaccination- cont’d

 Poultry should be vaccinated when

they are young and before they have
began to lay

WARNING

NEVER VACCINATE
SICK BIRDS
Vaccination methods

 Eye drops
 Injections

 Skin piercing

 Orally (in feed or water)

Vaccination- cont’d

 For scavenging poultry

 Avoid mixing vaccines with drinking
water or feed, as it is difficult to give
the correct dose.
 Giving the right dose is essential for
the vaccine to work properly- consult a
veterinarian for further advice before
carrying out a vaccination.
 General precautions: VACCINATION
WITH LIVE VACCINES

 All vaccines should be stored in a

refrigerator and away from direct sunlight
before use.
 Vaccines should be transported in a cool
box
 Equipments used for vaccination should be
disinfected in boiling water

DO NOT USE CHEMICALS to disinfect

vaccination equipment

 Instruction on vaccine dilutions should be

followed as per accompanying
 General precautions: vaccination
with live vaccines
 It is best to vaccinate birds during the cool
hours of the day, either in the morning or
evening.

 Vaccines should be used within

60 minutes after dilution.

 Consult a veterinarian when in doubt

before vaccination
Vaccination tools

 Vaccines
 Distilled water
 Sterile needles and syringes
 Cool box
 Clean apron and gumboots
Vaccination Tools