POULTRY DISEASES AND CONTROL
Classification of diseases in poultry is done according to:
1. The causes (Viral, Bacterial, Fungal, Parasitic,
Nutritional).
2. The organs affected (Renal, Genital,
Respiratory, Nervous, Digestive, and General).
A healthy bird will
Be
active
Feed normally
Have normal droppings
Make normal sounds and movements
Drink optimum water
Have clear open nostrils with no discharge
Have clear and shiny eyes without discharge, no swellings around the eyes and
eyelids
Carry wings close to the body
Have a clean vent area without sores
Have normal feathers without large missing patches
Breath with a closed mouth except in very hot conditions,
There may be one or a combination of the following signs of poor
health
The
birds appear dull with sleepy eyes
Drooping wings
Ruffled feathers
Loss of appetite
Diarrhea (white, yellow, green, red, colorless)
Strange sounds and actions
Loss of weight.
Coughing.
Swellings on the head and or feet.
Drop in egg production.
Abnormal shell quality.
Sudden deaths
Steps in Diagnosing Diseases
The veterinary officer should follow the four steps below in the
diagnosis of diseases:
i. History of the disease from the farmer:
a) Species, breed, age of birds
b) Management factors (ventilation, feeding, watering system,
feed, brooding, rearing procedure)
c) Performance: growth or laying curve
d) Previous treatment/vaccinations- type, dosage, route of
administration, duration.
e) Previous disease challenges- type, duration, date when
started, clinical signs, mortality, morbidity
ii. Clinical signs of the diseases:
a) Respiratory b) enteric c) nervous d) locomotor system
iii. Post-mortem examination report by a veterinarian/extension
worker highlighting lesions of certain
diseases (e.g. Gumboro, Coccidiosis etc.).
iv. Laboratory examination/investigation report of the specimen
from the antemortem and postmortem.
Samples of organs, blood, fecal, tissue swabs and smears are
taken for further examination in the
laboratories. The tests to conduct include viral, bacterial,
parasite isolation, and serological depending
on the sample request provided.
CONTROL
Biosecurity is a practice designed to prevent the spread of
diseases onto and within the farm. It is the most
cost-efficient means of disease control available and no disease
prevention program will work without it.
Minimum biosecurity procedure.
Biosecurity involves establishing mechanical barriers, for
example, suitable farm location, orientation of farm
structures, gate, fence and changing rooms. It also involves
disease control protocols, for example records of
people entering the farm, where they come from, one man one
house and disinfection of equipment and
vehicles. In addition, it involves boosting the immune system of
the poultry using vaccines and antigens.
Control of rodents, insects and wild birds is also part of
biosecurity.
Access to farms
All
doors and gates must always be closed and locked.
Where transit facilities are provided, visitors must pass through this facility
and change into
transit clothing.
Everyone entering the farm must shower and change into farm uniforms and
gumboots.
Shower facilities
There must always be additional towels, uniforms, slippers and gumboots
available at the farm
for visitors, maintenance crew, veterinarians etc.
Socks must be kept for outside visitors and managers.
No
private clothes or personal items can be allowed inside the transit and/or farm
area.
All
available showers must be fully functional with hot & cold water. Shower
roses, curtains,
soap and shampoo must be available and heaters where required
must always be functional.
Enough hooks must be provided for towels and uniforms.
Keep the shower facilities clean and tidy.
Regularly check & repair perimeter fencing.
Gates & doors must always be kept closed.
No unauthorized visitors should be allowed on the farms.
Farm uniforms & gumboots must not be taken outside the farm,
to other farms during transfers,
vaccinations, catching of birds etc.
Everyone must use foot dips before and after entering facilities where they are
provided.
No
farm towels or protective clothing may be taken to staff accommodation.
Shower and ablution facilities must always be kept in good
working order.
Vehicles
No
vehicles should be allowed inside the farm other than those essential for farm
duties and must be
disinfected before entering the farm.
Feed delivery drivers may not leave the truck cabin without showering and
changing into farm
clothes.
Keep tire dips clean and correctly dosed with disinfectant or use a
disinfection spray. It is
recommended that spray races should be used in conjunction with
the tire dips.
Farm staff must unload feed while the driver remains inside the truck.
Rats & wild birds
No
holes in walls & under the doors.
No
feed spillage around feed store or in and around poultry houses.
Water tanks must always be kept covered with an appropriate lid.
Silo covers and feed store doors must always be closed.
Keep service room doors closed.
Maintain rat poison in panel boards, cooling rooms and service rooms.
Wood shavings must be kept indoors.
Keep grass cut short for 20 meters around poultry houses.
Equipment
Avoid bringing equipment from other farms.
Clean and disinfect, fumigate where possible, all equipment brought onto the
farms.
Feeds & water
Keep silo covers and feed store doors closed.
Keep water tank covers closed.
Clean water tanks, cooling tanks & flush nipple lines on every other day.
Ensure water sanitation in all farms.
Repair and prevent any leakage from the tanks.
!
Farm staff must unload feed while the driver remains inside the truck.
Rats & wild birds
No
holes in walls & under the doors.
No
feed spillage around feed store or in and around poultry houses.
Water tanks must always be kept covered with an appropriate lid.
Silo covers and feed store doors must always be closed.
Keep service room doors closed.
Maintain rat poison in panel boards, cooling rooms and service rooms.
Wood shavings must be kept indoors.
Keep grass cut short for 20 meters around poultry houses.
Equipment
Avoid bringing equipment from other farms.
Clean and disinfect, fumigate where possible, all equipment
brought onto the farms.
Feeds & water
Keep silo covers and feed store doors closed.
Keep water tank covers closed.
Clean water tanks, cooling tanks & flush nipple lines on every other day.
Ensure water sanitation in all farms.
Repair and prevent any leakage from the tanks.
Important
Anything used outside the farm should not be used inside the farm without
proper disinfection.
Anything used inside the farm should preferably not be taken outside the farm.
Clean all foot dips and refresh them at least every 48 hours.
Keep tyre dips clean where applicable and replace water & disinfectant as
required.
Clean service rooms, farm accommodation & and bathrooms daily.
Dispose of dead birds daily preferably by incineration or use a pit.
Old
litter must be disposed of properly and immediately.
Although vaccination remains an important part of disease
control, without strict biosecurity, vaccination
cannot provide full protection but with strict biosecurity, a
farmer can prevent up to 90% of the diseases
on the farm
Cleaning
Steps under cleaning
Step 1: Clean out all the old organic matter
Sweep
the poultry house after dusting down the walls and roof.
Remove all the litter from the entrance to the poultry house.
Remove all litter as far away from the houses as possible.
If
the litter is used in the fields, make sure it is worked into the soil to avoid
recontamination of the
houses.
Step 2: Water line sanitation
After
dry cleaning the house, at the point of washing the house, add a dilution off
Hydrogen
Peroxide to the header-tanks,
Leave
this for 12 hours and then flush through the lines to clean tank, pipes and
drinkers. Ensure
that the drinkers are properly cleaned and disinfected.
Step 3: Wash with a detergent
Wash
the house with a detergent to ensure that all surfaces - are clean.
Ensure that the water drains away from and out of the poultry house and
entrance
Step 4: Disinfect
Spray down the house working from the roof down to the floor using a suitable
sprayer.
Apply disinfectant to the surfaces at low pressure.
Use
only registered disinfectants with proven ability to kill poultry pathogens.
116
. Disinfect
Spray down the house working from the roof down to the floor using a suitable
sprayer.
Apply disinfectant to the surfaces at low pressure.
Use
only registered disinfectants with proven ability to kill poultry pathogens.
Allow the house to dry and stand closed for as long as possible (two weeks or
more).
After one day lime the floor and short wall of the house with construction
lime.
After preparing the house to receive the next batch of day-old chicks, ensure
that everyone who
enters the building has showered onto the farm, and that they
are wearing the appropriate clean
protective clothing.
Ensure boot dips are placed at the entrance of the house.
Step 5: Pest control and management
Of
major importance is the control of rodents (rats and mice)
They cause damage to buildings, consume feed and defecate and urinate on the
feed bags.
They carry diseases such as Gumboro Disease and Salmonella into the poultry
house.
Rats consume 10% of their body weight in feed, therefore each rat could be
consuming between 20-
40 grams of feed per day, use baited traps outside and
non-baited traps in the poultry houses.
Wild birds, dogs and cats can also be involved in the passive transmission of
diseases.
Step 6: Control of people and equipment
The
movement of people into the poultry house should be restricted as far as
possible.
Ensure that those who enter your farms have not come from another poultry farm
and that they
have changed into clean protective clothing (preferably after a
shower!!). Have a log in and log out
system of control of human traffic.
Spray all vehicles and equipment with a disinfectant. Spray before they enter
your farm (feed trucks)
The susceptible host (chicks//chicken) must be protected at all
times against exposure to pathogen.
Vaccines are weakened live disease-causing
microorganisms which when introduced in the birds, make the
body produce antibodies against them.
Vaccines are divided into two groups:
a) Live agent vaccines
b) Killed agent vaccines/
There are different types of vaccines namely a) bacterial b)
mycoplasma and c) viral
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