Poultry diseases are illnesses that affect the health of chickens and bother many poultry farmers, especially small-scale farmers.
Chickens, like other living creatures, are susceptible to various diseases. Since chickens are human livestock, it is the responsibility of the farmer to solve any problems that arise that involve the health of his livestock – chickens.
This article describes some of the poultry diseases that many poultry farmers face and some ways to reduce or protect themselves from these diseases.
1. Mdondo Disease :
This disease affects chickens of any age and when it enters a flock it can kill a large number of chickens, up to ninety percent. Older birds are less resistant than younger ones because of the body immunity that has been built up over a longer period of time.
This disease is caused by a virus called Paramyxo viridae and is spread through the air and contact.
Its symptoms:
• Coughing and difficulty breathing
• Mucus comes out of the mouth and nose
• Affected chickens experience dizziness.
• Green and yellow diarrhea
• Nausea, drowsiness and drooping wings
• After 2 days the chicken bends its neck
• Eye swelling
• Moving around
• Chickens lay weak eggs.
• 90% of chickens may die
Arrive:
This disease has no cure.
Protection:
• Vaccinate, vaccinate your chickens every three months and four times a year.
2. Bloody Diarrhea (Coccidiosis) :
This disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (Eimeria tenela, Eimeria maxima, and Eimeria acervulina)
These insects usually like to live in dirty environments, such as feces, rotten food, and moist environments.
Its symptoms:
• Chicken feces mixed with blood
• Sometimes chickens suck blood.
• Chickens become very weak.
• The chicken lowers its wings.
• Eventually deaths occur.
Arrive;
This disease is treated with medication.
(i) Sulfur kendi
Example: sulphonamides (ESB3) for 3-4 days
(ii) Amprolium
Prevention: Pay attention to hygiene regularly
Because this disease is associated with fluids and dirt containing the disease’s pathogens, it is good to ensure that the chicken coop is clean and dry at all times.
• Separate sick chickens from healthy ones.
• Use a preventative medicine to prevent chickens from contracting this disease.
The recommended drugs are those called coccidiostats.
• Separate the young chickens (chicks) from the older group.
3. Fowl typhoid :
It is caused by bacterial pathogens of the Salmonella genus.
The bacterial strain is called Salmonella gallinarum.
Its symptoms:
• White or green scallion
• Mortality rates reach 50%
• The color of the fillets turns yellow.
• Internal organs such as the liver, kidneys, and spleen swell.
• The liver glows in bright light.
Arrive
Use antibiotics such as furazolidone to treat this disease.
PROTECTION:
• Vaccinate your chickens regularly.
• Clean the barn and feed and water containers properly.
4. Bird Flu :
• Avian influenza is a very dangerous disease for chickens and other bird species.
• The disease can also be transmitted and cause death in humans.
• This disease is caused by a virus called Orthomyxo virus.
• This disease is spread through contact between birds and between birds and humans.
Its symptoms:
Symptoms of this disease begin to appear within 3-7 days after the chicken is infected.
Symptoms vary depending on the age of the bird.
Some of its symptoms are as follows:
• Chickens/birds have difficulty breathing (dyspnoea).
• Constipation.
• Tears.
• Coughing and sneezing.
• Watery diarrhea.
• The hairless areas of the head swell, and fluid-filled swellings appear on the head and neck.
• The top of the head changes to a pale blue color.
• Chickens lay eggs with soft shells.
Arrive:
This disease has no cure.
Prevention and control of the spread of this disease:
• Report to the nearest veterinarian if you see symptoms of this disease.
• Separate sick and healthy chicken coops.
• Lock your chickens so they don’t roam around.
• Stop buying chicken from an area suspected of having this disease.
• Stop transporting livestock/birds without a doctor’s approval.
• Prevent visitors from visiting your chicken coops.
• Stop transferring chicken manure to the field from the chicken coops of infected chickens.
• Clean the sheds and apply the medication under the supervision of a veterinary specialist and allow it to rest for 21 days before resuming rearing.
• Burn or bury manure from the chicken coop where the disease is present.
• Get advice from a veterinarian near you.
5. Gumboro (infectious Bursal Disease):
This disease is caused by a virus.
Its symptoms:
• Attacks chicks
• White pea
• Dirting of the anal area
• Inflammation
• High mortality rate
• Blood stains the area where you defecate.
Protection:
• Hygiene
• good nutrition
• vaccinate chicks at three weeks of age using a live vaccine
Chickenpox often attacks young and old chickens. The disease is caused by a virus.
How you get infected:
• This disease is transmitted through wounds in chickens.
• Mosquitoes and other biting insects can transmit the disease when they bite a sick chicken and then bite a healthy chicken.
Its symptoms:
• High fever.
• Loss of appetite.
• Weight loss.
• The appearance of rashes on various hairless areas.
• After 7 to 14 days, the rash bursts and leaves ulcers.
• Deaths can occur in young chickens.
• Discharge of mucus from the nose.
• Rashes often cause eye irritation.
Treatment:
This disease has no cure, as it is transmitted by a virus. However, it is recommended to give chickens antibiotics to prevent and treat opportunistic diseases that can attack chickens through wounds.
Protection:
• Chickenpox is prevented by an injectable vaccine.
• Chicks should be vaccinated at one day old and repeated after 2 to 3 months.
• Separate sick and healthy chickens.
• Avoid ponds near the house to avoid mosquito breeding grounds.
Important: To slow down the progression of this disease in chickens, rub the wounds or rashes with cotton soaked in iodine and then apply petroleum jelly or ghee. This does not cure the disease but helps the chickens to lubricate their skin and eyes so they can see food and water.
It is caused by a parasite called Mycobacterium avium.
Its symptoms:
• Slimming and Weight Loss
• Ulcers on the penis
• Weight loss/weight gain
• Diarrhea
Protection:
• Cleanliness, keep utensils, the shed and the environment clean.
8. Nutritional and Metabolic Disorders :
The symptoms of these diseases depend on the type of nutrients that are missing in the body.
For example:
• Bowed legs (rickets) are caused by a deficiency of Vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus.
• Bleeding ulcers are caused by vitamin K.
• Chickenpox and muscle cramps are caused by Vitamin E deficiency
• Soft or misshapen egg shells are caused by a deficiency of calcium and phosphorus.
• Weakness is caused in one way or another by a lack of food and minerals such as iron, phosphorus and calcium.
• Swollen eyes, anemia caused by vitamin A deficiency.
Protection:
• Giving chickens a complete diet
• Understand in depth the types of food for each age and type of chicken; chicks, layers and meat chickens. (Poultry age and classes i.e. chicks, layers and broilers)
• Conduct a nutrient analysis of the types of food you consume.
There are three types of worms: tapeworms, flatworms, and roundworms.
Its symptoms:
• Stuttering
• Be thin-skinned
• Weight loss
• Love
• Worms appear in the stool
Prevention and control:
CLEANLINESS:
• Clean the equipment, the shed, and the environment.
• Separate the chicks from the adults.
• Change the mulch to remove worm breeding grounds.
• Change the mulch every three months.
ARRIVE:
• Use medications recommended by experts, especially those that kill all types of worms (for example: piperazine citrate).
• Make sure you give your chickens worming medication every three months.
10. Ticks, Mites, Lice and Fleas
Soft ticks called Argus persicus, lice and biting fleas.
Its symptoms:
• Shaking yourself.
• Shouting.
• The amount of blood in the body decreases.
• The skin lining inside the eyelids turns pale.
• The epidermis of the body becomes thicker.
• Powdery mildew flakes off.
Prevention:
• Throw away or burn leftover unhatched eggs and the shells of hatched eggs.
• Clean the coop regularly and spray with pesticides; there are pesticides recommended by experts to spray in the chicken coop. Examples of such pesticides are sevin, akheri powder etc. (These pesticides are in powder form).
………………………………………………………………………..
