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Vaccination
The demand for vaccination of backyard flock has increased with the popularity of keeping chickens.
Why should we vaccinate?
Vaccination is commonly used in commercial poultry and increasingly in backyard birds to control disease. Vaccines mimic natural infection, allowing the birds to build up immunity to the disease without any of the harmful effects. This way you can prevent your birds getting the disease.
Are there any problems with vaccination?
No vaccine can be 100% effective, if the birds are vaccinated but exposed to large levels of the wild disease then the immunity generated by the vaccine can be overcome. Also many diseases, such as Infectious Bronchitis (IB), will have several strains so it may mean the strain your bird has been vaccinated against may not be the same as the disease strains in your area.
Many of the vaccines come in large doses for commercial flocks and therefore there is a lot of wastage; however even with the waste it is still reasonably cheap to vac...
Read MoreFowl Pox
Whilst the disease itself is not necessarily life threatening it is a very painful condition and one that is hard to remove from a holding.
Cause
Fowl pox is caused by a pox virus and mostly affects chickens. There is also a pigeon pox virus and a turkey pox virus.
There are three possible ways in which the virus can be spread:
- Commonly, the virus is shed from Fowl pox wounds on affected birds and enters its next victim through skin wounds. (Normal healthy skin will act as an effective barrier to Fowl pox virus).
- Biting insects can carry the virus from one bird to another.
- Pox viruses that infect mammals can be spread through the air and it is thought that this may be a way for Fowl pox to be transmitted
Once in the skin, the virus reproduces to cause ‘pocks’. These start off as raised areas which then burst releasing a tiny amount of pus to leave scab-like crusted raised areas, which are often brownish colour. These wounds are mostly seen on featherless skin such as the legs, comb, e...
Read MoreTURKEYS
Sneezing Turkeys
Cause
The main causes of Respiratory Disease in turkeys are Mycoplasma and Avian RhinoTracheitis virus (ART). Often these agents occur together and without your vet carrying out a blood test there is no way of telling which one(s) are involved. Irrespective of the cause the treatment is the same.
It is important to note that Mycoplasma is carried by the bird for life and will remain dormant with little damage caused, however it can flare up during times of stress, such as moving to a new home. The infected birds will then go on to infect the new flock.
Mycoplasma can also be transferred through the egg from the hen to her poults. It can cause joint infections in turkeys leading to lameness. Mycoplasma and ART can infect chickens too.
What to look out for
- sneezing
- runny eyes
- runny nose
- lameness
Treatment
In mild cases the birds will recover. However, if the birds appear dull or the condition does not improve then seek veterinary advice.
As with all diseases, Respirato...
Read MoreDiarrhoea in backyard poultry
Alongside respiratory disease - diarrhoea is one of the most common conditions to affect your chickens. Normal chicken droppings should be firm and brown with a white part on the top which is made from urates (the chicken’s urine) as chickens urinate and defecate in one motion. Any yellow foamy droppings or bloody droppings are abnormal.
There are a number of possible causes for diarrhoea in poultry:
- Coccidiosis
- worms
- viruses (such as rotavirus and adenovirus)
- bacterial diarrhoea
- kidney damage
- a feed too high in protein
Coccidiosis tends to cause bloody diarrhoea in poultry under 10 weeks of age, severe cases can lead to death. If you suspect your birds have coccidiosis seek veterinary help immediately.
Worms rarely cause diarrhoea in chickens but if they are present in large numbers they can irritate the gut causing a secondary bacterial diarrhoea, worm your chickens regularly or test faeces for presence of worm eggs.
Viruses -there are a number of viruses which ...
Read MoreNewcastle Disease
Newcastle Disease was first found in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1926 (from whence it got its name).The disease is caused by a virus called Avian Paramyxovirus Type 1. This virus not only infects chickens but can affect all other types of poultry and wild birds. However waterfowl tend not to show signs of ill health, therfore they can be silent carriers of the disease.
The virus is spread through the droppings and droplets breathed out by affected birds. Over the next few days the newly infected bird will go on to develop signs of ill health.
What makes Newcastle Disease difficult to diagnose is the fact that there are three main types of the virus each of which affect different parts of the body and go on to show different clinical signs.
- The first type ‘pneumotrophic’ infects the respiratory system of affected birds causing sneezing (snicking), runny nose, runny eyes and a swollen face.
- The ‘neurotrophic’ strain infects the bird’s nervous system causing a twisted neck and par...
BEGINNERS GUIDECleaningRegular cleaning and disinfection of your chicken shed is important to keep down the levels of harmful parasites, bacteria and viruses which can cause disease in both your birds and your family. Ideally, your shed should be cleaned and disinfected on a monthly basis. The protocol for cleaning and disinfection is outlined below:Remove all of the bedding (either compost it or burn it (especially if you have a Red Mite problem)Next, wash the coop using a suitable detergent, such as Chicken Vet Poultry Shield. Many disinfectants are inactivated by dirt and grime so it is important to use a detergent to remove it, allowing your disinfectant to work properly.Remember to remove the perches and nest boxes and to wash all those areas where red mites may hideLet the shed dry before applying a disinfectant. Applying, to a wet surface only dilutes the disinfectant so it, does not have the required strength to kill bugs.Next, dilute an appropriate disinfectant to the correct ...Read More
When we find our birds with loose droppings the first disease that springs to mind is coccidiosis. But what exactly is coccidiosis and how does it affect our chickens?Coccidiosis is a parasite which damages the gut wall of chickens. There are a number of species of coccidiosis and their effects vary from harmless right through to life threatening.CausesThere are six species of Eimeria (coccidiosis) which are generally considered to be significant for chickens: E. tenella, E. brunetti, E. necatrix, E. maxima, E. mitis and E. acervulina. Each of these species prefers to live in and damage a specific region of the gut. For the purposes of treatment and prevention of coccidiosis it is unimportant to ascertain which species is causing disease in your birds and in many cases several species may be working together to cause disease. The life cycle of coccidiosis is important if we are to understand how to control this parasite. The life cycle starts with what is known as an unsporulated oocy...Read More
SOLVING FARMERS FEED CHALLENGES THROUGH:
ADVANCED FEEDS/CONCENTRATES FORMULATION & ANALYSIS SOFTWARE
Feed takes over 60% cost of animal production!!! – As a farmer, I know this is not news to you BUT what are you doing to address this major challenge confronting your success in this noble profession?
Are you conscious of the fact that most of your profits will go to commercial millers, if you solely depend on them to feed your flock?
Are you aware of numerous farmers who have back out of animal production enterprises due to feeds challenges? Many more are at the verge of quitting because no one seems to show them the way out.
Do you know you can prepare ALL types of animal feeds which will be balanced in all contents with maximum production output?
Here comes the good news: ADVANCED FEEDS/CONCENTRATES FORMULATION & ANALYSIS SOFTWARE is the SOLUTION to your feeds challenges. ADVANCED FEEDS/CONCENTRATES FORMULATION & ANALYSIS SOFTWARE is specially unique because:
- It is indigenous – unlike many...
The best fed and housed stock with the best genetic potential will not grow and produce efficiently if they become diseased or infested with parasites. Therefore good poultry health management is an important component of poultry production. Infectious disease causing agents will spread through a flock very quickly because of the high stocking densities of commercially housed poultry.
For poultry health management to be effective a primary aim must be to prevent the onset of disease or parasites, to recognise at an early stage the presence of disease or parasites, and to treat all flocks that are diseased or infested with parasites as soon as possible and before they develop into a serious condition or spread to other flocks. To be able to do this it is necessary to know how to recognise that the birds are diseased, the action required for preventing or minimising disease and how to monitor for signs that the prevention program is working.
Principles of health management
The key principle...
Read MoreVaccination plays an important part in the health management of the poultry flock. There are numerous diseases that are prevented by vaccinating the birds against them. A vaccine helps to prevent a particular disease by triggering or boosting the bird’s immune system to produce antibodies that in turn fight the invading causal organisms.
A natural invasion that actually causes the disease will have the same result as the bird will produce antibodies that fights the current invasion as well as to prevent future invasions by the same causal organisms. Unfortunately birds that become diseased usually become unthrifty, non-productive or even die. An infection caused by natural invasion will be uncontrolled and therefore has the possibility of causing severe damage, however vaccination provides a way of controlling the result with minimal harm to the birds.
Vaccines are generally fragile products, some of which are live but in a state of suspended animation. Others are dead. All have a finite...
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