What Are the Common Diseases in Duck Raising? A Full Analysis of Prevention Methods

Ducks are a relatively easy type of poultry to raise; whether in ordinary farmers' households or on breeding farms, you can see them. Duck meat is delicious and lean, with relatively little fat, making it quite suitable for us to eat. In the specific process of raising ducks, even slight changes in temperature or environment may cause ducks to fall ill. So what are the common diseases in duck raising? How to prevent them?

I. What are the common diseases in duck raising?

1. E. coli

This disease is mostly caused by inadequate human management. Generally, duck eggs first carry this type of pathogen; second, the hygiene environment after hatching is substandard, and combined with the relatively concentrated management method for ducklings, duck colibacillosis is induced. Symptoms include diarrhea, and pressing the belly will gradually break through the feather covering and swell. The air sac area will be congested. At present, this disease is generally prevented by vaccinating in advance; a relatively effective vaccine is the inactivated oil-emulsion E. coli vaccine.

2. Viral hepatitis

This is a symptom with a very rapid onset; once it occurs, it can cause death in just half a day, so everyone must detect and treat it early. It generally occurs mostly in young ducks. In the early stage, it manifests as difficulty moving, occasional diarrhea, and the whole duck moves as if it were wood, unable to move; when squatting, it may tilt to one side. Fortunately, there are clear drugs for treatment; the more suitable one is duck viral hepatitis yolk antibody, and the effect is quite obvious.

3. Avian aspergillosis

This is a frequently occurring disease in poultry, and ducks are also extremely susceptible to infection. Its danger lies in easily causing ducks to suffocate to death. Symptoms include listlessness, squatting for long periods unwilling to move, swelling of the duck's neck and trachea, accompanied by difficulty breathing. The easiest thing to observe is that the feces appear green and watery. Affected ducks need to be fed enrofloxacin along with feed until the condition improves. Other ducks should be fed penicillin mixed into their food to avoid infection.

4. Duck plague

This is one of the diseases with a relatively high mortality rate in ducks, and it belongs to diseases prone to group infection. The symptoms are relatively obvious. In the early stage, the duck looks listless, with slack wings, wobbly walking, and a shaking, drooping head. In the middle and late stages, relatively severe pus appears on the duck's body. The eyes are congested, the head is swollen, and the tail is also accompanied by bleeding. Generally, after discovery, isolation treatment should be carried out first, and then the ducks should all be injected with duck virus antiserum, with the injection amount at more than three times the usual amount.

II. How to prevent common diseases in duck raising?

1. Start doing various vaccines from an early age, and mix some preventive medicine into water for feeding.

2. Site hygiene and disinfection, especially during the brooding period. Therefore, when building the site, hygiene must be especially considered. I personally suggest using plastic mesh supports, kept as high off the ground as possible, so that manure can be cleaned once a year, saving some labor.

3. Separate the weak, injured, and sick for isolation. If any disease is found, it must be immediately isolated separately to avoid the spread of disease, disinfect the site, and prevent according to the symptoms.