Identification of Symptoms of Common Chicken Diseases and Prevention Methods

Raising chickens is very common in rural areas, and nowadays large-scale farming is adopted in many places to save manpower and resources. However, with a large farming scale, there is more concern about the occurrence of diseases; once infected, it may affect the entire flock. Below let us take a look at what some common disease symptoms of chicken diseases are? How to prevent them?

I. What are some common disease symptoms of chicken diseases?

1. Infectious bursal disease

At present, this disease has become one of the major infectious diseases seriously endangering the chicken farming industry. This disease causes immunosuppression due to damage to the bursa of Fabricius, resulting in immune failure against Marek's disease, Newcastle disease, etc., and makes it more likely to be co-infected with colibacillosis, salmonellosis, coccidiosis, aspergillosis, Newcastle disease and chronic respiratory disease, causing increased mortality, and even the entire flock being culled, making treatment more difficult.

The peak incidence of this disease is from April to June, and it is characterized by a wide range of susceptible ages, a long course of disease, and the fact that vaccinated flocks can still develop the disease. At the beginning of the disease, the chickens are depressed, with fluffy feathers, drooping wings, trembling, reduced feed intake, and closed eyes dozing in a sleepy state; within 1-2 days it can spread to the whole flock; water intake increases, some peck at their own cloaca, and they pass white or watery thin droppings; severe cases become dehydrated, lie on the ground unable to stand, are extremely weak, and finally die. Chicks that survive become anemic and emaciated, and grow slowly.

2. Infectious bronchitis

Clinically, affected chickens mainly show difficulty breathing, sneezing, depression, closed eyes, and diarrhea. The comb and wattles are red and swollen, and coughing and respiratory rales are sometimes seen. Necropsy shows yellow-white mucus in the bronchi and bronchioles, with yellow-white caseous material in severe cases; the kidneys are swollen to varying degrees, with mottled kidneys and urate deposits; airsacculitis and peritonitis; congestion and hemorrhage in the ovarian follicles and oviduct. If effective drugs are not used urgently, pericardial and hepatic fibrous deposits will soon appear, with high mortality.

3. Colibacillosis

Colibacillosis has become one of the main bacterial diseases harming chicken flocks. In actual clinical practice, colibacillosis is often co-infected with mycoplasmosis, Newcastle disease, avian influenza, coccidiosis, infectious bronchitis and other diseases, leading to increased treatment difficulty and rising mortality. Clinically, the following symptoms are commonly seen: depression, reduced feed intake or refusal to eat, standing apart in a daze or crouching motionless, comb and wattles bluish-purple, the iris of the eye grayish-white, reduced vision or blindness, ruffled feathers, feathers around the cloaca stuck with feces, passing green or yellow-white thin droppings, crouching, unable to stand, unwilling to move or limping, swollen joints, enlarged liver, intestinal mucosal hemorrhage and ulcers, pericarditis, abdominal cavity accumulating ascites and yolk, and dry, shrunken, dehydrated claws.

II. How to prevent common chicken diseases?

1. Formulate a complete farming plan

During the farming process, the keepers should formulate a complete farming plan, regularly and periodically do a good job of disinfecting and cleaning the chicken coop, tools, and the surrounding environment, and carry out vaccination of the flock on time, so as to improve the resistance of the flock and reduce the incidence of disease.

2. Improve infrastructure construction

To ensure the healthy growth of the flock, we first need to provide a comfortable and healthy farming environment for them. Therefore, during the farming process, farmers should continuously improve infrastructure construction to ensure that the flock is always in a good growing environment. Specifically, we can do this from the following aspects: First, the keepers should maximize the hygiene of the chicken coop and carry out disinfection work regularly and periodically, thereby effectively reducing the possibility of human-borne disease transmission. Second, we should fully establish a reasonable immunization program according to the growth cycle of the flock to ensure the healthy growth of the flock. Third, we should strengthen inspection and observation work; once abnormal phenomena are found in the flock, such as listlessness, abnormal droppings, etc., the keepers should promptly consult a professional veterinarian for treatment. Fourth, after discovering sick chickens, we should isolate them as soon as possible, thereby avoiding the infection of healthy chickens.

3. Ensure the effectiveness of chicken medicine and the accuracy of medication

When purchasing chicken medicine, farmers must remember not to buy some low-priced, less effective medicines in order to reduce costs. At the same time, when using medicine, medication treatment must be carried out strictly according to the instructions; even if the sick chickens do not show obvious improvement after medication, we should not blindly increase the dosage, because the treatment of sick chickens requires a certain amount of time, and blindly increasing the dosage can easily lead to adverse reactions. Therefore, we should maximize the effectiveness of chicken medicine and the accuracy of medication to avoid unnecessary economic losses.