What are the causes and prevention and treatment methods of chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion?

In rural poultry farms, chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion are occurring more and more seriously. Chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion is an epidemic disease mainly characterized by poor growth, emaciation, poor uniformity, undigested feed in droppings and other external symptoms in poultry, bringing great economic losses to many farmers. So what are the causes of chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion? What are the prevention and treatment techniques?

I. What are the causes of chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion?

Infectious factors

1. Infectious anemia, adenovirus infection, reovirus infection, viral arthritis, which are transmitted vertically; the above viral infections can all cause onset at 3 days of age.

2. Proventricular-type infectious bronchitis and Marek's disease can cause chickens to become ill after 50 days of age. Fowl pox, especially the ocular form of fowl pox, is an important cause of proventriculitis.

3. Inflammation of unknown cause: such as infectious bronchitis, infectious laryngotracheitis, ocular inflammation caused by vitamin A deficiency or poor ventilation, all of which may lead to proventriculitis.

Non-infectious factors

1. Biogenic amines and mycotoxins are widely present in feed; this is a non-infectious cause, and chickens can recover quickly after the feed is replaced.

2. Helicobacter pylori infection can cause gastritis, gastric ulcers and gastric perforation, occurring mostly in adult chickens and in summer and autumn.

3. The disease often occurs concurrently with ulcerative enteritis or necrotic enteritis, which is related to infection with the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium.

II. How to prevent and treat chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion?

1. Prevention

(1) In some flocks, chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion can occur right after the first vaccination, so more attention should be paid to this. In winter, the temperature inside the chicken house should be raised, which can prevent the occurrence of this disease.

(2) The occurrence of chicken proventriculitis and gizzard erosion is closely related to moldy feed, such as feed ingredients piled up for too long, and mold in fish meal, corn, soybean meal, vitamins, premixes, etc. Farms where this disease frequently occurs must pay attention to the storage of feed ingredients and must not use moldy or spoiled feed. Inspections should be carried out in advance to prevent the flock from contracting this chicken disease.

2. Treatment

Weibizhi 300 jin of water per bag + acidified amoxicillin 400 jin of water per bag, given as a concentrated drinking solution, for 3—4 consecutive days.

III. Key points of rural winter chicken farming techniques

1. Cold protection and warmth

Winter weather is cold and changeable, bringing much inconvenience to chicken production; in particular, low temperatures have a very obvious effect on laying hens.

Under normal circumstances, measures such as appropriately increasing stocking density, closing doors and windows, hanging straw curtains, drinking warm water and heating with stoves can be used for cold protection and warmth, keeping the chicken house temperature at a minimum of 3-5°C.

2. Moderate ventilation

In winter, because temperatures are relatively low, the doors and windows of the chicken house are closed tightly and ventilation volume is reduced, but harmful gases such as ammonia, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide produced by the waste gas exhaled by chickens and the fermentation of chicken manure still remain, easily inducing respiratory and other diseases in chickens. Generally, small-scale ventilation can be used. For disinfection of the chicken house, peracetic acid is suitable, to neutralize ammonia in the house. Therefore, the relationship between ventilation and warmth must be properly handled, and manure and debris in the chicken house should be removed promptly. When the weather is good at noon, windows should be opened for ventilation, so that the air in the house is fresh and oxygen is sufficient.

3. Reduce dampness

Controlling moisture in the chicken house during cold weather can sometimes be a great challenge. Especially for broilers, the chickens continuously add moisture to the house, and the moisture of the litter can only be controlled by exchanging the warm, humid air inside the house with the cold, dry outside air. If the air exchange rate is too low, after a period of time moisture will accumulate on the litter and the ammonia produced will increase, and footpad and leg problems will also increase. If the air exchange rate is too high, the chicken house will become very dry, and the heating costs we are concerned about will also increase greatly. In winter, the ventilation volume in the chicken house is small and the amount of water evaporation is reduced; in addition, the hot air inside the house contacting the cold roof and walls condenses into large numbers of water droplets, causing excessive dampness in the chicken house and creating conditions for the massive reproduction of bacteria and parasites. Therefore, management must be strengthened, attention must be paid to keeping the chicken house clean and dry, damaged water troughs must be repaired promptly, water must never be added too much or too full, and splashing water on the floor of the house is strictly prohibited.

4. Regular disinfection

Disinfection work should run through the entire process of chicken farming. In winter, temperatures are relatively low, and the activity frequency of bacteria declines.

But the winter climate is cold, and the resistance of chickens is generally weakened. If disinfection is neglected, it can very easily lead to outbreaks and epidemics of disease. Especially for diseases such as avian influenza, Newcastle disease and infectious bronchitis, iodine preparations should be used at this time for spray disinfection of the chicken house every week, but when spraying, do not aim directly at the chickens' bodies, so as to avoid chilling them.

5. Supplement lighting

In winter the nights are long and the days are short, and laying hens may show a decline in egg production due to insufficient light. To overcome this natural deficiency, artificial supplemental lighting can be used to make up for it. Under normal circumstances, the total daily lighting time should not be less than 14h, nor should it exceed 17h. For example, if the natural daylight is 12h, then 2-5h of artificial supplemental lighting is needed each day.

6. Increase energy

Chickens obtain heat energy by eating feed to maintain body temperature; the lower the outside temperature, the more heat energy the chickens consume for cold protection. According to measurements, the feed consumption of chickens in winter increases by 10% compared with other seasons. Therefore, in winter the chicken feed must ensure sufficient energy; in addition to ensuring a certain proportion of protein, high-energy feed containing more starch and sugars should be appropriately increased to meet the physiological and production needs of the chickens.

7. Enhance physical condition

In winter the resistance of chickens declines, so special attention should be paid to epidemic prevention and disease prevention work, and regular preventive vaccination should be carried out.