What are the comprehensive prevention and control measures for respiratory diseases in laying hens in winter

Laying hen farming

    Since the onset of winter, chickens on many poultry farms have shown respiratory symptoms such as coughing, head shaking and snoring, along with white or green droppings, and comprehensive treatment is needed to achieve good therapeutic results.

    Susceptible flocks: it mainly affects laying hens aged 150 to 240 days and chicks aged 20 to 40 days; although chickens of other ages are also susceptible, the symptoms are not very obvious, and clinically it mainly manifests as a drop in the laying rate of laying hens and mild respiratory symptoms.

    Clinical symptoms: in the early stage, the eggshell color becomes paler, soft-shelled eggs or sand-shelled eggs appear, and the laying rate shows no change; then one or several chickens cough and sneeze, and if treatment is not timely it will spread to the whole flock within 2 to 3 days, with the chickens showing symptoms such as poor appetite and listlessness, followed by a drop in the laying rate, in some cases by more than 50%, and white or green watery droppings.

    Necropsy findings: hemorrhage in the ceca and tonsils, occasional pinpoint hemorrhages in the duodenum and small intestine, no obvious changes in the proventriculus, black blood streaks or rupture of the ovarian follicles, and pinpoint hemorrhages in the fat of the coronary sulcus in some cases.

    Treatment: in view of the recent abnormal climate changes, first reduce fever and relieve the salpingitis and follicular rupture caused by fever, so as to protect the reproductive system to the greatest extent; use the traditional Chinese medicines Jingfang Baidu San and Qingwen Baidu San at 0.5 to 1 gram per bird mixed into the feed for treatment; if feed intake is reduced, the liquid can be given in drinking water and the residue mixed into the feed for treatment; combine with amoxicillin, astragalus polysaccharides and other treatments in drinking water to relieve symptoms and improve resistance; once the flock returns to normal feed intake, immediately add egg-boosting drugs and cod liver oil so that the laying rate recovers as soon as possible.