Symptoms and Prevention and Treatment Methods of Sulfonamide Poisoning in Chickens

Among sulfonamide drugs, especially those easily absorbed in the intestinal tract, such as sulfadiazine (SD), sulfadimidine (SM2), sulfamonomethoxine (SMM), sulfaquinoxaline (SQ) and sulfamethoxypyridazine (SMP), their therapeutic dose is close to the toxic dose. In the prevention and treatment of poultry parasitic protozoal diseases, sufficient dosage and continuous medication must be used to be effective, otherwise the protozoa are prone to developing drug resistance. Therefore, factors such as large dosage or long duration, and uneven mixing in the feed may all cause poisoning.

(1) Causes

① Repeated use of the same type of sulfonamide drug, resulting in repeated addition.

② Careless operation leading to excessive dosage, or uneven mixing, or excessively long medication time.

③ Failure to supply sufficient drinking water after using sulfonamide drugs.

(2) Disease characteristics

① Sick chickens show systemic hemorrhagic changes. Affected young chickens show depression, anorexia, increased thirst, diarrhea, and pale combs. Sometimes the head swells and turns blue-purple, which is caused by local hemorrhage. Clotting time is prolonged, blood examination shows reduced granular leukocytes, and hemolytic anemia. Some develop symptoms such as spasms and paralysis.

② In adult sick hens, egg production drops significantly, eggshells become thin and rough, brown eggshells fade, or soft-shelled eggs are laid. Some develop multiple neuritis. On necropsy of dead chickens, the kidneys, liver and spleen are all enlarged.

③ When the sulfonamide drug content in muscle, kidney or liver exceeds 20 mg/kg, it can be diagnosed as sulfonamide poisoning.

(3) Prevention and treatment measures

① Prevention should focus on prophylaxis. Choose sulfonamide drugs with low toxicity, control the dosage, route of administration and course of treatment well, and pay attention to increasing and ensuring the supply of sufficient drinking water.

② If poisoning occurs, medication should be stopped immediately, and 5% glucose water or 0.5%-1% sodium bicarbonate water should be given for drinking, and 0.5 mg of vitamin K should be added per kilogram of feed, or the vitamin content in the daily ration should be doubled; for severely poisoned chickens, 1-2 micrograms of vitamin B12 or 50-100 micrograms of folic acid may also be injected intramuscularly.

③ Adding an appropriate amount of vitamin C to the feed has a promoting effect on the recovery of sick chickens.