Monday, October 21, 2019

How To Prevent and Control Poultry Diseases

  Obyke Nonny       Monday, October 21, 2019
For the profitability of your poultry livestock farming business, prevention and controlling of poultry diseases are considered as the major important factor. This helps the livestock farmer to know the full cost of his production, monitor the profits of the poultry livestock farming business and how to foresee the future viability. In other to prevent and control poultry diseases, the following basic factors must be considered.

Major Poultry Diseases: There are two most dangerous poultry diseases that must not enter a poultry farm, they are the Newcastle and avian influenza diseases. Although these two dangerous poultry livestock diseases are not present in commercial poultry in Nigeria yet, farmers should have it at the back of their mind that their farming business is at very big risk once these two diseases enters their poultry farm.

How To Prevent and Control Poultry Diseases
Types of Poultry Birds Diseases

Newcastle disease has been controlled over the years by a compulsory vaccination program which has helped to fight and protect the poultry birds. Most poultry diseases can be controlled by vaccination while others are controlled best, by preventing and keeping them from the poultry farm.

How to Keep Diseases Out Of Poultry Farm
Poultry diseases are viable to enter a poultry farm through people, day old chicks, insects, pets, carrier birds, equipments and so on.

1.) Birds: A source in which diseases can be contracted by other birds in a poultry farm is through a strong and healthy bird carrying a disease organism. Once a disease carrier bird is unknowingly integrated in an uninfected farm, diseases will apparently spread. For example, a backyard chicken and other birds can be a disease carrier.

Read Also: How To keep Your Poultry Birds Strong And Healthy 

Prevention: Never try to keep backyard or other birds together with your poultry birds on commercial farms. What I mean by other birds, is like turkey or ducks never keep them on a poultry farm except if it is only a turkey or duck farm (never mix birds).

Endeavor that the visitors, workers and you have not come in contact with other birds prior in your farm. Always purchase your young hens from trusted suppliers and farms in case of any feedback.

2.) People: The second most common poultry disease carriers are human beings. There are various medium by which people can carry exotic diseases into the poultry farm, which includes via foot wears, clothing, hands etc.

Prevention: Endeavor not to entertain visitors and people into your poultry farm unless they have a purpose to carry out in the farm. In other to keep your poultry farm safe from all these diseases viable by people, endeavor that the farm precautions like washing of hands, wearing of farm overalls and shoes are consistently practiced and maintained.

Especially visitors coming from another poultry farm that day. Make sure that your poultry farm is well guarded with security fence and only one outlet (gate) with a warning sign ⚠. Never allow egg collectors and feed delivery people to enter your farm.

Read Also: How To Take Proper Care Of A Pig Farm 

For poultry farms that have their birds on the ground, they should not enter each housing system with only one boot, rather every housing system must have it's own boot. This will help eliminate the carriage of diseases from one shade to another.

3.) Day Old Chickens: Poultry diseases are also transmitted from an infected fertile hen's egg which then hatches into a day old chicken. Chronic respiratory disease known as CRD is an example of egg borne poultry disease.

Prevention: Endeavor to purchase Day old chickens free of CRD from reputable hatchery.

4.) Equipment: Another means of poultry disease transmission, is via farm equipments. Poultry crates and some other equipments shared between farms can transmit diseases to your own farm. For instance, it has been proven that northern fowl mite can be easily transmitted from one farm to another via egg crates.
Prevention: Never in no way try to share equipments with other farms and don't buy and use second handed equipments.

5.) Pets: Pets like cats, dogs etc can also be a disease carrier. This can be from their feet, assuming they do visit dead bird disposal areas. It will be a big risk to allow them to your poultry bird's house because they will disperse these infectous materials around your farm.

See: 10 Tips To Make Money From Poultry Farming Business In Nigeria

Prevention: Make sure to secure the housing systems of your poultry birds from cats and dogs. Endeavor to lock the doors of your livestock animals if not in use.

6.) Insects: Little insects like mosquitoes are capable of transmitting fowl pox, flies also transmit tapeworm and Newcastle diseases.

Prevention: The best way to prevent these diseases is by vaccinating all poultry birds against fowl pox and also endeavor to reduce the number of flies within your farm.

 How to Stop Poultry Diseases Spreading
Even with all these prevention tips I have listed above, it wont stop diseases from entering into your poultry farm. Here are some procedures to follow in other to stop the spreading, and reduce mortality rate in your farm.

Make sure that all birds are properly medicated and vaccinated. Inform and get the consent of veterinary doctor on the usage of right and correct vaccine for a particular disease outbreak.

Read Also: The Importance of Water To Livestock  Animals

In a poultry farm, make sure it consist only one age group of bird per house, so as to enable the ease of disease eradication once detected. Endeavor that incoming young hens are free from diseases and quarantine is properly done on your farm.

When all the batch of birds have been sold, make sure to clean your poultry farm thoroughly with viraclean and leave it for at least 2 weeks before new batch are brought in.

Egg collectors and other workers should be given or allocated to a specific age group to work with. Assuming this cannot be carried out in your farm, then try to change the general movement of the egg collectors and workers starting from the youngest birds to the oldest.

Properly dispose dead poultry birds. It is best that dead birds should be deeply buried or quickly burnt. Dead birds left around the poultry farm tends to increase the spread of disease to other birds. If a bird escapes the farm house for a long period of time before recapture, do not put them together with the main birds. Create and build a bird proof to prevent birds from escaping and also entering.

You May Like: Best Guide To Start A Wealth Generating Snail Farming Business 

Make sure the drinkers and feed troughs are properly disinfected with viraclean on a daily basis. You should know that drying of equipment under the sun and use of viraclean are very great for killing several organisms causing diseases.

Water provided to poultry birds must be free from any micro organism contamination. This is very important to ensure good health and performance of your birds. It is best to use Aquacure for water sanitation as this is a crucial aspect in the productivity of your farm.

Endeavor to always inspect your poultry farm everyday,  if it meets all the requirements so as to identify and solve any problems detected, immediately. This in turn, will definitely reduce the challenges of poultry diseases.

I believe that with all the detailed information I discussed on how to prevent and control poultry diseases, I was able to map out what you can do to prevent the spreading of the diseases in your poultry farm. Remember to give us feedback with the comment box or contact us page.

logoblog

Thanks for reading How To Prevent and Control Poultry Diseases

Previous
« Prev Post

No comments:

Post a Comment

DON'T MISUSE THE COMMENT BOX