If you suspect one of your chickens is ill, you should immediately remove it from the vicinity of the flock. This keeps any disease from spreading.
Visually inspect your chickens every day as you feed and water them. Check their eyes and nostrils for drainage and see that they don’t have any dirty feathers around their anus, signaling diarrhea. Watch for chickens reluctant to stand up and walk. Decreased food and water intake or a slow down in egg production can also be symptoms of sickness.
Preventing Sickness
In order to prevent sickness in poultry there are 4 major considerations to take.
Most hatcheries charge only a nominal fee (if any) to vaccinate your chicks before shipping, so have then vaccinated first. It can be costly to have a veterinarian do it for you.
Make sure the nesting areas, food and water containers, and cages are clean. Regular cleaning keeps illness at bay.
Bacterial infections are often controlled with chicken feeds that include low dose antibiotics.
A balance of vitamins, minerals, protein and carbohydrates is important, so keep a variety in your flock’s feed. When supplementing with vegetables, be sure to include peelings from citrus fruits for vitamin C.
These are not perfect remedies, but they will go a long way towards keeping your flock healthy.
Some Common Chicken Diseases
Bronchitis will be seen in symptoms such as difficulty breathing (gasping), discharge from eyes and ears, and an avoidance of food and water. Raise the ambient temperature for the chicken by five degrees Fahrenheit and give antibiotics.
Avian Flu will have symptoms such as respiratory distress, diarrhea, and a lack of interest in food along with decreased egg laying. Like flu in humans, this disease will permeate a flock quickly. Antibiotics, rest, and a hope for the best is about all you can do against Avian flu. If the immune system was strong before getting sick, then broad spectrum antibiotics might help. There is a vaccine available for hens, but it is limited to qualifying flocks.
Infectious Sinusitis is a chronic sinus infection. The symptoms will include sneezing, swollen nares with discharge from the nares and eyes. Antibiotics given through their food and water are very effective for treating this condition.
Bird Pox is called Chicken Pox in some areas, though it’s not the same as the human disease of that name. Chickens will have congestion and some flesh bumps that looks like raw warts. The most obvious will be on the legs. Once sick with the disease, there is no available treatment, but there is a vaccine.
Eye worms are a type of roundworm that are picked up from many worms and bugs. Swollen eyes and a white discharge from mouth and eyes are symptoms. The white discharge are the larvae of the worm. Broad spectrum wormers can prevent this. If the symptoms appear, clean and disinfect the coop and pens. If you don’t kill the larva, then the cycle will keep repeating itself.
This is just a short selection of the more common chicken diseases, but prevention is always easier than the cure. Give them nutritious food, clean water, and a clean pen and they will likely have no problems.
For much more info, please click on Chicken Disease.
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