Diseases Overview The birds you have bought will probably have been vaccinated against some of the more common poultry diseases (but ask in any case) and as long as they are fed correctly, stress kept to a minimum and are wormed at least twice a year, they should be healthy. Never buy a hen which has a runny nose or noisy breathing. My Diseases Chart (click on link in lefthand menu) is a summary of common poultry diseases found in small flocks. It is essential to involve your veterinary surgeon if you have problems with your poultry and although some wormers and louse powder can be obtained through licensed outlets (such as agricultural merchants), most drugs and medicines are only obtainable through a vet. Wash hands after handling medicines and observe the withdrawal instructions on the labels of drugs, so do not eat eggs (7 day withdrawal time) or birds (28 day withdrawal time) during and after medicines have been given. If medicines are given in water, make no other water available. Most diseases are management related, for instance rats and mice carry some diseases as well as all those carried by wild birds, therefore many diseases can be prevented by good management. If you acquire birds which have not been vaccinated, should you vaccinate them? If there is a problem in your area of a specific disease, then it would be sensible to vaccinate them against that disease, but if you only have a few birds with no problems in the area, it will probably be all right not to vaccinate. The vaccines come in industrial sizes and so 95% of them would be wasted in order for your few birds to be protected. If there is a local disease problem, then it is money well spent. Unfortunately, vaccines can only be given to very young chickens to be effective, it is not possible to vaccinate adult chickens successfully, so there is a slight disease risk of mixing vaccinated and unvaccinated chickens. Signs of diseases and prevention A sick chicken will stand with its feathers ruffled and its eyes closed to conserve energy, by which time veterinary attention should be sought.
Veterinary attention is needed if the following signs occur:
A decision tree of when you should contact your vet about your chickens has been built by this author and will be available here soon. Prevention
Information on Suprelorin implant The Suprelorin implant has been developed and is licensed for controlling fertility in male dogs, a temporary and reversible “castration”. It does not seem to control crowing in cockerels, however! It is a vet-only product and has been used off-label (not licensed) in laying hens, particularly ex-batts, for the prevention of laying if they are suffering from egg peritonitis or prolapse. It is quite expensive and only lasts for about three months, so is a temporary solution, although allowing the regrowth of feathers without the stress of laying. The needle used for implanting this device which slowly releases anti-reproductive hormones is huge and needs to go in the breast muscle of the hen. The problem of what to do with an affected hen is merely being postponed by using these implants, but at least it is a kind of solution until the welfare of the hen becomes untenable. These implants can be repeated but there is nothing more suitable available, short of getting a different type of laying hen which is less likely to develop these problems. |