FOWL POX DISEASE, PREVENTION, DETECTION AND TREATMENT IN POULTRY BIRDS

One of the diseases that is a highly infectious poultry disease affecting the skin of chickens and turkeys. Chickens and other fowl are affected with pox but not the same type of virus. The disease is transmitted by direct contact with affected birds, infected quarters, shipping crates, and other inanimate objects.

Fowl pox may also be spread by mosquitoes. The rapidity of its spread and virulence in a flock varies considerably with different flocks. In acute cases, the disease may spread through the flock in two or three weeks, while in the chronic form it may take several months. Fowl pox is much more common and serious with chickens than turkeys.

Fowl pox is a poultry disease caused by a virus. This viral disease affects the skin of chickens and turkeys, especially areas that have no feathers.

Signs of Fowl Pox

Small blister-like growths of a yellowish color appear on the comb, wattles or skin of the head. Later these sores become crusty and dry and are covered with dark brown scabs.
There is inactivity, sneezing and coughing.
The eyes are watery and, as the disease progresses, the eyelids may become stuck together or very much enlarged.
The sinuses become infected, causing the face to swell.
Diarrhea is frequently present.
Nasal discharge.
The bird has no inclination, or cannot see, to eat.
Death is frequently caused by a stoppage of the windpipe due to the inflammation and mucus which collects there. The lesions that are formed in the throat can develop to the extent of blocking the throat and it could eventually lead to death as a result of suffocation.
The disease may appear in three forms. Cankers may be present on the inside linings of the mouth without any pox sores on the head, or the sores may come on the head without the cankers on the inside, or both may be present. It starts developing in any break found in the skin of the host.

How to Prevent fowl pox disease

As soon as an outbreak of the disease is noticed all affected birds should be isolated and the remaining birds vaccinated. Preventive vaccination is advisable in regions where the disease commonly occurs. This may be accomplished by vaccinating all the young birds each year with fowl pox vaccine following an outbreak which has made the old birds immune.

If there has been no previous outbreak in the flock both young and old stock must be vaccinated the first year. The best time to vaccinate young birds is when they are 6 to 10 weeks of age. Unless all the young birds are vaccinated at the same time strict segregation of the vaccinated birds should be maintained until all the birds have been handled. Only strong healthy birds should be vaccinated.

Heavy mortality may result where birds are weakened by disease or infestations of parasites. Old birds vaccinated with fowl pox vaccine should be out of production; otherwise, the mortality may be high.

The mechanical carriers of fowl pox are mosquitoes. So it is advisable to reduce the mosquitoes around your farm or environment. Ordinary sanitation and management practices will not avert this disease, so vaccination is often the solution. It is recommended to vaccinate chickens and turkeys such as breeders, egg layers, and those that are highly susceptible to fowl pox. Live fowl pox vaccine is administered in the wing web of birds within age 6 and 10 weeks. If aggressive pecking is controlled among birds, skin damage which fowl pox causes is reduced.

How to Administer Fowl Pox Vaccine

Fowl Pox vaccine produces immunity for life, but, used on laying birds, is quite likely to throw them out of production and cause some deaths. Pigeon-pox vaccine causes a mild reaction which does not affect egg production but produces only a temporary immunity (about six months).

Fowl pox vaccine consists of powdered fowl pox scabs mixed with distilled water. The scabs are secured from cockerels that have been inoculated on the comb with fowl pox virus. The scabs which are formed over the inoculated area are removed, dried and ground. The scab material is added to the liquid just before vaccinating, for once mixed it loses its potency rapidly if not kept in a cool place. Direct exposure to the sun is particularly harmful. The dry powdered scabs will keep for months without deterioration if kept in a cool place.

Fowl pox vaccine is applied using two sewing machine needles are fastened ¼ of an inch apart in a small handle about 3 inches long. The vaccination is made by dipping the needles in the vaccine and then puncturing the wing web. This breaks the skin and introduces the vaccine. Care should be taken to find a place free of feathers. Also, the large blood vessel should be avoided.

How to treat fowl pox disease

Since this is a viral disease, there is no exact drug. However, you should remove the necrotic membrane from affected chickens’ mouth and larynx. Remove the brown scabs on the head and apply iodine solution on the area. You can stimulate appetite with wet feed (mash) and add antibiotics and multivitamins to their drinking water. As long as a diseased bird is eating and drinking, it will recover from the disease in about 2 to 3 weeks or more with low mortality rate. When a bird recovers successfully from fowl pox, it is immune to the disease permanently,  all.these above will help you to deal with Fowl Pox.

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PREVENT SOLDIER ANTS FROM YOUR POULTRY FARM

One on the poultry farm enemy is Army ants (commonly called Soldier Ants) they are little living organisms that can destroy your animals or raise great havoc. So they must be considered as a threat and extremely dangerous pests whenever they are sighted in your farm or around pens. They are commonly found around poultry farms.

Soldier Ants
From experience, soldier ants are capable of killing hundreds of chicks overnight. Since these small organisms are a threat to your animals, they must be kept away from your farm and animals. Adhere to the 5 tips below to keep soldier ants away from your poultry farms:

1.Farmers must remove everything that serves as an attractant to these ants from poultry pens. These include dead birds, sweeteners, foods, feeds etc. All dead birds or animals must be disposed of as soon as they are found. Additionally, feed and water remnants must not be disposed or poured on the floors around pens.

2. Limit the quantity of feed and water that falls on litters and ensure that feeds are not kept in the pens. The feed must be kept in a store with screens to prevent ants, rodents and other pests from infiltrating.

3. All feed ingredients such as amino acids, GNC, SBM and PKC must not be stored or kept in the rearing pens.Ensure the height of the foundation of your pen is far above the ground level and concrete cement must be used for construction and flooring. Cracks on walls and floors must be sealed off.

4. Ensure the height of the foundation of your pen is far above the ground level and concrete cement must be used for construction and flooring. Cracks on walls and floors must be sealed off.

5. If you discover areas or pens that are prone to infestation of soldier ants, ensure that you spray insecticides around the pens once in two weeks. Identify the colony of these ants and attack them right there using a very strong or powerful insecticide.

The measures listed above are very effective in preventing and/or controlling soldier ants in your farm. So if you have the problems of soldier ants invading your farm, make use of the above tips to keep them away from this farmer enemy.

9 WAYS TO STOP HIGH MORTALITY RATE IN POULTRY

One major cause of economic loss in poultry farms is the death of birds. The moment a poultry farm is recording a high mortality rate before the end of a production cycle, the owner shouldn’t expect an encouraging profit—if not a loss—after sales. Economic loss due to mortality can be avoided or reduced to the minimum. It is very possible. The following tips will reveal how it can be achieved:

1. Always wash drinkers and replace the leftover water.
Make sure you wash the drinkers or drinking trough of your birds every morning and replace the water with clean and cool one. Don’t use chlorinated water or water from a stream or river that you don’t know its source. Also, ensure that you rinse off the drinkers to avoid re-contaminating the fresh water with soaps or detergents. Note: Please don’t ever discard leftover water around the pens. If you do, you’re signaling to soldier ants to pay your birds a visit. So discard leftover feeds and water far away from the production pens

2. Serve water before feeds Birds are different from humans or other animals. You must always serve them water before you serve them feeds, especially if you’re on a deep-litter system. This is to avoid stampeding as the chickens struggle for feeds at the same point. ALSO READ: Reasons for Keeping or Raising Animals

3. Avoid serving moldy feeds It is dangerous and risky to serve moldy feeds to your birds. Don’t do it. It is just like giving them poison. Moldy feeds can make your birds to become sick or have disease(s).

4. Strictly follow medication and vaccination schedule strictly.
You need to get the right vaccination and medication schedule of the poultry species you’re raising. This helps in immunizing your birds against some poultry killer diseases like Newcastle Diseases (ND), Fowl Pox, Fowl Typhoid, Gumboro Disease, Avian encephalomyelitis (AE or Epidemic Tremor), Marek’s Disease, etc. Medication such as dewormer and antibiotics are very important to the health of your chickens and other poultry species.

5. Collect and raise healthy chicks Most of the health problems faced by birds are as a result of a poor genetic background or early life. Some chickens are the product of poor parents. Some egg hatcheries are not reputable as they raise poor parent stocks to produce fertile eggs, or they buy eggs from bad and problematic parent stock farms. There are some poultry farmers who never make any attempts to know the source of eggs of a particular hatchery they are buying chicks from, hence they collect and raise problematic chicks.

6. Prevent ammonia build up When the litter in the poultry pen is left for a very long time, it gives rooms for increased production of ammonium gas, which will definitely choke your chickens, turkey, quail, etc. to death. So always remove wet or caked litters from pens and replace with new litters as soon as possible to avoid birds’ mortality due to choking or other respiratory problems. ALSO READ: Feed Formula Sample for Chick Mash There are hatcheries who don’t administer all the necessary vaccines such as Marek’s Disease Vaccine, Infectious Bronchitis vaccine (IBV) before distributing chicks to customers, thus exposing the future of those chicks to danger. Note: Always purchase your chicks from a very reputable hatchery. It is very important that you ask the officer in charge if they have given the chicks the necessary vaccines with proofs.

7. Build a predator-proof poultry The pen houses of your chickens should not be accessible to predators like foxes, hyenas, wild cats, rats and mice, snakes, hawks, etc. Make sure you install strong iron mesh nets round the pens and apply predator repellents. If you allow these predators to penetrate into your flock, they will kill and/or eat the number of birds they are capable of doing justice to.

8. Maintain proper hygiene and sanitation This is a somewhat wide topic, but the most important thing is that you should maintain proper hygiene and sanitation in and around your poultry farm. You should also take biosecurity serious as this is one thing most livestock farmers don’t take seriously until diseases are introduced into their farm. Click to read more about Health management and biosecurity

9. Supply sufficient feed to your birds I haven’t read or heard it anywhere that underfed animals grow well and produce excellently. Underfed birds are closer to their graves because they will always have low body weights and poor immune responses, and such birds will die sooner. So ensure you give enough feed and avoid overfeeding, which could lead to another problem.

COMMON MANAGEMENT PROBLEM IN LAYERS PRODUCTION

There are many problems that are associated with management of layers, which are encountered by poultry farmers will be discussed below.

Most of these problems can be averted when  farmers have good information about them. One thing about these problems if not addressed early is that they could result in critical economic losses in poultry farm.

These problem are :

1. Broodiness
Hens have a natural tendency to incubate their eggs. This trait is not found in commercial layers because it was bred out. Nonetheless, some hens still become broody occasionally. Any broody bird is always unproductive and it inconveniences other birds by sitting in the laying nest. Broody hens should be separated from the flocked and kept on a bare floor till broodiness is lost. After, they can be taken back to the laying house to continue laying eggs.

2. Cannibalism
Cannibalism is a situation where chicken pecks and injures another chicken. It begins when a bird is injured and other birds start to peck the injured area or part. Most times, an injured bird bleeds to death. Cannibalism can be prevented through beaks trimming. If any injured bird is sighted, it must be removed from the flock before it results in serious injuries. Overcrowding, underfeeding, proteins or amino acid deficiencies, and boredom are major factors that lead to cannibalism.

3. Egg Eating
This vice may occur when a bird lays soft-shelled eggs. It happens when birds are deficient of certain nutrients such as calcium. As a result of this, the layers mash must be of a balanced ration. A hen is tempted to peck at an emerging egg if it sees an egg coming out from the cloaca of another hen. When the egg is pecked, it breaks, and the hen starts to eat it immediately. To avoid this incidence, farmers must construct proper laying nests. Each nest should accommodate one bird at a time. The nests should be partially covered to become dark if the nests are the communal type.

4. Infertility
Due to infertility and a poor state of health, some birds stop laying eggs. This kind of birds must be culled (removed from the flock). All things being equal, all your birds should start laying eggs in their 25th week. After the 25 weeks, a farmer should start looking for unproductive birds, and any found should be culled to prevent feed and labour loss.

TIPS ON HOW TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY ON YOUR LIVESTOCK FARM

As a livestock farmer, there are many things you need to put in place in order to achieve the highest productivity you desire for your agricbusiness. If you can implement these following tips, your livestock farm productivity would improve.and you will make more profit.

a, Makesure you employ the right and diligent farm workers, and always be concerned about their welfare.

b, Cull or remove any non-performing or under-performing animals from your flock and draw out an effective and workable plan to replace them with performing ones.

c, Observe all the biosecurity measures so as to prevent disease outbreaks which results in economic losses.

d, Make sure you curb any form of pilfering on your farm.

e,Take nutrition very seriously and make sure you give your animals adequate feeds for best production.
Don’t forget that water is essential to animals, so your animals should not be deprived of water.

f, Replace any damaged or expired production material with good ones.
Take up-to-date records of every activity and inventory on your farm. This is important and essential in asset evaluation and worth.

g, If you’re financially capable, upgrade your farm technology to the latest one such as introducing automatic drinking system, feeding system and make sure you have read and digested enough information about them.

h, Give appropriate vaccines and medicines to your animals and you must carry this out in the right way.
Seek for professional assistance in a situation that you believe you’re incapable of handling.

I, Avoid wastage on your farm and be resourceful to convert any animal waste into money. Such as selling poultry manure to food crop farmers, processing dead birds to feed fishes and/or use animal dungs to breed maggots and earthworms.

You will see the good result when you do all the above. However, you must also consider God as an important partner for a successful business. Start with Him and He will surely guide and manage the business with you. Your farm is your property and investment. Therefore, you should put efficient and effective measures in order to make more profit on your farm.

Have a good and profitable business year.

FEEDS FORMULA FOR TURKEY

As a poultry farmer, good feeds is the most important thing in raising poultry birds, If you want to formulate a good concentrate feed for your adult turkeys and turkey poults, u can use the following formulae:

Feed Formula for Turkey Poult ( Young turkey)

IngredientQuantity (kg)

Total1000

Maize570
Wheat Offal120 kg
Soya Bean Meal153 kg
Groundnut Cake120 kg
Bone Meal20 kg
Limestone10 kg
Chick Premix2.5 kg
Salt2.5 kg
Methionine1 kg
Lysine1 kg
Total 1000

Feed Formula for Growing and Adult Turkey

IngredientQuantity (kg)

Total100 kg

Maize45
Soya Meal7.5
Wheat Offal12
Limestone5
Bone Meal2.5
Palm Kernel Cake12
Groundnut Cake15
Premix0.25
Toxin Binder0.15
Salt0.3
Super Liv0.05
Methionine0.15
Lysine 0.1
Total 100

How to Formulate feeds for all your poultry Birds

When you have many birds, you spent alot on buying feeds and this reduce the amount of profit you made on your farm. You are are also lost profit just because of quality of feed you buy. In this article we will discussed and teaches you how you can made your own feeds for better production and profits.
  Except for a few feed manufacturers who keep to the standards in poultry feed formulations, many feed companies make very poor quality feeds, a situation which has resulted in huge losses. Poor quality feeds lead to slow growth in chickens, low egg production, diseases, and death. Formulating your poultry feeds on the farm is one of the best ways to maintain quality and cut the cost of production.

The common feed ingredients are whole maize, cotton seed cake, soya beans, sunflower or fish meal. In addition, farmers need to add several other feed additives (micronutrients, minerals and vitamins) to ensure that their chickens have a balanced feed that meets their daily nutrient requirements.

Livestock feed materials are available cheaply, especially after the harvesting season. Depending on the costs of the raw materials, farmers who make their feeds at home save between 30% to 50% for every 70kg bag of chicken feed, depending on the source of their raw materials.

Due to government regulation, major feed companies have reduced the standard quantity of feed 25kg per bag, but the price of feed still remains almost the same. This means that farmers who can make their own feed make great savings on feeds which take up to 80 percent of the production costs.

To formulate livestock feeds, farmers have to use the Pearson Square method. In this method, the digestible crude protein (DCP) is the basic nutritional requirement for any feed preparation for all animals and birds.

Assuming that a farmer wants to make feed for his/her chicken using this method, he/she has to know the crude protein content of each of the ingredients to be used for making the feed.

The following are the DCP values for each of the common ingredients used in feed making:

Whole maize—8.23%

Soya—45%

Fishmeal—55%

Maize bran—7%

Sunflower—35%

Each class of chicken has its nutritional requirement. For example, if we want to make feed for layers, the feed should have at least 18% crude protein.

To formulate feed for layers, then you would have to calculate the percentage of DCP in each of the ingredients you want to use to ensure that the total crude protein content is at least 18%.

Therefore, to make a 50kg bag of feed for layers, a livestock farmer would require the following quantity of ingredients:

24.3kg of whole maize = 24.3kg

8.6kg of soya = 8.6kg

5.7kg of fishmeal= 5.7kg

7.1kg of maize bran= 7.1kg

4.3kg of limestone (as a calcium source) = 4.3kg

To find out if all the above ingredients meet this standard of 18% crude protein, a farmer can do a simple calculation as follows:

Whole maize — 24.3kg x 8.23 ÷100 = 2.0%

Soya — 8.6kg x 45kg ÷ 100 = 3.87%

Fishmeal — 5.7kg x 55kg ÷ 100 = 3.14%

Maize Bran— 7.1kg x 7kg ÷ 100 = 0.5%

Lime — 4.3kg x 0 kg ÷ 100 = 0.00%

Total % of crude protein = 2.00 + 3.87 + 3.14 + 0.5 + 0 = 9.51%

To get the total crude protein percentage of all these ingredients in a 50kg bag of feed, the farmer should take this crude protein content of the combined ingredients, divide by 50kg and multiply by 100,
Thus; 9.51 ÷ 50 × 100 = 18%.

This shows that the crude protein content of the above feed formulation is 19%, which is quite adequate for layers.

To ensure the chicken to get all they need in terms of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids, you need these additives in their standard quantities.

Digestible Crude Protein requirement for:

Layers chick—18-20% CP

Growers—16% CP

Layers—18% CP

Broilers—22-24% CP

The feed should contain calcium for the formation of eggshells. Laying hens that do not get enough calcium will use the calcium stored in their own bone tissue to produce eggshells.
Layer feed should be introduced at 18 weeks.
Farmers who have more than 500 chickens, it is advisable to make 1 tonne of feed at once
Ensure that all the feed you make will last for one month and not longer. This ensures that the feed remains fresh and safe for chickens. Any feed that lasts more than one month may deteriorate in quality and can affect your chickens.
Daily feed requirements for each growth stage

Farmers should maintain the right feed quantities for chicken at each stage of growth as shown below:

An egg-laying chicken requires 130-140g of feed per day.
A chick requires a minimum 60g per day. If they finish their daily rations, give them fruit and vegetable cuttings to ensure they feed continuously.
Young chickens (or pullets) which are about to start laying eggs should be fed 60g for 2 and ½ months and then put on layer diet (140g per day). Supplement the feed with vegetables, edible plant leaves and fruit peelings in addition to their feed rations.
Broiler chicks require 67g per day. Broiler finishers require 67g of feed per day to the day of slaughter.
Chickens are very sensitive to aflatoxins- never use rotten ingredients while making feeds.
ALSO READ:  Water Consumption Rates/Levels for Layers & Broilers
Where to buy ingredients

Farmers who need raw materials for feed making including feed additives (pre-mixes and amino acids) can order them from a reputable feedmill nearest to them.

Important tips on feed preparation

When making feed rations yourself, it is important to do experimental trials, by isolating a number of chickens, feeding them and observing their performance. If the feed rations are right, the broilers will grow fast and layers will increase egg production (at least 1 egg after every 27 hours).
Buy quality fishmeal from reputable companies. If fishmeal is used, the farmers must be sure of its quality; most of the fishmeal in the markets is contaminated. Farmers are advised to go for soya meal if they cannot get good quality fishmeal.
Always mix the micronutrients first before mixing them with the rest of the feed.
For mixing, farmers are advised to use a drum mixer. Using a shovel to mix feed is not recommended because the ingredients will be unevenly distributed.
Formulating your own feeds is very important as a poultry farmer.