Respiratory Diseases in Poultry: The Chicken Farmer

IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF RESPIRATORY DISEASES
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Cold like symptoms in birds such as wheezing, coughing, sneezing and difficult breathing  indicates a serious problem
In poultry, symptoms such as sneezing and wheezing are not caused a virus but by a bacterial infection like chicken respiratory disease( C.R.D).Environmental triggers such as poor living conditions,extreme temparetures or stress bring on this infections.
Its important to be on the look out for ill- health in your flock because catching the infection early can be key to a good recovery.

                  SIGNS INCLUDE
-sneezing,caughing,laboured breathing,discharge from the nostrils and eyes,swelling aroung the eyes and or beak,poor comb or wattle colour, dicreased appetite,reduced egg production.
If you think your chicken might have the same listen to its chest.Its quite likely that you will hear rattling, congested sound while they breath.
Note,if chicken are having a difficult in breathing(stretching their neck,caughing and panting)but not displaying other symptoms of a respiratory problem, they might be suffering from game worm.
Respiratory illnestare caused by an infection, not a virus.It requires medical treatment,when left untreated CRD will eventually cause the death of  healthy birds.

                   TREATMENT
1.Isolate the sick birds.Disease spreads fast.
2.care for sick birds.Good hydration,nutrition and warmth will all contributes to a chicken health.In savere cases it may be necessary to use a spoon or dropper to give the sick bird water until it has recovered enough to drink on its own.
3.Treat the infection
We recommend treatment with a broad spectrum of antibiotics available over the counter.consultation with vets is also important.
4.Reduce the risk of infection.
Good coop management is very essential in preventing the spread of disease.After any illness,thoroughly clean the coop to reduce the risk of infection.