Here is a continuation of the common chicken ailments section. This selection is the diseases that are O-Z.
To Common Ailments A-C To Common Ailments D-N
Omphalitis
Incidence: common chicken ailment
System/organ affected: navel
Symptoms: dead embryos late in incubation; newly hatched chicks feel wet. In chicks: drooping head, huddling near heat, lack of uniformity in size, lack of interest in food or water, mushy or scabby navel.
Cause: bacteria
Transmission: contaminated droppings on hatching eggs. high incubation humidity, infectious material in incubator, feed or water contaminated with droppings.
Prevention: hatch only eggs that have no cracks, and are clean. Control incubator humidity, clean and disinfect incubator.
Treatment: non effective.
Incidence: common chicken ailment
System/organ affected: bones
Symptoms: thickened leg bones, puffy looking shanks, lameness.
Cause: retrovirus
Transmission: contact with infected birds; spread by infected breeders through hatching eggs or from infected chicks to non-infected chicks through droppings, blood-sucking parasites.
Prevention: buying and breeding resistant strands.
Treatment: none; cull
Incidence: very common chicken ailment worldwide
System/organ affected: digestive or entire body
Symptoms: in embryos: numerous dead in shell at hatch. In chicks: death at time of hatch or depression, weakness, poor growth, drooping wings, increased appetite, increased thirst, huddling around heat with feathers ruffled.
Cause: Bacteria (salmonella)
Transmission: contaminated soil or litter (can persist for up to seven months), etc.
Prevention: difficult, due to the bacteria's wide range of animal hosts.
Treatment: none effective, survivors may be carriers. This disease must be reported to the federal public health administration.
Incidence: common in chicks, less common in mature birds.
System/organ affected: vent
Symptoms: in chicks: droopiness, droppings sticking to vent. In laying hens: offensive odor from droppings sticking to vent feathers.
Cause: unknown
Transmission: does not spread from bird to bird
Prevention: keep chicks warm and do not hatch eggs from affected hens.
Treatment: carefully pick away the matter stuck to the vent. Cull chicks that don't recover.
Incidence: common chicken ailment in some areas worldwide, especially in confined flocks in cold weather.
System/organ affected: skin
Symptoms: raised clear or whitish wart-like bumps on comb and wattles that grow larger, turn yellowish, and later become reddish brown, grey, or black bleeding scabs appearing as singles or in clusters.
Cause: pox virus that affects a wide variety of birds and survives for many months on scabs and feathers of infected birds.
Transmission: through skin wounds, feathers and scabs from infected birds. Also spread by mites, mosquitoes, and wild birds.
Prevention: control mites and mosquitoes and vaccinate where pox is prevalent.
Treatment: none; isolate infected birds in uncrowded housing. Remove scabs around mouth and eyes where birds can eat.
Incidence: worldwide but less common than dry pox.
System/organ affected: upper respiratory
Symptoms: white and scabby bumps on face, eyes, throat and windpipe.
Cause: same virus as dry pox invading the upper respiratory tract
Transmission: same as for dry pox
Prevention: same as for dry pox
Treatment: If thick discharge interferes with breathing, clear the bird's airway with Q-tip coated with iodine. Other than that, treat much like dry pox.
Incidence: common chicken ailment worldwide and increasingly more common
System/organ affected: digestive
Symptoms: in young birds: depression, diarrhea, inflamed vent, loss of appetite, weight loss.
Cause: rotavirus common in poultry houses, but it doesn't always cause disease.
Transmission: contact with infected birds and their droppings and spreads on contaminated equipment.
Prevention: clean and disinfect housing periodically and do not start new chickens on used litter.
Treatment: none; cull.
Incidence: common in heavy, fast growing breeds
Symptoms: in young birds: swollen, flat hock joint, hopping on one leg, sometimes a leg twists and rotates to the side.
Cause: deficiency in manganese or one of five B vitamins.
Transmission: nutritional, does not spread from bird to bird.
Prevention: breed for genetic resistance, feed at least 95 percent commercial ration.
Treatment: manganese and vitamin B supplement won't reverse permanent damage, but will minimize future damage.
Incidence: common in free-range flocks in tropical and temperate climates, rare in North America.
Symptoms: droopiness, ruffled feathers, huddling, diarrhea with large amounts of white urates, uncoordinated, loss of interest in perching, lying with head on ground, convulsions, fever.
Cause: bacteria; it can infect many birds but does not survive very long in the environment.
Transmission: contact with moist droppings, blood, tissue or mucus from infected birds. Also can be spread by biting insects or ticks.
Prevention: control ticks and other blood-sucking insects. Do not house clean birds where an outbreak has occurred.
Treatment: none effective.
Incidence: common chicken ailment worldwide
System/organ affected: joints or entire body
Symptoms: fever, reluctance to move, ruffled feathers, depression, swollen joints, resting on hocks.
Cause: bacteria
Transmission: bacteria entering body through wounds
Prevention: prevent injuries by providing safe, uncrowded housing.
Treatment: staph bacteria are resistant to many antibiotics, but treatment may be sufficient if a suitable antibiotic is determined by laboratory testing.
Incidence: common chicken ailment worldwide, especially in broilers.
System/organ affected: heart and lungs
Symptoms: in apparently healthy broilers, usually males, they get extended neck, gasping or squawking, wing beating, leg pumping, flipping onto back, and then death within one minute of first symptoms. In hens: cloacal tissue goes through vent and quick death.
Cause: unknown; may be caused by high carbohydrate feeds and rapid weight gain.
Transmission: nutritional, does not go from bird to bird.
Prevention: low-intensity lighting and avoiding noise and other disruptions.
Treatment: none
Incidence: common chicken ailment
System/organ affected: upper digestive tract
Symptoms: in growing birds: depression, rough feathers, diarrhea, slow growth and weight loss
Cause: yeast like fungus commonly living in bowels of chickens that infect when normal flora are disrupted by coccidiosis or antibiotics, growth promoters, and other drugs.
Transmission: contaminated droppings in drinking water
Prevention: good nutrition and sanitation and avoiding long term treatment with antibiotics and other drugs.
Treatment: isolate infected birds and clean and disinfect feeders and waterers.
Incidence: common chicken ailment worldwide, especially in backyard flocks in temperate Northern climates.
System/organ affected: starts in intestinal tract and migrates to other internal organs.
Symptoms: mature birds: dull, ruffled feathers, gradual weight loss, shrunken breast muscles, prominent keel, persistent diarrhea, decrease in laying.
Cause: bacteria
Transmission: droppings of infected birds or picking at contaminated carcasses of dead birds, spread by shoes and equipment.
Prevention: design housing so birds can't pick in droppings, do not mix birds.
Treatment: non effective.
Incidence: common chicken ailment worldwide
System/organ affected: lower intestine and ceca
Symptoms: in young birds: sudden death with no symptoms, hunched up posture with head pulled in and eyes closed, diarrhea.
Cause: bacteria that affect game birds more often than chickens. It persists under various conditions and resists disinfectants.
Transmission: contagious; spreads in droppings of infected carrier birds picked from litter, feed, and water.
Prevention: remove and replace litter between flocks or raise birds on wire. Avoid overcrowding and manage internal and external parasites.
Treatment: strepomycin in drinking water at rate of 15 grams per gallon for ten days. All survivors may be carriers.
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