IMPORTANT FACTORS IN POULTRY DISEASES PREVENTION AND CONTROL

Certain points are fundamental to a program of sanitation and bio-security in a poultry farm. It can hardly be over-emphasized that poor management practices are major sources of poultry health problems. Biosecurity involves tackling every aspect of disease production in a flock. It includes sanitation, isolation, disinfections, cleaning up , disposal of dead birds and finally prevention from predators and visitors. These are basically routine operations or practices, which should be carried out in every farm to protect a flock from disease invasion. Added to vaccination and medication the poultry farmer must ensure that birds are reared in a healthy environment. It is economically wiser to keep healthy birds than to treat them. Important factors that must be considered to achieve maximum economic production include,

• BUILDING LOCATION: The poultry building location must be appropriate with respect to other poultry production areas, road facilities and direction of farm.
• CONSTRUCTION: Construction should be good and economical, according to environmental conditions of particular area. It should be without cracks and crevices, leakages in the roof, wall, damp floor etc.
• DISINFECTION: Disinfection of poultry house is an important key to having healthy flocks. After every flock clean and disinfect the house with strong disinfectant. INSULATION and VENTILATION: Proper insulation results in efficient and economical poultry production. Proper ventilation is necessary for control of various respiratory diseases, suffocation, NH 3, and CO 2 poisoning.
• TEMPERATURE: Too high or low temperature should be avoided.
• WATER + FEED CONTROL: An efficient, clean and disinfected (chlorinated up to 1 PPM) water supply is necessary. Feed storage and handling should be proper.
• Litter: Clean, dry, fresh and absorbent litter is necessary. It reduces cross contamination and different types of infections. Stirring is done to keep litter dry.
• FARM SHUT DOWN: After cleaning and disinfecting keep house closed, sealed and left idle for as long as possible to minimize the life of germs. The longer the down time, the better the results.

PREPARATION OF PREMISES: It is economically important to rear birds in clean, disinfected houses. Equally important is early preparation of the house. Each house should be left vacant for a minimum of one week after it has been disinfected and before new birds are housed in it. The effectiveness of disinfecting a house is dependent upon the thoroughness of the cleaning process before the final germicide application. The following steps should be undertaken:

• Totally depopulate the poultry house.
• Take out all movable equipment, and also make necessary repairs.
• Unused feeds should not be held over from one brood of birds to the next. Remove all feed that is hardened and stuck to empty hoppers and bins.
• Remove cobwebs and dust with a long broom or by hosing down the ceiling and walls. This will aid in dust control during litter removal.
• Collect all the litter in empty bags and dump them in a remote part of the farms.
• Scrub walls, floors, perches and equipment with hot lime solution made by adding 0.5 kg of lime (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) to 20 gallons of hot water or with a good detergent. Let the lime solution or detergent stand for two hours, and then wash with clean water.
• Spray the ceiling, walls, windows and floors with a good disinfectant.
• When fumigation is needed, close the building tightly and raise the inside temperature to about70°F and then discharge fumigant. After fumigation lock the house and let it stand for 24 hours. Air out thoroughly before entering.
• It should be emphasized that fumigation of tropical poultry houses is usually impracticable because of the difficulty in making them airtight.
• Apply insecticide to the floors, wall/floor junctions and around the base of posts. Leave the building vacant for at least and optimally two weeks before using it.
• Proper cleaning and disinfection of equipments should also be carried out.
• Use footbaths at each entrance. Change footbath germicide every few days.
• Supply new litter.
• Install the sanitized equipment.
• Fill feeders and waterers, start brooders, warm the building to starting temperature and place chick guards 24 hours before the chicks arrive.

ENVIRONMENT: Environmental control in the poultry pen includes control of temperature, humidity, air movements, dust, noxious gases and odors of ammonia and the degree of lighting. These factors influence livability, feed conversion, growth rate and reproductive performance. Biosecurity in the brooding pen will help in delaying the onset of diseases in the farm.

FEED: It is important to provide standard commercial balanced feed with adequate feeder space and correct size feeders, according to age. Feed must be of good quality with no fungal growth. This can be achieved by ensuring that only mould free ingredients are used in making feeds. Add 500 gm to 1 kg of calcium or sodium propionate per ton of finished feed. Furthermore, rapid turnover of feed including elimination of caked ones should be judiciously practiced.

WATER: The water given to poultry birds should be free from dust, bad odor, mould, algae, etc. It should be cool, without taste and clean.

CHICK QUALITY: Chick should be secured from breeder farms known to be free of egg-transmitted diseases such as Mycoplasmosis (CRD), pullorum, avian encephalomyelitis and leukosis.

ISOLATIONS TO MAINTAIN SANITATION

• Isolate the poultry house.
• One house/farm, if possible, or at least 15 m distance separating houses.
• Locate the house some distance from roads or adjacent properties.
• Erect a fence around the farm.
• Have a separate caretaker for each house.
• Remove old litter to at least 300 m from poultry house.

SEGREGATION OF BIRDS

• Screen out free flying birds.
• Eliminate all stray poultry and yard birds.
• Segregate poultry flock by age, one age/house or farm.
• Keep pet animals away from the poultry house.

MAINTAIN SECURITY

• Have new birds delivered in sanitized boxes.
• Servicemen, vaccinators and other workers must wear clean overalls, caps and sanitized boots, especially stored on farm.
• Promptly dispose off sick or dead birds.
• Maintain vermin control
• Transport litter material in clean trucks.
• Keep out unauthorized personnel by locking of gates and house.
• The caretaker and his family should have no other contact with poultry.

VACCINATION: Proper vaccination will prevent losses from major poultry epidemics. Therefore, it is important to develop a vaccination program for the farm and follow it rigidly.

FLOCK HEALTH MONITORING

• Current causes of mortality and sub-optional flock performance must be routinely examined.
• Immune status of the flock must be checked routinely.
• Dead birds should be sent to a competent lab for post mortem examination.
• Serologic tests were possible should be performed on each flock prior to housing.
• Accurate records of vaccinations, treatments, flock performance and disease symptoms should be maintained.

FLOCK HEALTH SECURITY

• The lack of adequate farm security is a common problem in most Nigerian farms
• Numerous diseases are therefore transmitted from farm to farm.
• Disease security requires that farms should be disinfected after the onset of a disease and healthy birds separated from infected ones
• Single-age of flocks with complete depopulation at the end of each production cycle, complete clean up including disinfections and thorough control of all traffic to the farm are the basic elements of a sound security management program. OTHER CONTROL PROGRAMS
• 1. Coccidiosis control by applying coccidiostat in feed or water. Coccidial vaccination program (if available) must be followed.
• 2. Parasites, lice, mite and rodent control must be enforced.
• 3. Dead bird and debris disposal in incinerators, plastic bags and disposal pit
• MINIMIZE STRESS: The basic requirement for minimizing stress is proper building and equipments. Suitable housing, provision of good quality feed and water excellent management all contribute to minimize the stresses.

MANAGEMENT: Management means taking care of birds in an appropriate manner in order to maximize production at the lowest possible cost. It requires a qualified personnel usually called a manager. He should be properly trained and must be aware of the economic significance of keeping birds as healthy as possible. He must like the job and above all must possess the ability to apply his decisions and have his orders fulfilled his by workers