Basics of Poultry Health and Management

Mohamed El-Gazzar, DVM, MAM, PhD, DACPV Assistant Professor, Poultry Extension Veterinarian

College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University

el-gazzar.1@osu.edu (614) 688-1074

Trends in Food Production

• Organic

• Free Range

• Produce local/Eat local

• Shift in Poultry Population

Urban Chicken Ownership in Four U.S. Cities

• Denver

• Los Angles

• Miami

• New York

– Around 1% of all households

– Quadruple (4%) within 5 years

– Not enough veterinary services

Backyard flocks Not only Urban

• Urban, Suburban and Rural

• Few birds to several hundereds (Average 49 birds)

• Still food animals not Pets

• Population medicine

• Mainly Chicken

• Some Turkey

• Other species

But they are falling through the crakes!!

• Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323527004579081812563033586

• A gap that needs to be filled

• Small and mixed Animal Practices or Even Poultry Specialists

Diverse Audience

• Veterinarians

• Veterinary Students

• Extension Agents

• Flock Owners (urban, Suburban, Rural)

• Hobby, semi-commercial, commercial

• 3 birds to 3 million birds

• 20 Different States from USA and Canada (WA, DE, OH, ME, WI, MA, MM, CN, RI, IN, KU, NJ, CA, IA, CO, MS, PA, IL, USA and Ontario Canada)

Poultry Disease Diagnosis and Control

• Clinical History

• Clinical signs

• Necropsy

• Laboratory diagnosis

• Control

Rule Out List

Control

• Good Management

• Biosecurity

• Vaccination

• Treatment

– Inorganic

Organic

Inorganic

Prevention

Control

Animal Health Regulations

• USDA-National Organic Program http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nopgeninfo

• Food Animal Residue Avoidance Database http://www.farad.org/

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration http://www.fda.gov/ http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/default.htm

• FDA Requirements: – Use of unlicensed drug is prohibited – Veterinary Client - Patient Relationship – Producer must not administer drugs in violation of FDA guidelines

Management

• Feed

• Water

• Habitat – Stocking Density

– Temperature

– Ventilation

– Other

• Separate age

• Separate species

Biosecurity • Prevent pathogen access

• Sterility is not the target

• Control specific pathogens

• General sanitary practices

Specific poultry pathogens

• Specific poultry pathogens – Not all poultry pathogens

• What is the source of these pathogens?? – Poultry

– Birds

– Animals

– Humans

Routs of Infection

USDA APHIS

• Introduction of new birds

• People

• Dust, feathers and manure on equipment and supplies (Egg flats, Pickups, Trucks, Trailers, Forklifts, coops, egg flats, etc…)

• Wild birds, predators, rodents, flies and insects

• Contaminated feed or water

• Air transmission from neighboring poultry facilities.

Routs of Infection

USDA APHIS

• Certified Flocks (NPIP)/All in All out

• Shower in/out + PPE

• Clean disinfect/disposable equipments

• Animal/ bird proof + Rodent control

• Water sanitation

• Not much we can do about airborne diseases

• Clinical signs grouping

– Respiratory

– Digestive

– Musculoskeletal

– Neurological

– Others

• Samples to collect

• General control

Poultry Disease Diagnosis

Necropsy

• Extremely useful in poultry

• Recently dead

• Clear clinical picture

• Sample collection

http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/veterinarians/avian-necropsy-examination

Usual Clinical Samples

• Blood serology

• Swabs bacterial isolation

• Organs virus isolation

• Organs histopathology

Disclaimer

• Non of lists is comprehensive

• Only most common

• Starting point

Respiratory Diseases

General signs: • Mortality

• Anorexia/Fever/lethargy

• Coughing/Sneezing

• Rales/Weezing

• Nasal/Occular discharges

• Swollen head/swollen sinuses

• inflamed eyelids

Respiratory Diseases

Gross lesions: • Inflammation of:

– head tissues

– nasal cavity

– conjunctivitis

• Tracheitis

• Pneumonia

• Air sacculitis

• Polyserositis

Turbinate

Normal Trachea

Inflamed Trachea

Early Airsacculitis

Polyserositis Pnuemonia

Respiratory Diseases

Rule out list: • Newcastle disease • Infectious bronchitis • Infectious laryngotracheitis • Avian Influenza • Mycoplasmosis (4 species) • Colibacillosis (E. coli) • Fowl Cholera (Pasteurella multocida) • Infectious coryza (Avibacterium paragallinarum) • Turkey coryza (Bordetella avium) • Aspergillosis • Cryptosporidiosis • Gape worms (Syngamus trachea)

Respiratory Sampling

Samples:

• Blood Serology

• Eye lids, Trachea, lungs and kidney Histopath

• Eye lids, Trachea, lungs and kidney Virus isolation

• Trachea/choana/airsacs swabing Bacterial isolation

Treatment for Respiratory Diseases Viral Infection: • Vaccination (prevention) • Supportive Treatment • Disinfection and biosecurity • Antibiotic treatment (if bacterial component present)

Bacterial Infection: • Vaccination (prevention) • Supportive Treatment • Disinfection and biosecurity • Antibiotic could be used in drinking water

– Oxytetracycline – Chlortetracycline – Tylosin for Mycoplasma

Digestive Diseases

General signs:

• Mortality

• Anorexia/Fever/lethargy

• Dehydration

• Diarrhea/Loose droppings (watery/bloody)

• Pasty vent/wet litter

Normal Droppings

Loose Droppings

Digestive Diseases

Gross lesions:

• Intestinal mucosa

• Intestinal content

• Parasite

• Pathognomonic lesions

Digestive Diseases Rule out List: • Hemorrhagic Enteritis Virus

• Turkey Corona Virus

• Clostridium species

• Salmonella species

• Coccidia species

• Histomonas meliagridis (Black head)

• Trichomonus gallinae

• Intestinal helminthes (Tapeworms and Round worms)

Digestive Diseases Sampling

Samples:

• Intestine/liver/other histopathology

• Intestinal/liver/spleen swabs bacterial isolation

• Intestinal scrapings

• Impression smears

Digestive Diseases Control

• Antibiotics – Lincomycin

– Bacitracin

– Tetracyclines

• Anticoccidials – Amprolium

• Deworming – Peprazine (FDA approved)

– Fenbendazol and levamesol (Off-label use)

Coccidosis

• Most common protozoan parasite

• Mortality/economic losses

• Bloody Diarrhea E. tenella

• Diarrhea (not always bloody)

• Predispose for Clostridium enteritis

• Amprolium for prevention and control

Eimeria acervulina

Eimeria maxima

Not All Internal Parasites are Intestinal

• Histomonus meliagridis (Black head)

– Liver lesions

– Cecal cores

• Syngamus trachea (Tracheal worms or Gapeworms)

Histomonus meliagridis

Syngamus trachea

External Parasites

• Lice

• Mites – Red mites

– Northern fowl mites

– Scaly leg mite

• Powdering, dusting or spraying of insecticides – Permethrin

– Minimum of Two treatments

– 7 days interval

Red Mites Northern fowl Mites

Chicken Lice

Musculoskeletal Diseases

General Signs:

• Mortality

• Paralysis

• Lameness

• Down birds

Musculoskeletal Diseases

Gross Lesions: • Nerve inflammation • Joint inflammation • Foot pad infection

(bumblefoot) • Weak/soft bones

(rickets or osteoporosis)

• Bone deformities

Musculoskeletal Diseases

Rule out list: • Marek’s disease (nerve involvement) • Reo virus • Staphylococcus aureus • E. coli • Pasteurella maltocida • Mycoplasma synoviea • Calcium/Phosphorus deficiency • Ionophore toxicity • Genetic deformities

Musculoskeletal Diseases

Samples:

• Swab lesions bacterial isolation

• Nerve/muscle/affected tissue histopathology

• Feed samples feed analysis

Musculoskeletal Diseases

Treatment will depend on etiology

• Penicillin (Staph)

• Tylosin (Mycoplasma)

• Tetracycline's (E. coli/pasteurella)

• Feed withdrawal (toxicity)

• Calcium/phosphorus/vitamin D supplement (rickets or osteoporosis)

Neurological Diseases

General signs:

• Paralysis

• Ataxia

• Torticollis

• Tremors

Neurological Diseases

Rule out List: • Marek’s Disease • Avian Encephalomylitis • Newcastle Disease • Influenza • Pasteurella • E. coli • Nutritional deficiency • Ionophore toxicity

Neurological Diseases Sampling Samples: • Nerves/brain histopathology

• Lesions other organs histopathology

• Organs virus isolation

• Blood serology

• Feed feed analysis

Vitamin E difficiency

General signs:

• 3 forms of the disease

– Encepahlomalacia

– Exudative diathesis

– Muscular dystrophy

Exudative diathesis

Muscular dystrophy

Other Conditions Common in Backyard Flocks

Egg Production problems

Birds are not laying?? • Review lighting • Review feeding • Water consumption • Infectious causes

– Egg peritonitis – New castle – Infectious bronchitis – Laryngotracheitis – Influenza – Egg drop syndrome – Pasteurella – Coriza – Mycotoxins in feed

Egg peritonitis

Pox virus

• Dry form and wet form

• Collect samples for histopathology

Dry form Wet form Inclusion bodies

Tumor Viruses (3 viruses)

1- Marek’s Disease

2- Leukosis/Sarcoma

3- Reticuloendotheliosis

Remember 2 Things

1. Zoonotic Diseases

• Salmonella

• Campylobacter

• Mycobacterium avium

• Influenza

• Chlamydia psittaci

• Others

2.Reportable diseases

• Zoonotic diseases

• Infectious laryngotracheitis

• Exotic Newcastle Disease

• Highly Pathogenic Influenza

• Others

List of Commercially Available Vaccines

Disease Vaccine Type Newcastle Diseas Live/inactivated

Infectious Bronchitis Live/inactivated

Laryngotracheitis Live

Fowl Pox Live

Marek's Disease Live

Reo Virus Live/inactivated

Heamorrhagic Enteritis Live

Avian Encephalomylitis Live/inactivated

E. coli Live/inactivated

Pasteurella Live/inactivated

Salmonella Live/inactivated

Mycoplasma Live/inactivated

Infctious Coryza Live/inactivated

Turkey Coryza Live/inactivated

Coccidia Live

Take Home

• Good management and Biosecurity

• 2 Things to remember – Zoonotic diseases

– Reportable diseases

Clinical signs and Lesions

List of Diseases

Sampling and treatment

Recommended References

• Avian Disease Manual: 7th edition 2013

• A laboratory Manual for the Isolation, Identification and Characterization of Avian Pathogens: 5th edition 2008

• Diseases of Poultry: 13th edition 2013

QUESTIONS ?