Treatment of Infectious Bronchitis in Chickens

Infectious bronchitis in chickens is one of the most common diseases. The disease affects birds of various ages. The main sign of the disease is a cough. Infectious bronchitis in chickens is accompanied by damage to internal organs, which affects the rate of egg production.

Infectious bronchitis in hens

Definition

Infectious bronchitis in chickens is a contact disease characterized by damage to the respiratory system and reproductive system, which leads to a decrease in egg production ty or complete loss of ability to reproduce, and is also accompanied by jade syndrome.

The incubation material from infected chickens should not be used to increase the number of birds. If the birds become infected at the beginning of puberty, productivity remains low throughout their life cycle. With infection in the middle and at the end of the egg period, a sharp decrease in the number of manufactured products occurs. About 30% of the chickens that survived the disease are rejected due to developmental pathologies.

Infectious bronchitis can lead to a decrease in egg production

Today, scientists have studied and described about 30 strains of infectious bronchitis in chickens.It progresses rapidly in fetuses and amniotic fluid. The maximum number of pathogenic microorganisms is observed 2-4 days after infection. Infected embryos begin to lag behind in development.

Pathogenetic picture

Infectious bronchitis of hens most often affects young animals before the 30-day period, as well as chickens during puberty, around 5-6 months of age. IBI is the most dangerous virus. Just a couple of days after the infection of one individual, there is a massive epidemic among the whole herd. First of all, bronchopneumonia affects chickens, and only then adults. Sources of infection are:

• infected individuals;
• treated bird.

The virus lives in the body of an ill individual for up to 12 months, transmitted with feces, mucus secretions, as well as eggs of sick individuals. The spread of infectious bronchitis in chickens is most often associated with violation of breeding sanitary standards when infected incubation eggs enter the chicken coop. The virus is detected in eggs only 2-43 days after infection.

The course of the disease will depend on:

• the ratio of chickens of different ages in the farm;
• physical state of chickens at the time of infection;
• the presence of other diseases in birds.

Infectious bronchitis of chickens becomes chronic in farms where frequent outbreaks of the disease are observed.The disease is episodic only in new farms. The incubation period is 18-20 days. During the first 3 days, mucous membranes of the respiratory system are affected. After a week, the mucous epithelium swells strongly. Outwardly, this manifests itself as an abundant secretion of purulent exudate and mucus.

From day 12 to day 18, the state of the bird improves slightly, the mucous epithelium takes its previous shape. Pathogenic microflora can cause complications. Also, the course will depend on the dose of the virus that entered the body of the birds.

Symptoms

In order to choose the right treatment, you need to be able to recognize the symptoms of the disease in time. It is customary to distinguish 3 main ones:

• respiratory;
• nephrosonephritis;
• damage to the reproductive system.

The first symptom is more often total observed in chickens. After a day, an oppressed state, lethargy, shortness of breath, wheezing , abundant mucus separation are noted. Young animals eat little, become inactive, try to pile up close to heat sources. Often, chicks of 2 weeks of age have a high mortality rate due to choking by mucus. After the disease, in most individuals, slow development or complete growth arrest is noted.

In adults, bronchitis is accompanied by damage to the reproductive system.A week after the virus entered the body, a significant decrease in egg production, which is not restored, is noted. The laying hens that had the disease lay eggs with defects. Some strains cause symptoms such as damage to the kidneys and ureters. Bronchitis proceeds in an acute form, accompanied by loose stools with an admixture of urine, an oppressed state, a respiratory symptom is not clear.

During pathological studies, numerous hemorrhages and purulent exudate are found in the lungs of dead chickens. For adult birds, a characteristic feature is the underdevelopment of the ovaries and appendages. In many cases, hens begin to lay eggs with a bloom that resembles hardened lime in structure, less often with soft and thinned shells. In 20% of cases, diphtheria is secreted in the yolk. Tissue degeneration is detected on the liver and kidneys. The urinary canals are full of urine. With a complicated form of chicken bronchitis, infiltration and proliferation in the lungs are detected.

How to identify an ailment yourself

Preliminary diagnosis is carried out by external episodic symptoms, symptoms and pathoanatomical data. The killed hens take scrapings of the mucous epithelium. The biomaterial is cooked before the precipitation of large pieces, and the liquid is used for virological research. The collected broth is administered to several embryos and 5-6 young individuals aged 10-20 days. A positive reaction will show symptoms of chicken bronchitis in a day.

Diagnosis involves the exclusion of other similar virological diseases, such as tracheitis, smallpox, pseudo-plague, mycoplasmosis , influenza, hemophilia, laryngotracheitis. Diagnostics of blood serum in ELISA, RNGA, molecular and biological analysis using PCR.

How to cure

After a complete diagnosis and identified diseased individuals, a veterinarian prescribes specific treatment with antibacterial drugs. In infectious bronchitis, all infected birds must be isolated from healthy birds. Antibiotics with tilan in the composition begin to treat chicken disease. Antiviral drugs are used in complex therapy.

Diagnosis and treatment of infectious bronchitis in chickens

The chicken coop also needs to be treated with disinfectants . It is best to evict the entire population for a while and completely wash the room from the hose, and then carry out the treatment with pest control. If there is a high mortality rate among the entire population, the remaining individuals will have to be killed. In chronic bronchitis, a massive slaughter of the livestock is also carried out.

It is important to remember that even a treated bird remains a carrier of infection, so there is practically no point in treating birds. It is better to think about how to dispose of carcasses of slaughtered birds by the bloodless method and save the surviving livestock.The remaining pestles are soldered with antibiotics and prophylactic therapy is carried out.

Preventive measures

Particular attention should be paid to incubators , into which contaminated biomaterial cannot be allowed to enter. It is undesirable to use incubation material from already ill individuals. All healthy birds in farms where there is an outbreak and in nearby ones should be vaccinated. 2 weeks before vaccination, deworming is carried out.

If the tendency of infection is observed among young animals, the temperature in the chicken coop is increased by a couple of degrees, and also eliminate excessive crowding. In such chicken coops, it is very important to observe good hygiene and process all the equipment used, as well as the room itself. The barn should be warm and dry, with good ventilation . Every day you need to change the litter, eliminating all waste products, and do not use chicken droppings as fertilizers, but dispose of them.

Vitamin-mineral complexes are added to the feed, a weak solution of potassium permanganate is used for drinking. It is prohibited to export meat and egg products from dysfunctional farms. Once a week, the territory of the whole farm should be treated with three percent alkali with one percent formalin. To vaccinate chickens begin from the first days of life. Revaccination is indicated once a month. It is important to comply with all conditions and carefully select the dosage, otherwise you can provoke the appearance of symptoms of the disease.

The final part

Chicken infectious bronchitis, like any viral disease, is very difficult to treat. The infection spreads very quickly among the entire population, and it affects not only young animals, but also adult birds. The symptomatic pattern in individuals of different ages will be different. In general, infection occurs due to non-compliance with hygiene rules in the chicken coop and violations of sanitary standards when purchasing incubation material. Most often, the virus affects chickens under the age of 20 days.

In young animals, the respiratory symptom mainly progresses: the mucous membranes of the respiratory system swell, abundant mucus, conjunctivitis, bronchospasm are observed. Most juveniles die from overfilling of the lungs with fluid and multiple hemorrhages. The next virus infects laying hens at puberty (5-6 months). In this case, there is a slowdown in the development of the ovaries and appendages.

In many adult birds, nephrosonephritis syndrome is observed, which is accompanied by an overflow of ureters with urine. Among the symptoms, diarrhea with an admixture of urine is observed. Respiratory syndrome with kidney damage is very weak. In all birds, a general condition worsens: weakness, low activity, lack of appetite.

Chicken viral bronchitis is very difficult to cure.Even after undergoing an antibacterial course of treatment, the bird remains a carrier of the virus for a long time, so it is more advisable to exterminate all diseased representatives and get rid of the carcasses by the bloodless method. Non-diseased pestles are soldered with antibiotics, vitamin-mineral complexes are added to food, all dishes for food and drink are pre-disinfected each time. In times of danger of infection in the chicken coop, optimal climatic conditions should be maintained. Litter on the floor should be changed daily, carefully removing feces.

In order to prevent infection and not to know what bronchitis is in chickens, it is necessary to vaccinate the whole herd on time. Chickens are vaccinated from the very first days of life. Revaccination is carried out every month. The diet should be balanced with sufficient vitamins and minerals , and most importantly – calcium. Weekly should be disinfected by this farm area to prevent the spread of infection and infection of other animals.