Poultry farmers often have to deal with various diseases that affect birds. Dropsy in chickens is found on poultry farms all over the world; it affects about 10% of the world's domestic bird population. Therefore, it is important for farmers to learn to recognize pathological changes in order to take timely and adequate measures. Dropsy is treated with medications or folk remedies.
Causes of dropsy in chickens
Previously, poultry farmers thought that dropsy was a hereditary disease.Breeders tried to create breeds that were immune to pathology, but in vain. The accumulation of fluid in the stomach was observed in birds of all breeds: both long-existing and recently bred..
Today it is known that dropsy is not an independent disease, but a sign of other pathologies in the bird’s body, including metabolic disorders and hypovitaminosis. If a bird has a bloated belly, you should suspect:
- disturbance of water-salt balance in the body;
- previous intestinal pathologies;
- intestinal obstruction;
- disruption of the heart muscle;
- pathological changes in the kidneys and liver.
Dropsy affects chickens of all ages: both broiler chicks and laying hens.
In laying hens, dropsy occurs mainly in old age, when the egg-laying period ends, and it is associated with wear and tear of the liver.
In young broilers, the digestive tract poorly digests food, since the acidic environment in the stomach is not fully formed. A poorly digested mass, having passed into the intestines, is not absorbed; nutrients do not enter the blood, but remain in the tract as food for putrefactive bacteria.
Pathogenic microorganisms, as a result of their vital activity, produce toxins that negatively affect the heart, kidneys, and liver. Blood stagnates in the vessels, fluid accumulates in the abdomen. This is how dropsy develops.
Main symptoms
Chickens develop a specific type of dropsy - abdominal dropsy. With this type, liquid accumulates in a significant volume in the bird's belly. The disease is manifested by the following symptoms:
- visual enlargement of the chicken belly;
- unnatural belly shape;
- the lethargic, inactive state of the bird, being predominantly in a sitting position;
- shortness of breath;
- paw tension when walking.
The disease is accompanied by severe abdominal pain, although the body temperature of the sick individual remains normal. Dropsy is not contagious to other inhabitants of the chicken coop.
Diagnosis of the disease
It is not difficult to understand that a chicken has dropsy. You just need to press your fingers on your stomach. When sick, it is tense, and fluid is felt rolling under the fingers.
What to do if a chicken's belly is swollen?
An effective way to combat dropsy has not yet been created. Veterinarians usually advise killing a sick animal immediately. But some farmers feel sorry for slaughtering poultry ahead of schedule, into which a lot of money and labor have been invested. In this case, you can alleviate the chicken’s suffering; for this, medications and traditional methods are used.
Drug therapy
If dropsy is the result of an infectious disease suffered by the chicken (for example, salmonellosis), then the best treatment option is the use of acidifiers. These drugs:
- destroy pathogenic microflora found in food and drink;
- normalize digestive function;
- restore healthy intestinal microflora.
It is better to consult a veterinarian about the choice of acidifier. Most often used:
- medicines of the DrSintes series;
- Animalicide (in dissolved or dry form);
- Baracid;
- Selko Acid;
- Novibak (in solution form);
- feed additives of the Mixodek series (a mixture of acids of different concentrations for chickens of all ages).
These drugs will not cure a sick chicken, but will alleviate its condition. But the use of acidifiers helps prevent the appearance of infectious intestinal pathologies in other chickens.
Traditional methods
There are two traditional methods of combating dropsy:
- belly puncture;
- feeding the sick individual with decoctions of diuretic herbs (bearberry, St. John's wort, milk thistle).
After using any method, the chickens’ diet is enriched with vitamins and mineral elements:
- ascorbic acid (vitamin C) – cabbage, tomatoes, peppers are added to the food;
- phylloquinone (K) – food is enriched with green ingredients (lettuce, celery);
- calcium (its sources are oats, barley, peas).
In winter, a vitamin-mineral complex can be purchased at a pet store.
Treatment regimen
Treatment should be careful, it is important not to worsen the condition of sick chickens. Therefore, it is worth talking in detail about methods of combating dropsy so that farmers do not make mistakes.
Acidifiers
The packaging of all brands of acidifiers contains detailed instructions for using the drug. All instructions are practically the same, the drugs work according to the same scheme. The differences lie only in dosages and minor nuances of application.
General principle of using acidifiers:
- in the summer, 1000 kg of ready-made bird food is combined with 3 kg of the drug (using this ratio, you can calculate the amount of acidifier for any volume of food);
- in the winter months, the concentration of the drug decreases, mix 1000 kg of feed and 2 kg of the drug (if you plan to use the acidifier in liquid form, then you need to take 1 ml of the substance per 1 liter of water).
Acidifiers are completely harmless to the body of birds; they do not accumulate in their tissues and organs.
Abdominal wall puncture
Many farmers are skeptical about piercing the belly of chickens. Inexperienced farmers do not risk engaging in this procedure for fear of harming the birds. If there is any doubt that it will be possible to carry out the manipulation correctly, it is better to contact a veterinary clinic.
For farmers who decide to fight dropsy on their own, here are instructions for piercing the belly of a chicken:
- you need to take a large needle, sterilize it thoroughly in boiling water or an antiseptic solution;
- take a sick individual and try to calm it down;
- ask a person nearby to help (one holds the bird, the second performs the operation);
- carefully insert the needle into the abdomen and use a syringe to draw out the liquid from the abdominal cavity.
After the operation, the chicken remains in an isolated room for several days. She needs to calm down and recover. The water in the drinking bowl is diluted with diuretic solutions.
Consequences of the disease
The poultry farmer must understand that abdominal dropsy in chickens is an incurable disease. All the measures described above are short-term, they allow the bird to live a little longer, but after a while the pathology returns.
The bird carrying the disease is lethargic, practically does not move, which is why venous blood stagnates in the tissues. Because of this, the sick individual dies. That is, treating chickens is an unnecessary and costly measure.
Experienced poultry farmers advise not to waste time and money, but to immediately send the sick individual for slaughter. After plucking, it is clear that the surface of the carcass is grayish-blue. If you cut along the belly, a large amount of yellowish mucous liquid will begin to pour out.
Prevention measures
Dropsy in both adult chickens and broiler chickens can be prevented by following the following preventive recommendations:
- Every 3-4 days, dissolve the veterinary vitamin and mineral complex Forte Universal in water in drinking bowls. For 1 liter of drink, consume 8 grams of the drug.
- From the first days of life of chickens, add Bifidum-SHJ or another veterinary probiotic to their food.This drug helps maintain normal microflora of the digestive tract.
- Monitor the oxygen level in the room where chickens and hens are kept. The optimal concentration of oxygen in the air is not lower than 20%.
- Ventilation in the chicken coop should work so that air is supplied in a volume of 7 m3 per hour per 1 kg of bird weight.
The owner must equip the premises for chickens so that good air circulation is constantly maintained in them so that harmful gases do not accumulate.
Dropsy is a non-infectious disease, harmless to the human body. Therefore, after slaughtering sick chickens, a person can safely consume their meat. The only problem is disgust: some owners, having seen enough of birds with swollen bellies, cannot eat them and throw away the carcasses.
