Blackhead disease (histomoniasis) Blackhead disease (histomoniasis) is an important poultry disease that affects turkeys, chickens, and game birds such as partridges, pheasants, and quail. The disease is caused by the protozoa Histomonas meleagridis, tiny, single-celled organisms that are spread to the bird by the roundworm Heterakis gallinarum. Lifecycle…
Nutritional Myopathy Nutritional Myopathy--which can cause chickens to have muscular degeneration or slowed growth--is caused by a lack of vitamin E, along with a deficiency of methionine and cysteine in a flock's diet. To prevent this from happening to your flock, make…
What to feed chicken At different stages in their life chickens have different nutritional needs. Moreover, chickens reared for meat and chickens reared for eggs also have different nutrient needs. Your chicken feeding schedule should satisfy these needs. What then is the difference between…
twisted neck in chicken For any chicken farmer, the health of your birds should be at the top of your priority list. Without a healthy flock, egg production lowers, sickness can spread, and in the end, you may lose chickens (and profit). There are certain diseases,…
External parasites of poultry External parasites infest poultry houses and breed in cracks of the buildings. The species commonly found include lice, mites, fleas and ticks, though very rare. They affect all ages of birds but are severe in chicks. They are spread by…
What is the correct incubator temperature What is the optimum incubation temperature and humidity for chicken? The optimum temperature for chicken eggs during incubation is 37.5 degrees centigrade throughout the 21 days. It is the humidity you need to change as follows. Day 1 to 10…
