If your chicken farm is experiencing an inordinate number of disease outbreaks that require constant but desperate intervention then the adage desperate situations require desperate measures may apply to you. It also may be likely you have made certain mistakes that cannot be easily reversed. Below are some common mistakes that we make on the chicken farm that could lead to frequent disease outbreaks. When you look out for them and correct them, then you have your answer to  how to manage persistent disease outbreaks on the chicken farm

Mistake number 1. Adding chicken from different sources to your flock (without quarantine)

You should avoid adding new birds to your flock from other farms other than hatcheries. But this is not always possible. As a chicken farmer, it is inevitable that you will add new birds to your flock such as when breeding. If you must add new chicken to your flock, make sure you quarantine the newcomers for at least a week as you disinfect them and treat them with antibiotics.

Mistake number 2: Treating without disinfecting.

If you don’t disinfect the living quarters for your sick birds and the compound too, they will keep picking the same pathogens that caused the ailment in the first place. At the onset of treatment, spray the compound with a fine drop spray. Spray the feeding troughs. Clean the drinkers.

Mistake number 3: Too much antibiotic

If you have frequently treated your birds with antibiotics probably you have overdone it. Too many antibiotics can lead to a number of problems such as:

• messing liver and kidneys.
• drug resistance

Always put in place a plan of how to reduce antibiotic use on your poultry farm.

Mistake number 4: Not enough prevention measures.

My prescription concentrate on prevention more than cure. Cleanup often. Innoculate the birds that are not sick following the schedule for your type of flock.

Mistake number 5: Fearing to cull

Bite the bullet and cull then start on a clean slate. Some diseases leave healed birds as carriers for life. Culling can be immediate or alternatively ignore and let natural culling happen by leaving the sick birds to die. The downside of this the survivors may be carriers even without showing symptoms.

if you have many birds on your farm, consider investing in a chicken incinerator

Mistake Number 6: Not Isolating the sick birds

Isolate all the sick birds at the onset of treatment. The physically sick birds should be treated more aggressively than the healthy ones. Consider culling the sick ones too.

Is there a dispensary on your farm? Every farm should include an infirmary that is used for isolation. You should consider the wind direction when setting up your isolation point.

We do believe you now know how to manage persistent disease outbreaks on the chicken farm chicken. But we have to reiterate that the best thing would prevent the outbreak so you will not have to deal with them

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