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/SB10001
424127887323527004579081812563033586

• 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
Rule Out List
• Clinical signs
• Necropsy
• Laboratory diagnosis
• Control
 Control

• Good Management
Prevention • Biosecurity Organic
• Vaccination
• Treatment
Control – Inorganic Inorganic
 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
• 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
USDA APHIS

• Contaminated feed or water

• Air transmission from neighboring

poultry facilities.
 Routs of Infection
• Certified Flocks (NPIP)/All in All out

• Shower in/out + PPE

• Clean disinfect/disposable
equipments

• Animal/ bird proof + Rodent control

• Water sanitation
USDA APHIS
• Not much we can do about airborne
diseases
 Poultry Disease Diagnosis
• Clinical signs grouping
– Respiratory
– Digestive
– Musculoskeletal
– Neurological
– Others
• Samples to collect
• General control
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
Normal Trachea
Gross lesions:
• Inflammation of:
– head tissues Turbinate
– nasal cavity Early
Airsacculitis
Inflamed
Trachea
– conjunctivitis
• Tracheitis
• Pneumonia
• Air sacculitis
• Polyserositis
Pnuemonia
Polyserositis
 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
 Normal
Droppings

Digestive Diseases
General signs:
• Mortality Loose
Droppings

• Anorexia/Fever/lethargy
• Dehydration
• Diarrhea/Loose droppings
(watery/bloody)
• Pasty vent/wet litter
 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 Eimeria acervulina

• Diarrhea (not always bloody)

• Predispose for Clostridium
enteritis
• Amprolium for prevention and
control Eimeria maxima
Not All Internal Parasites are Intestinal
• Histomonus meliagridis
(Black head)
– Liver lesions
– Cecal cores Histomonus meliagridis

• Syngamus trachea (Tracheal

worms or Gapeworms)

Syngamus trachea
 External Parasites
• Lice
• Mites
– Red mites
– Northern fowl mites Red Mites Northern fowl Mites

– Scaly leg mite

• Powdering, dusting or
spraying of insecticides
– Permethrin
– Minimum of Two treatments
– 7 days interval
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 peritonitis
– Egg drop syndrome
– Pasteurella
– Coriza
– Mycotoxins in feed
 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

Clinical Sampling
signs and  List of and
Lesions Diseases treatment

• 2 Things to remember
– Zoonotic diseases
– Reportable diseases
 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 ?