CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to prevent pullorum?

How to prevent pullorum?

Pullorum is an infectious disease caused by Salmonella pullorum, which can be transmitted vertically through eggs or through contact. Digestive tract infection is the main mode of transmission. The disease mainly harms chicks, but chickens of other ages can also be infected and fall ill.

Chicks hatched from eggs with bacteria will become ill the next day after hatching, and most will die within 10 days. Sick chicks are afraid of cold, often huddled together, sleepy, with drooping wings, shortness of breath, distended abdomen, and some swollen joints. Sick chicks often scream when defecating, and excrete white, paste-like loose feces. The fluff around the anus is covered with lime-like feces, which dry into hard lumps and block the anus. If infected chickens are not treated in time, they usually die within 14 to 21 days of age.

Adult chickens generally do not show symptoms, except for a decrease in egg production and fertilization rates. Some chickens may show signs of listlessness, loss of appetite, pale wattles, sagging abdomen, and diarrhea. Sick chickens gradually become weak and die .

The key to preventing and controlling pullorum is feeding and management. Strengthen monitoring, timely remove and eliminate infected chickens in the flock, and establish a purified breeder flock. Breeder farms should regularly test for pullorum and eliminate sick chickens in time. Before hatching, the incubator should be rinsed clean and fumigated with formaldehyde. Spray and disinfect all utensils in the chicken house and brooding room with 0.1% chlorhexidine every day. Before hatching, the site and utensils should be sprayed with 0.1% chlorhexidine, and fumigated with formaldehyde and potassium permanganate.

Sulfonamides, proecological preparations and Chinese herbal preparations all have significant therapeutic effects on this disease.

① Quarantine and purification of breeder flocks

Regular quarantine of breeder flocks is the most effective measure to purify the flock from pullorum. The whole blood plate agglutination test should be used for testing, and positive chickens should be eliminated in time, especially before the breeder chickens are put into cages for laying eggs at the age of 5 months. Pullorum quarantine should be carried out and all positive chickens should be eliminated to fundamentally prevent the vertical transmission of bacteria in the breeder eggs.

② Strengthen the feeding and management of chicks

High temperature brooding can be used to prolong the weaning time to promote the absorption of yolk and the healing of the umbilicus. The all-in and all-out system is adopted, and the chicks are raised in groups according to different ages. The brooding room is kept clean and dry, the temperature is adapted, the bedding is changed frequently, the density is controlled, crowding is prevented, the feed nutrition is comprehensive, and the feed trough and waterer are prevented from being contaminated by chicken manure; the temperature, humidity, ventilation, light and other environmental conditions are strictly controlled.

③Strict disinfection

Hatcheries should strictly disinfect breeding eggs, incubators and other equipment, and regularly disinfect chickens.