CHICK AILMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 57, 4 September 1937, Page 25

CHICK AILMENTS

CURE AND PREVENTION

While young chicks will die easily if not wisely brooded and fed, there are actually only two diseases which will attack small chicks. Of these pullorum or bacillary white diarrhoea is probably the most deadly because of its rapid spread, not only by contact between infected chicks and healthy chicks but from the adult hen through her eggs to her chicks. A few isolated ,cases of infection have been reported, but it appears that as yet New Zealand is very free from this complaint. If many chicks die during the first month and diarrhoea is present, the owner would be wise to send some chicks to the Wallaceville laboratories for a report as to the cause of the trouble. Control of the disease is not by treatment, but by blood-testing of the breeding stock. By using the agglutination test for the detection of infected birds, these can be removed from the flock, and provided this method of control is followed carefully for a few generations pullorum-free stock should result within three to five years, even after severe infection. It is assumed, of course, that strict sanitary measures are followed as well.

Since B.W.D. is uncommon, the other disease is usually the cause of most deaths, and coccidiosis is a difficult enemy to deal with, since nearly all adults are more or less carriers of infection. It is only about ten years since coccidiosis became known in this country; previously ground that was infected with the "eggs" of this disease was called "fowl sick," while adult birds badly infected were said to have "gone light," an expression which was used for many diseases. There are several types of coccidiosis, some more severe than others, and animals as well as birds may be infected with different typa« not necessarily transmissible to other animals or birds.

Coccidiosis can be fairly easily recognised in growing chicks. When infected the wings droop, the leathers become ruffled and loose, while the droppings will often be discoloured with blood or pink mucous. Infection results from allowing the chicks access to ground or litter which adults have used and in which lie the dormant "eggs" of the disease, After being eaten the coccidia pass out into the intestinal tract and live on the food which the chick should be digesting in much the same manner as intestinal worms. The walls of the intestines become irritated, and poisons affect the blood stream. The coccidia breed rapidly inside the chicks, and eggs pass out in the droppings, which, if eaten by other chicks, will cause further infection. Control by treatment is not satisfactory, and anyone with infected stock is well advised to obtain the latest literature and veterinary advice on the subject. Since, however, it is known that infection spreads through stale ground and infected droppings, very strict sanitary conditions will help to prevent further trouble. Fortunately, the "eggs" of coccidia require at least 48 hours to incubate after being released in the droppings; thus if the droppings are removed regularly every day, or at the most every two days, then infection should be checked. The degree of severity depends on the number of viable "eggs" eaten. Most poultrymen realise that chicks cannot be reared today on ground where adults have been running during the past year, and in extreme cases control is effected by keeping the chicks on wire floors so that they cannot possibly come in contact with >: any infected soil or their own droppings. MALNUTRITION. Incomplete rations will,cause deaths among chicks. Thus baby chicks reared in a glass house without an adequate supply of green feed and the inclusion of some good quality cod Uyer oil in their,food will soon develop weakness in their legs. Direct sunlight, maizemeal, green feed, and fresh live foods supply the necessary vitamins to promote good health. Without them trouble will soon result. Poor ventilation in the brooding system and overcrowding will produce trouble, too. "Greenleg" is not a disease but the result of bad.management. In this complaint the legs and wings swell and go green, something like a bad bruise. Adopt sound management, and tne trouble will disappear almost at once.' Now and again a chick will die from crop binding or from eating too much fibre If placed on chaff and not regularly fed, chicks will sometimes eat the joints of, the oat or wheat straw stalks. These cannot be digested and will eventually cause a blockage in the gizzard. The odd chick may be a runt and no manner of good care will help it to grow well, but with proper management and no accidents brood- ! ing losses should not' exceed from 5 to 8 per cent. As the chicks grow, however, some .culls wiU become evident and these should.be sold for table use or otherwise, disposed of to advantage. The better the .breeding stock:- the lower should be :the culling, rate, but most poultrymen agree that from, 10 to 20 per cent, of the pullets reared today can be regarded as possible culls. Rearing is undoubtedly one of the most difficult problems attached _to poultry-keeping on a large scale. The chick must grow naturally without a check at any period of its growth. It a check is given, either from bad management in the brooder or from poorly" balanced rations, then the resulting stock will not give the^ good returns in adult life. GENERAL NOTES, Six students sat for the chick-sexing examinations held recently at the Wallaceville Poultry Station. Of these one student was successful in gaining his endorsement of the second class certificate, while another who sat for the first-class certificate failed, but secured his endorsement for the second class grade. The results show the great difficulty of learning the Japanese method of chick sexing. Actually there are only two sexing experts today who hold a New Zealand Government certificate to sex chicks, although others who have passed their examinations are operating without.' attempting to obtain art endorsed certificate. The reason for the endorsement is to show that the person concerned is still able to operate at a high1 degree of accuracy. , , Sweden is one of the biggest exporters of eggs. In the first three months of 1937, 122,623 great hundreds were exported; almost double the number for the same period in 1936. The few eggs that are exported from New Zealand could be consumed in one day without affecting the English market. Male birds should receive special care in some cases. Some males will not eat until their-mates are fed, with the result, that they are often underfed themselves. In large flock matings the weakest males are often chased away at feeding time and some breeders feed the males by themselves.

When selecting eggs for. incubation care should be taken to pick out wellshaped and well-shelled eggs. They

should be at least two and one-eighth ounces in weight and as near the standard colour as possible. It is surprising how many White Leghorns lay eggs that are not pure white.

Do not try to incubate eggs of varying ages. A very fresh egg will hatch under ideal conditions in 20 days, while a stale egg may take from 22 to 23 days. Eggs of mixed ages will thus produce a "dragging" hatch, the horror of all experienced poultrymen. A continuously low temperature during incubation will delay the hatch, while a high temperature will speed up the time of incubation. Watch out for the rise in temperature which takes place about the thirteenth day of incubation in all oil incubators without special temperature control devices. The.regulator will need a slight correction. It is a mistake to continually adjust : the regulator, and if this is required there is something wrong with the incubator.

Some people expect every egg to produce a chick and most of the chicks to be pullets. Recently a buyer of a sitting of eggs complained because only thirteen chicks hatched from fifteen eggs set. Average hatches under hens are about nine chicks, depending on fertility and the behaviour of the hen.