Table Of ContentThe Chicken Health Handbook
Gail Damerow
Schoolhouse Road
Pownal, Vermont 05261
The mission of Storey Communications is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that
encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.
Edited by Amanda R. Haar
Cover design by Meredith Maker
Text Design and Production by Cynthia McFarland
Cover photograph © John Colwell from Grant Heilmann Photography
Line drawings by Elayne Sears except chapter opener line art and diagram art on pages 6 and 216 by Cynthia
McFarland
Indexed by Gail Damerow
Copyright © 1994 by Gail Damerow
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Printed in the United States by Capital City Press
15 14 13 12 11 10 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Damerow, Gail.
Chicken health handbook / Gail Damerow.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-88266-611-8 (pbk.)
1. Chickens Diseases. 2. Chickens Health. 3. Chickens Parasites. I. Title.
SF995.D33 1994
636.5'089dc20 93-33385
CIP
Contents
Charts v
Foreword by Jeanne Smith, D.V.M. vii
Introduction 1
1. Chicken Health 3
2. Health and Nutrition 26
3. Anatomy of a Chicken 43
4. External Parasites 58
5. Internal Parasites: Worms 77
6. Internal Parasites: Protozoa 97
7. Infectious Diseases 107
8. Environment-Related Problems 132
9. Diagnostic Guides 147
10. Postmortem Examination 165
11. Therapy 181
12. Enhancing Immunity 197
13. Incubation and Brooding 208
14. Chickens and Human Health 230
15. Diseases and Disorders 244
Glossary 315
Suppliers 324
State Poultry Pathology Laboratories 325
Recommended Reading 331
Index 333
Charts
Chapter- 1 Chicken Health
8
1-1 Diseases Spread by Carriers
15
1-2 Minimum Space Requirements
18
1-3 Survival Ability of Disease-Causing Organisms
20
1-4 Chemical Disinfectants
Chapter- 2 Health and Nutrition
30
2-1 Vitamin Benefits and Sources
33
2-2 Nutritional Diseases and Disorders
34
2-3 Nutritional Symptoms
36
2-4 Feeding Schedules
37
2-5 Feeder Space
38
2-6 Restricted Feeding Schedule for Pullets
39
2-7 Diseases Affecting Water Consumption
39
2-8 Diseases Related to Drinking Water
40
2-9 Environmental Temperature and Water Consumption
41
2-10 Signs of Water Deprivation
41
2-11 Waterer Space and Minimum Water Needs
Chapter- 3 Anatomy of a Chicken
45
3-1 Diseases Involving the Cloacal Bursa
48
3-2 Air Sacs
56
3-3 Disorders by the Body System They Affect
Chapter- 4 External Parasites
59
4-1 Diseases Spread by External Parasites
65
4-2 Lice
68
4-3 Mites
72
4-4 Chiggers
Chapter- 5 Internal Parasites: Worms
86
5-1 Roundworms
90
5-2 Tapeworms
92
5-3 Flukes
Chapter- 6 Internal Parasites: Protozoa
6-1 Protozoan Diseases
100
6-2 Coccidia Affecting Chickens
103
6-3 Drugs Used to Treat Coccidiosis
Chapter- 7 Infectious Diseases
110
7-1 Bacterial Diseases
120
7-2 Viruses Infecting Chickens
125
7-3 Forms of Newcastle Disease
127
7-4 Forms of Marek's Disease
128
7-5 Differences Between Lymphoid Leukosis and Marek's Disease
130
7-6 Fungal Diseases
Chapter- 8 Environment-Related Problems
141
8-1 Fungal Poisoning
142
8-2 Toxic Plants
143
8-3 Rodent Droppings
146
8-4 Rodenticides
Chapter- 9 Diagnostic Guides
148
9-1 Flock History
148
9-2 Signs of Health
152
9-3 Diseases Causing a Change in Droppings
154
9-4 Diseases Interfering with Movement
156
9-5 Diseases and Conditions Affecting Egg Production
158
9-6 Diseases Causing Breathing Difficulties
159
9-7 Diseases Causing Discoloration
160
9-8 Diseases Causing Off Odors
161
9-9 Diseases Affecting the Eyes
162
9-10 Diseases Causing Sores in the Mouth
162
9-11 Diseases Causing Temperature Changes
163
9-12 Diseases Causing a High Rate of Death
164
9-13 Diseases Causing Sudden Death
Chapter- 10 Postmortem Examination
174
10-1 Postmortem Findings
179
10-2 Inflamed Conditions
180
10-3 Nutritionally Related Findings
Chapter- 11 Therapy
196
11-1 Reportable Diseases
Chapter- 12 Enhancing Immunity
205
12-1 Vaccination Methods
Chapter- 13 Incubation and Brooding
217
13-1 Nutrition-Related Hatching Problems
218
13-2 Incubation Trouble-Shooting
228
13-3 Nutritional Problems in Chicks
Chapter- 14 Chickens and Human Health
231
14-1 Poultry-Related Human Diseases
238
14-2 Food-Borne Bacteria
240
14-3 Bacterial Food Poisoning Quick-Check
Foreword
In my veterinary practice I work with many poultry fanciers and backyard poultry farmers. I am often asked what
books I could recommend to help them learn better management and gain a better understanding of the diseases that
may affect their birds. I have been unable to help them much with their requests, as most of the texts on avian
diseases are written for veterinarians, of limited usefulness to the layperson. Very few books are available for the
fancier, and those that I have seen are generally incomplete and not particularly accurate.
Therefore, I am delighted to see this publication being made available to the poultry fancier. Gail Damerow has covered
the topic of small-flock poultry health management very completely and competently. The information is presented
accurately and in enough detail to give the fancier a full understanding of the diseases, their prevention and treatments.
Yet this is done in an easily understood manner through careful attention to definitions and
explanations. It is not an easy task to convert scientific information that veterinarians study for years to understand into
useful, management-bottom-line information for the average back-yard poultry grower. I believe Ms.
Damerow has accomplished this in her book.
Ms. Damerow has also presented her information in a quite accessible format for the fancier. She not only
describes each disorder as a distinct entity, which can be looked up by the fancier who has just received a
diagnosis and wants to learn more about the disease, but she also has provided a section arranged by clinical signs. The
fancier, seeing certain clinical signs in the flock, can go to the book and look up what the possible causes are. Both of
these approaches will have their usefulness for the fancier.
Prevention of disease through good management is essential when raising poultry, especially small flocks of
poultry, which are often not vaccinated for many of the diseases that commercial poultry are, which often travel to and
from shows, and which are maintained in multi-age facilities. Also, the generally low monetary value of
individual birds makes costs of diagnosis and treatments impractical in many cases. Having a book such as this which
outlines good disease prevention strategies, as well as disease management strategies should problems occur, is a valuable
asset to the poultry fancier.
I believe the best use of this book is to read it through for the disease prevention management information whether you
are having disease problems in your birds or not. Implement whatever management practices you are not
already using. Then keep the book handy as a reference if you see a problem pop up in your flock.
JEANNE SMITH, D.V.M.
AVIAN HEALTH SERVICES
3220 QUAIL DRIVE, PLACERVILLE, CA 95667
