Helminthiasis and other parasitic diseases of ducksHowever, even the strongest birds can catch duck diseases. Diseases in adult birds and young stock are divided: - into infectious ones caused by protozoa, viruses and bacteria, worms, ticks and other parasites;
- for non-infectious, not spreading among the rest of the population and people.
And those and other ills cause serious damage to the economy and without taking urgent and, most importantly, effective measures can destroy most of the strong prospective livestock.
Common causes of duck diseases
The most susceptible diseases are ducklings. Their immunity in the first days and weeks of life has not yet been formed, so they react sharply to changes in temperature, humidity, getting stale or too rough feed, lack of moisture and vitamins.
In order to prevent the death of young stock, and then already grown up ducks, first of all, it is necessary to follow:
- the conditions of poultry keeping, temperature, cleanliness of premises and equipment;
- for compliance with the norms of landing ducks per unit area;
- for the quality of the drink and feed given, its balance and freshness.
If you do not adhere to these rules, the bird becomes weaker, becomes open to the attack of dangerous infections and parasites.
At the first signs of unhealthy suspicious ducks and ducklings need to be isolated.
Depending on the symptoms of the disease, ducks are treated for parasites, they are treated with antibiotics or other specialized drugs, they prescribe a course of vitamins, or they simply bring growing conditions to the recommended sanitary and hygienic standards.
Avitaminosis and their treatment in ducks
Improper feeding, coupled with poor living conditions of the bird, leads to a weakening of the immune system, slowing or stopping growth. In adult females, egg production falls, the bird becomes disheveled and unkempt. All these and other signs speak of the possibility of duck disease. Most often, non-communicable diseases are associated with deficiencies of vitamins, minerals and a general weakening of the population.
Many beginning poultry farmers, who are caused by improper maintenance and nutrition of avitaminosis, are not considered to be serious illnesses. And in vain! Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency, for example, look very threatening in a neglected form:
- Ducks lose their appetite.
- They suffer from inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nasopharynx and eyes.
- Not for the better is changing the type of plumage, which becomes disheveled, dirty.
- Fade legs and beak.
- Such a bird begins to lag in growth, and such a delay only increases with time.
- Is changing, it becomes uneven gait of a bird. Some ducks fall to their feet, refuse to drink and feed.
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Regular inclusion of foods rich in carotene and vitamin A will be a good prevention and treatment of duck disease. These include:
- root vegetables and carrot tops;
- clover and alfalfa greens;
- needles;
- silage and grass meal, hay in winter;
- steamed nettle.
In addition, the bird should not be denied aquatic vegetation.
With a pronounced vitamin deficiency and young growth, fish oil must be given.
Similar measures with supplementing the ration with mineral feed, yeast and allowing the bird to walk are necessary if ducks suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Symptoms of this disease of ducks threatening the feathered development of rickets are:
- in poor growth and weight gain;
- in limb weakness, with the result that such ducks fall;
- in softening the beak and curving paws.
Adults hatch poorly, and eggs that appear appear to be without a shell or have a poorly formed ductile shell.
A lack of vitamin B in the diet results in bird nervousness, cramps, and limb weakness. When severely current illness ducks can paralyze. Treatment and prevention in this case consist in the active inclusion in the menu of yeast, germinated grain, bran, greens and other foods rich in vitamins and microelements.
Non-dull diseases of ducks
If ducks are deficient in several components of the vitamin set at once, the poultry farmers face a manifestation of cloacitis.
This duck disease, associated with inflammation of the mucous membranes in the area of the cloaca, is often triggered by a lack of vitamins A and E. Young ducks are most susceptible to the disease. To exclude the development of the disease, the feed includes more greenery, chopped carrots, pumpkin, and in the winter time grass meal and multi-component vitamin silage.
A bird feeder with crushed shell and chalk must be installed in the poultry house and on the run, bone meal is introduced into the menu, the bird is allowed to stay on the water and in the open air.
If the mucous membrane is damaged, there is a possibility of suppuration or inflammatory processes are already underway:
- cloaca of such birds is washed with clean water;
- clear of pus;
- is treated with an alcoholic solution of iodine.
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After this, as part of the treatment of ducks, wounds can be treated with local means of drying action, as well as ointments with antibiotics.
Together with cloacitis, young ducks can experience another illness - prolapse of the oviduct. This happens when large, often two yolk or irregularly shaped eggs are formed. It is possible that the cause of unpleasant symptoms and disease ducks lies in the wrong diet and the resulting diarrhea and constipation. The oviduct is washed with a pink solution of potassium permanganate and set free. To eliminate the clogging of goiter and esophagus using the introduction of vegetable oils.
When a bird is kept in dirty, wet rooms, ducks suffer from cramping, deficiency of protein and mineral salts, poultry farmers observe symptoms of slander. Showing signs of a kind of cannibalism, ducks pluck feathers and can peck up their weaker relatives to death. Duck feathers can lose their own, and this happens not during shedding, but because of dirty litter, crowding.
And in such a situation, restoring order in the house will help, ensuring walking and restoring a balanced diet. Birds with signs of cannibalism are set aside, and the most aggressive are sent for slaughter.
Infectious diseases of ducks, symptoms and treatment of
Infectious diseases of ducks are dangerous both for the birds themselves and for other inhabitants of the poultry yard, and sometimes for humans.
Disease accompanied by lacrimation, eye sticking, indigestion, lack of appetite and lethargy most often turns out to be paratyphoid. The disease of the ducks with the symptoms described above leads to the death of most of the livestock and affects the youngest part of the herd.
The source of infection are ducklings still infected in the egg. Even after successful treatment, duck diseases remain carriers of the pathogen, which is also dangerous for people serving the house.
Pasteurellosis or poultry cholera enters poultry houses with sick individuals and rodents running into the room, with insects and mites parasitizing ducks. Other pets with which the bird adjoins on the range can carry the infection.
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Increasingly, poultry farmers identify hepatitis in poultry. This is a viral damage to the liver of the ducks, most negatively affecting health and behavior. The sick bird moves very reluctantly, it is drowsy, apathetic, breathing heavily and eating poorly. At a serious stage, ducks fall, falling over on its side with its head thrown back and stretched limbs. Death is almost inevitable.
In all of these diseases, duck treatment can be ineffective and difficult. But preventive measures taken in time ensure that the dangerous diseases of the ducks can be avoided.
Helminthiasis and other parasitic duck diseases
All waterfowl, including ducks, are susceptible to helminth infection. Diseases of this type are especially dangerous for birds sharing one body of water with cattle, pigs and other inhabitants of cattle yards.
The symptoms of duck disease associated with infection with worms include:
- slowing and stopping in growth and weight gain;
- food attitude change;
- lethargy;
- depletion, regardless of the diet used.
In addition, the worms cause a decrease in the productivity of the hens, and in some cases the parasites infect even the embryos. When signs of disease appear, duck treatment is undertaken immediately and for the entire herd.
As preventive measures:
- necessarily feed green onions, garlic greens, chopped pine needles, pumpkin and squash pulp to birds;
- regularly disinfect poultry houses, feeders and drinkers, as well as artificial reservoirs in the walking areas;
- periodically change places of walking;
- does not allow contact with other agricultural animals.
In a similar way, birds are regularly treated for ticks, fleas, and louse insects. For self-control ducks with skin parasites birds arrange bathing places.
In protecting ducks from infectious and non-communicable diseases, the main role is played by the observance of the rules of hygiene, attentive attitude to the population and the supply of poultry with high-quality food.
If you follow these simple rules, the poultry farmer will not have to deal with duck disease symptoms and their treatment.
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