By Charles Kimani
As the Farmer Feedback Officer, I am always anticipating calls, even messages on our Tusemezane lines, of farmers inquiring about this or the other. If it is a cow showing strange symptoms, I ensure to link the farmer to a vet who attends to him to satisfaction. Often, I refer farmers to field officers under BvAT’s Outreach Project, near their home, who visit them to offer firsthand assistance.
Of late, I have been receiving several phone calls from farmers frantically expressing their fear of losing their flock of birds, to a terrifying illness. Patricia Mutheu from Makueni, an avid listener of TOF Radio is one of the farmers that called. “My chickens have a whitish, greenish and sometimes bloody diarrhea, and their eyes are swollen, oozing some fluid from their eyes,” she launched into a lamentation the minute I picked her call. I calmed her down and promised to get her a remedy.
Joseph Mbithi our field officer attending to farmers in Makueni, is the nearest officer to Mutheu, and on calling him, he acknowledged that there is a Newcastle disease outbreak in his region. Mbithi assured me that he has helped several farmers to manage the illness and that their chickens have survived. Immediately, I knew I had the remedy for Mutheu. After three days, Mutheu called in to say, “thank you, the officer you sent me guided me to the solution and none of my chicks died.”
Newcastle disease can be present in a very acute form with sudden onset and high mortality or as a mild disease with birds experiencing respiratory distress. Sometimes laying hens have a drop in egg production.
Symptoms of Newcastle disease include:
- Sneezing
- Nasal discharge
- Coughing
- Greenish, watery diarrhea
- Depression
- Muscular tremors
- Drooping wings
- Complete paralysis
- Swelling of the tissues around the eyes and in the neck
- Sudden deaths and an increased death loss in a flock
- In laying birds there can be partial to complete drop in egg production; and production of thin-shelled eggs.
It is a deadly infection that can wipe out the whole flock, especially because there is no known treatment to cure it. However, as attested by our field officer in Makueni County, a natural remedy has been used by farmers, to effectively manage the illness. Below are steps to follow in treating your chickens should they exhibit Newcastle disease symptoms:
Ingredients:
- Red pepper
- Ash
- A litre of water
- Aloe vera leaf
Preparation method
- Put a litre of water in a container.
- Add 8 seeds of red pepper.
- Sprinkle in the mixture a tablespoon of wood ash
- Dip into the concoction a freshly cut aloe vera leaf.
- Give to the chicken for three days.
Prevention is better than cure.
Like in other livestock enterprises when it comes to controlling and managing diseases, prevention in most instances makes the difference. As a farmer keen to avoid the cost and losses that are attributed to diseases, one should follow the following tips.
- Separate chicks from adult hens except the mother hen
- Vaccinate chicks against common diseases and re vaccinate if necessary. (See vaccination schedule on the link provided below).
- Isolate sick birds if necessary and if control measures prove ineffective kill and bury the sick birds.
How to identify sick chicks.
| Characteristics of healthy birds | Characteristic of unhealthy birds |
| Alert and on guardBright eyes and combWalk, run, stand and scratchContinuously Eat and drinkNormally Lay eggs Smooth and neat feathersSoft compact droppings Breathe quietly | Tired and lifelessDull eyes and combSit or lie downEat and drink lessLay less or stop laying eggsRuffled and loose feathersWet droppings with blood or worms, diarrheaCough, sneeze and breathe noisily |
To get help with your poultry, talk to us on Tusemezane. Call 0715 422 460. We will link you to an expert.