• body - elongated, flat, segmented;
• color - pale brown, yellowish, with dark stripes between the segments;
• It has 3 pairs of legs and tenacious jaws, so it holds onto the skin of the bird perfectly.

Attention! The period does not suck blood from chickens. Its target is fluff and feathers, dead skin fragments, and discharge from wounds caused by scratching or pecking.

Mallophaga eggs are visible only under a magnifying glass. The female insect glues them to the feathers or down of chickens. One individual produces up to 10 pieces per day. The egg develops into a larva in 1-2.5 weeks. Optimal conditions for periodontal beetle at all stages of genesis:

• temperature +25…30 °С;
• humidity - 70-80%.

Manifestation of the disease

• decreased appetite;
• bald spots without feathers on the wings and backs of chickens;
• constant nibbling of the indicated areas by the bird.

Features of the disease:

• dust baths;
• contact with wild birds;
• contact of the owner with sick animals (through clothing, shoes, etc.);
• cages, perches, chicken nests.

Later, mallophagosis manifests itself more clearly:

Attention! A striking characteristic of the disease in the mature stage is the bald backs of chickens.

Nuances of treatment and prevention of lice eater

Attention! Delayed treatment of chickens is fraught with their death. Birds eat worse and freeze in cold weather without feather insulation.

Measures to combat chicken lice

Some pesticides kill insects, but do not harm chickens. Some of them have a wide profile and are used not only for poultry:

• Leopard;
• Nyuda;
• Butox;
• Insectol;
• Frontline;
• Arpalit;
• Stronghold.

Attention! Preparations in the form of sprays should absolutely not be used to treat chickens.

Disinfection of the premises includes burning the litter and spraying it twice with Karbofos. The interval between treatments is 1-1.5 weeks. It is even more effective to fumigate a barn with a sulfur bomb. This measure requires a long time of weathering. Until the air becomes clean, it is dangerous for both animals and humans to stay inside.

For supporters of less radical means of combating chicken pests, there is a set of folk methods. A good method of treatment and prevention is sand-ash baths. Place a container with crushed charcoal, chalk or shells in the poultry house. The bird itself will willingly fan itself with the mixture.

Other folk methods:

• spraying or bathing chickens in a mixture of kerosene, water and vinegar;
• periodic irrigation of the chicken coop with a mixture of kerosene, benzene and ammonia;
• an admixture of tansy, chamomile, wild rosemary flowers in the litter.

Getting rid of a periodontal beetle is not difficult if you detect it in time. However, it is much easier to take care of prevention.

Methods and techniques for splinting injured birds. A wounded bird or animal must first be fed and allowed to rest before treating the wound. The exception is those cases when urgent intervention is required due to threatening bleeding.

A wounded bird may die from shock during treatment, but it is even more likely that it will die from blood loss - a risk factor that must be taken into account. When treating a wound or healing a fracture, keep a glass of milk, syrup or sugar ready. If the bird's stress worsens and there is rapid breathing, give the patient a few drops of fluid and provide a short rest before continuing the operation.

Sometimes an injured bird needs to be restrained; do it this way: cut a hole in the sock, place the bird inside, leave the head outside so that it can breathe freely. Then it should be placed in a dark box and kept warm until the operation begins.

We always operated on birds while holding them on our laps in a towel. It's more convenient than bending over a table. Lightly support the bird by the forearms - this will calm it down, but be careful not to go into shock.

To treat a wound, the following is required: sterile gauze, adhesive tape, small scissors, tweezers, cardboard, disinfectants, ointments, towel, cloth. All this should be on the table within reach. First of all, prepare a few strips of adhesive tape. You may also need gauze swabs to treat open wounds; prepare them in advance so that they are the appropriate size. Don't forget to put a glass of sweetened milk on the table and place a pipette in a visible place.

It is important that the bird cannot move while the splint is being applied.. When you have to deal with large birds, it is good if someone else is nearby. The legs of birds of prey must be bandaged so as to be completely protected from their sharp claws. Learning to hold a bird while providing first aid is in itself a great art. When treating smaller birds, it is not necessary to resort to anyone's help. Extra hands just get in the way.

It is advisable that no strangers observe her during operations. The bird will remain calm if it does not notice your movements. Place a piece of cloth over the patient's head so that the bird cannot see anything without interfering with normal breathing. If you are treating a small bird, place it in a sock and cut one hole in it for the injured wing or leg and another for the head. Wrap a large bird in a large piece of cloth, in which you also make a hole to release the damaged wing or leg. Secure the material well with safety pins, but do not press it too tightly near the head so that the bird can breathe freely. Sometimes it is enough for small birds to throw a cloth over their head to calm them down and allow them to tend to their wound. But even in this case, keep a sock ready.

There is an opinion that a bird with a broken leg, left alone, heals itself. This point of view is not far from the truth. However, we have seen many birds whose legs fused incorrectly and the birds were left crippled. Therefore, if you receive a bird with a broken leg, apply a splint. This is especially important for robins and quails, since they run along the ground in search of food. The activity of various birds depends significantly on their anatomical features. You should know as much as possible about your feathered patient. Immediately obtain all the necessary information from sources, it is advisable to consult with a specialist.

It is not always possible to say with complete certainty that the leg is broken. But if the bird cannot bend the limb, then it has a fracture, which after a thorough examination can be detected. Sometimes the bird only gets hurt by hitting, for example, a car windshield wiper. In this case, there is no need to apply a splint. You just need to provide the bird with normal nutrition and rest and it will begin to recover. Quite often, birds become entangled in twigs while building a nest or on a rope left by someone. When trying to free yourself, the joints may stretch, causing the leg to become immobile. When sprained, a splint is also not required.

We also saw birds that, entangled in a rope, tore off the skin on their legs, but did not receive a fracture. Lubricating the injured area with antiseptic ointments and sterile bandages promote rapid healing of the wound. Don't rush to splint the bird's leg. First, outline a plan of action, then check whether you have everything you need for this. The grip should be firm, confident, but careful. It should not be forgotten that the bones of flying birds are hollow and narrow, as a result of which they can easily break if grabbed too tightly. The fragility of wings should also be taken into account when constructing cages for convalescing birds. Land birds have stronger bones, but waterfowl have the strongest bones. Remember that there should always be water and food on the floor near the cage where birds with fractures are kept.

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Diseases spare no one; any animal can get sick and die if you don’t pay attention to the obvious symptoms in time and don’t provide the right help. Domestic chickens very often die because the owners did not pay attention to certain signs and did not help cure the disease. For example, diarrhea in chickens is a phenomenon that is quite difficult to immediately notice. Therefore, household utensils should be treated carefully. This article will discuss the most common diseases of chickens, their symptoms and suggest treatment options.

Main diseases of laying hens

It is necessary for everyone who breeds chickens or keeps them to obtain eggs to know about possible diseases of chickens. The main cause of the disease is improper maintenance or nutrition of chickens.

Colibacillosis

This is a disease not only of adult laying hens, but also of young animals. Main symptoms: lethargy, thirst and fever. The infection affects the respiratory tract, so when you pick up the chicken, you will clearly hear wheezing. And as you move, they will only intensify. Characteristic wheezing is clearly visible in young chickens, but in old chickens this cannot always be observed. Here you will need the help of a specialist.

If the diagnosis is established, then it is necessary to immediately proceed to treatment. To do this, it is enough to give penicillin. As veterinarians note, small an overdose of this medicine promotes the development of immunity to the disease.

Pasteurellosis

This disease takes the lives of chickens at 2-3 months. But most of all, adult birds die from it. Symptoms of the disease: lethargy, fever, thirst, the chicken practically does not move, and mucous fluid flows from the nasal openings, diarrhea, the chicken constantly ruffles and raises its feathers. The comb and earrings of such a chicken will darken and acquire a bluish tint. If this infection is not treated immediately, the mortality of the entire livestock is guaranteed.

This infection is treatable only in the first stage. They are given tetracycline 1-2% aqueous solution. Some veterinarians recommend using norsulfazole solution. These drugs are added to the feed 0.5 g at a time.

Salmonellosis

This disease manifests itself to a greater extent in young chickens, but there are cases of infection in adults as well. Characteristic symptoms include: lameness in one leg, conjunctevitis, increased tearing, and breathing problems. When it is no longer possible to save the bird, it simply falls on its side or back and dies. Leg diseases in chickens are not uncommon, so you need to monitor them very carefully.

If this happens to you, then immediately begin treating the remaining chickens. Them antibiotics can be given chloramphenicol, chlortetracycline or sulfonamide. Small doses of drugs are added to the feed and given to chickens for at least 10 days.

Newcastle disease

This disease does not choose between young or old birds. The disease progresses very quickly, most often the bird is simply declared dead. A sick bird constantly sleeps, does not eat anything and has a fever; fluid will come out of its beak, which will smell bad. The chicken has difficulty breathing, because its mouth is full of this mucus, and its beak is constantly open. The breathing of this bird is accompanied by croaking sounds. Just before death, the bird's comb and earrings turn blue.

Until now, veterinarians have not developed methods for treating this disease. Their only advice is to destroy all existing poultry populations. But if you take a chance and the chicken survives, then she will get immunity, but the offspring will be constantly susceptible to this disease.

Smallpox

This disease mainly affects young chickens. Specific growths called pockmarks appear on the skin of the bird. More often they are focused on the head or cloaca and if treatment is not started in a timely manner, the growths increase and unite with each other. At the first stages, the new growths are yellow, but over time they become dark brown.

After a few weeks, these pockmarks begin to bleed, harden, and fall off. Further, such formations appear in the animal’s mouth, the bird stops eating, and has difficulty breathing.

In order to avoid hardening of pockmarks, it is necessary treat the affected areas with any fat or glycerin. If you noticed in the later stages and the disease has affected the oral cavity, then you need to pour a small amount of 1% iodine into the beak. You can wash it with chamomile decoction. Such a bird must constantly have access to water.

This disease occurs in 70% of adult birds. Main symptoms: lethargy, decreased or complete lack of appetite. The chicken drinks a lot of water.

This infection is treated only with antibiotics, they are diluted with water and administered intramuscularly.

Tuberculosis

This infectious disease affects not only people, but also chickens. Not only the lungs are affected, but also all internal organs. The cause of the disease is unsanitary conditions in the chicken coop. The main symptoms of the disease are: severe thinness, pallor of the comb and earrings. This disease cannot be treated. Infected chickens must be destroyed, and clean and disinfect everything in the chicken coop.

Non-communicable diseases

Goiter atony

This disease is unique to laying hens. It is caused by unbalanced or untimely nutrition. If owners feed chickens with low quality ingredients, then they can accumulate in the crop and form an obstruction. It is easy to determine this disease; just try to touch the chicken’s crop; if it is hard and sagging for a long time, then the chicken is sick. The death of the chicken occurs suddenly and instantly, the goiter blocks the respiratory tract and the jugular vein.

It is not difficult to treat this disease. It is enough to drop a few milliliters of vegetable oil into the goiter through a probe. Further, a light massage of the hardened goiter is performed and turn the chicken upside down, slowly removing all the contents. Veterinarians recommend pouring a solution of potassium permanganate into the goiter after this procedure.

Gastroenteritis

A chicken can get sick at any age. Due to poor nutrition, problems with the digestive tract begin, diarrhea and weakness appear.

Considering that these symptoms may be the cause of an infectious disease, it is better to invite a veterinarian for examination. If the diagnosis is confirmed, then it is enough to feed the chicken a balanced diet for several days.

Cloacite

The cause of the disease is also poor nutrition or violations of chicken keeping standards. But here the cloaca becomes inflamed. There have been cases where the cause of the disease may be problems with egg release.

Treatment involves washing the cloaca with manganese, preliminary cleaning of pus, and then lubricating the area with petroleum jelly, anesthesin and terramycin. To avoid this disease, experts recommend introducing natural greens into the food, carrots or root vegetables.

Keratoconjunctivitis

This disease affects chickens that are kept in barns where manure is poorly or rarely cleaned. From fresh litter ammonia vapors are released into the air, which cause inflammation of the eyes and bronchial tract. The main symptoms are: watery eyes, dirty and wet feathers, and yellow masses may collect on the eyelids.

For treatment, it is necessary to clean the barn well from chicken droppings and ventilate it well. Rinse your eyes with chamomile decoction.

Avitaminosis

This disease is more common in laying hens that are kept in cages. They do not eat natural food, only mixtures. Conjunctevitis, minimal body weight, weakness, and feather loss may be observed.

For treatment, it is necessary to balance the diet and introduce natural herbs into the diet.

Sharp objects in the stomach

A chicken is an unpredictable bird, especially if it is given free will. Chickens peck at any objects. Therefore, very often the cause of death is the presence of a sharp object in the stomach, which ruptures it.

The same can happen with a goiter; rough parts of grass and small bones can form a blockage in the goiter, which will lead to death.

The chicken can't lay an egg

Such situations often occur in young laying hens. She begins to scurry around the chicken coop, her crest turning bright red. It is necessary to help such a chicken or she will die. It is enough to do the following:

• heat a bucket of hot water and hold it over the steam for about half an hour, then lubricate the passage with Vaseline;
• if the chicken egg is too large and gets stuck in the cloaca when laid, then it can be pierced with a syringe, draw out the liquid and, pressing the shell a little, carefully remove it from the passage;
• If the egg begins to come out across, then the chicken is laid on its back and any oil or Vaseline is injected using a syringe, and then the egg is gently pushed out.

Eggs without shell

Carbon tetrachloride is used for treatment at a rate of 5 mg per animal.

Inflammation of the ovaries

The cause of the disease is a blow or a sharp fall from a height. The yolks that have started inside may develop and begin to rot. Obvious signs will be irregularly shaped eggs, two yolks in one shell, and a thin shell. Such a bird dies very often.

Frostbite of the extremities

In winter, during severe frosts, ridges often chicken legs get frostbitten and these parts subsequently die off. At the first symptoms of frostbite on the chicken’s legs, it is necessary to rub these areas with snow and lubricate them with iodine.

In order to get rid of them, It is necessary to regularly treat the chicken coop chlorophos solutions and karbofos emulsion. During processing, chickens should not be indoors and after - about 2-3 hours.

Be sure to change the perches and straw in the areas where they lay eggs.

Fight against feather eaters

This disease affects a large number of adult birds. If you do not provide timely assistance, the disease will only progress. Symptoms: difficulty breathing, white-yellow spots on the ridge. This disease cannot be treated. Such birds are killed.

Aspergillosis

This is a disease of the respiratory system. Symptoms: the bird sneezes, its beak turns blue. Treatment is only with copper sulfate, which is introduced into the diet.

Preventive measures to prevent disease

If you do not want to lose your bird, then periodically perform the following preventive measures:

• do not combine young and adult birds, this can cause the death of both;
• if the bird is sick, immediately move it to a separate room;
• if the chicken cannot be treated, it must be destroyed and burned;
• Be sure to treat the chicken coop with disinfectants at least once a month.

Provide your chickens with proper care and a balanced diet and most of the above diseases will not bother your bird. Diseases of chickens and their treatment are the most important topics for those who breed these birds.

It is possible to cure a wild bird with a broken wing, but it is almost never possible to restore its former mobility. Even if the bird flies after recovery, it will still not reach its previous speed and maneuverability. If released into the wild, it will die either from a predator or from starvation. Birds of prey, gulls, swallows, flycatchers and other birds that hunt on the fly have especially little chance of complete recovery. Therefore, for humane reasons, it is better to keep them with you.

Damage to the wing can be of varying degrees of complexity, and in each specific case you need to act based on the prevailing circumstances.

Let's say the bird has an old open fracture. The surest means of saving such an individual is urgent amputation. Anseriformes with an amputated wing feel good in captivity and are even able to reproduce. Raptors, owls, and chickens can also live in captivity with one wing, but, as a rule, do not reproduce. Cranes, herons, storks, and waders, when they lose a wing at shoulder level, lose the ability not only to fly, but also to run and do not live long. When accidentally startled, they fall and require a lot of time and effort to get up. They stain the plumage and take on a pitiful appearance. It is hardly advisable to keep such cripples in captivity.

Once they brought to the zoo a young gray crane with a wing fragmented in the shoulder area. The wing had to be amputated. The wound healed quickly, but the bird's suffering did not stop. During unexpected jumps and sharp turns, the crane fell on its side, beat with its healthy wing, circled on the floor, broke its wings before it managed to bend its legs and stand up. Due to constant stressful situations, he lost his appetite, became fearful and eventually died.

Quails, larks, forest passerine birds, small owls and many others adapt to living in cages with one wing, but for them it is necessary to equip the room with additional perches and shelters.

If you come across a bird with a fresh open fracture of the wing, it needs to be treated urgently. The operation must be done by two people: one holds the wounded bird, the other operates. Around the fracture, one to one and a half centimeters, the feathers are plucked out, and this entire space is lubricated with iodine. The wound itself is cleaned with hydrogen peroxide and disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate or rivanol. The displacement of the bones and the presence of fragments of crushed bone are determined by touch. Small bone fragments are carefully removed with tweezers. To apply the splint, prepare pieces of hard cardboard, sheet plastic or wooden splinters, depending on the size of the bird. Then the wing is given a position (folded or half-opened) in which the ends of the broken bone are aligned. The wound is sprinkled with streptocide, covered with a piece of bandage and bandaged. If the flight feathers interfere with bandaging the wound, they are trimmed at the very base. You should not bandage it very tightly, so as not to disrupt the blood circulation in the wing.

After securing the tires, you need to secure the fenders. Depending on the complexity of the fracture, the wings are either tied together or bandaged to the body with a circular bandage. For these purposes, you can use an old sock, which is shaped into a cylinder. Holes are made on the side for the legs, and the sock is put on the bird. With such a bandage, the bird cannot spread its wings and the wound heals quickly.

Sometimes a sick bird pulls off the bandage with its beak and the wound begins to bleed. An indicative case is that of a kestrel, which was brought to the zoo with a wing damaged in the hand area. Her bones were successfully aligned, splints were applied, and she was bandaged. Ten minutes later the bandage was torn by the beak and the wound opened again. No matter how hard they tried to distract the bird's attention from the bandage, it was not possible. It was suggested that a cardboard cylinder be placed around the kestrel's neck so that it could not turn its head. And so they did. A few days later the top hat was removed from the kestrel, and after another two weeks the bird was already flying around the room.

For closed wing fractures, it is enough to apply a bandage and place the bird in a secluded corner. Quite often, closed fractures heal without human intervention, and sometimes “self-amputation” can even occur. Once passers-by picked up a tawny owl with a broken wing; They put her in a barn and fed her for five days, visiting her once a day. On the sixth day the owl was brought to the zoo. When they began to take it out of the box, the broken part of the wing fell off. The part that fell off decomposed and gave off a pungent smell of rotten meat. Later, the wing stump healed well and did not even fester.

If, during a fracture, the wing droops greatly and the bird clings to the walls of the cage or gets entangled in it with its paws, then all the flight feathers need to be cut off. The wing lightened in this way heals faster.