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Management for Disease

ControlBy

Jon Moyle, Ph.D.

Control, What you can Control

Things you can control

• House management

• Feed management

• Water quality

• Litter

• Ventilation

• Mortality management

• Biosecurity (flock protection)

Things you can’t control

• Feed formulation

• Breed of broiler

• Age of breeders

• Chick quality• Placement dates

• Placement numbers

• Weather

There is No Silver Bullet

•Keep the birds comfortable

•Maintain a stress free environment

• Concentrate on the basics

6 Basics

1. Pre-Placement

2. Temperature Management

3. Light Management

4. Feed Management

5. Water Management

6. Air Quality/Ventilation

Pre-Placement

• Is the house ready

• Room temp

• Floor temp

• Moisture

•Check equipment

• Make sure equipment is functional

• Controllers set

• Alarms properly set

• On?

• Check them

Extra pre-heat time/temp?

Temperature

•Measure temp at bird high

• Thermometers are great for starting

•Check floor temp

Temperature

Comfortable chicks Uncomfortable chicks

Once birds are placed manage temperature based on birds

Maintain Heaters

•Make sure heaters are working properly and that heat is evenly distributed

•Clean heater so they are more efficient

Feed Management

•Make sure birds have access to plenty of feed, especially when placed

What About Light?

•Brighter light during the first week will help birds find feed and water quicker

•We used to say 2fc (20lux), but now we want 4-5fc (40-50lux)

Uniform Light

Clean Lights

Water Management

•Water quality

•Drinker management

•Biofilm/waterer line cleaning

Water Management

•Water quality can affect bird performance and poor quality water can increase the likelihood of disease

•Monitor your water quality

• Don’t give water to your birds that you would not drink!

•Take steps to improve the quality of water

• Filters

• Chemicals

Water Analysis

Water Analysis

Water Analysis

Water Management

•Check filters and replace as needed

•Use a sand trap before the filter if you have sand in your water

Water Management

•Drinker management

•Maintain the proper height and pressure

• Less water on floors

•Flush lines just prior to the chicks arriving

• “Sweep” the lines (trigger all the nipples)

•Check height of the water lines at placement and then again after birds have been in for a couple of hours

Water Management

Water Management

•Water line cleaning

• Minerals – often overlooked but affect many areas of water quality

• Bacteria – can make birds sick and restrict water flow through the pipe

• Fungi, algae – can restrict flow of water through pipe and out nipple and can harbor harmful pathogens in their voluminous membranes

•Two different programs

• Cleaning Between Flocks

• Daily Water Treatment

Water ManagementClean water lines regularly between flocks

1. After birds are gone, power flush lines

to remove sediment and loosen heavy

soils

2. Use the proper concentration, follow

product guidelines – too little product

can be a waste of time and money

3. Be sure the product is completely

through the system – look for bubbles,

use test strips, look for color change,

etc.

4. Trigger all the nipples

5. Be sure product sits the recommended

amount of time

6. Flush lines

Water Management

•Chlorine – education on the forms of chlorine is vital

• Liquid chlorine – often misused because of pH issue

• Chlorine Dioxide – More effective than liquid, requires mixing time and special handling

• Gas chlorine – most effective but requires special handling

•Hydrogen Peroxide

•Acids (not to be used for long periods of time without a water treatment product with it)

Water Management

•Filters do not get rid of all the bacteria

•A water softener is not a method of water disinfection

•Reverse Osmosis and Ultra Violet light do clean the incoming water, but there is NO RESIDUAL

• When the water goes into the barn where the birds will be adding bacteria, viruses, molds, yeasts, etc. to the system –you must have a water treatment program in conjunction with these

•Water lines should be flushed often

Litter Management

•Litter is like a sponge

• It needs to accept water to keep the birds healthy

• And then let that water go when dry conditions allow

•Litter is a living community

• Bacteria

• Fungus

• Viruses

Litter Management

‘Wet litter’ has been implicated as a primary cause of contact dermatitisin poultry (Shepherd and Fairchild, 2010)

‘Wet litter’ negatively affects feed conversion ratio and carcass yields(de Jong et al., 2014)

‘Wet litter’ can be caused by a combination of diet/nutrition factors(Collett, 2012); shed design, ventilation management and environmental factors(Hermansetal., 2006); and/or flock infections with organisms such as Clostridium perfringens, the causative agent of necrotic enteritis (M'Sadeqetal., 2015).

The amount of water in litter has been found to affect microbial activity(Bessei, 2006; Eriksson De Rezendeetal., 2001; Himathongkhametal., 1999; Wadudetal., 2012),

Dunlop, et al., 2015, 2016

Litter Management

Water added to litter from excreta and spillage can be as much as 3.2L/m2/day (0.85 gal; ~2500 gal/house)

Water holding capacity of litter increases during grow-out

Water evaporation rate depends on litter moisture content and air speed

Dunlop, et al., 2015, 2016

In-House Windrowing

•What it is:

• Partial heat treatment

• Pasteurization (partial sterilization)

•What it is not:

• True composting

• Litter sterilization

In-House Windrowing

Windrows must be turned so that the outside can be heated as well

In-House Windrowing

•Microbial testing

• Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial counts lower in windrowed vs. un-windrowed litter

• Clostridium perfringens reduction >99%

• ILTV completely eliminated in litter after 5 days

• However…house again positive with subsequent flock

• Why? House dust?

• Can also be affective in controlling;

• Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Aspergillus, coccidia and respiratory diseases

Windrowing on Dermatitis

May require consecutive windrowing to break/reduce disease cycle (similar observations with NE and “kinky back”).

Disease may re-appear after 1 flock.

Litter

Manage-

ment

Mortality

(%)

Competi-

tive

Ranking

(0-100%)

Change

in pay

($/1000)

Crust 6.2 9 -----

1 st

Windrow4.9 20 +$23

2nd

Windrow4.1 47 +$89

3rd

Windrow3.2 55 +$103

Bud Malone

Virginia DEQ study (Flory et al., 2008)

2 house farm with history of necrotic enteritis

ParameterControl

(decaked)Windrowed Difference

Ave.weight 4.26 4.43 + 0.17

Total weight 145,945 154,498 8,553

Feed conversion 1.84 1.77 -0.07

Livability 92.56% 95.00% 2.44%

% Condemned 0.21 0.14 0.07%

Grower pay + $1,998

Achieved +135ºF (57.5Co)temperatures

99.99% reduction in E.coli and Salmonella

In-House Windrowing

•While windrowing can be an affective way of improving flock performance, it must be done correctly

• Need a minimum of 12-14 days between flocks

• Ideal litter depth 4-6 inches

• Form windrows within 2 days after catch

• Ideal windrow height 36-48 inches

• Leveling the windrows at least 4 days prior to chick placement is recommended

• It is critical that adequate time be devoted to “cooling down” and drying out the litter

In-House Windrowing

•For farms with a significant disease challenge, best to remove all litter from the sidewalls and corners and incorporate into the windrow

•Ventilate during the entire process

• Ideal time to get maximum beetle kill would be to apply insecticide to windrows within 6 hours after pile formation

Ventilation

•The most important thing to remember is to ventilate for moisture

• Control moisture, control ammonia

• Think of your fans as water pumps

Ventilation

Use surveyor flagging tape to “see” airflow

Ventilation

•Use attic vents to increase ventilation

•Do not use them to save on heating (propane, natural gas, etc.)

•Don’t over think their operation

Michael Czarick and Brian Fairchild

Mortality Management

Properly Dispose Of Dead Birds

•Remove and properly dispose of dead birds

•Don’t leave dead birds laying around

• Inside the houses

• Can spread disease

• Outside the houses

• Attracts vermin

• Looks bad

• Can spread disease

• Flies

• Unburied in the composters

• Attracts vermin and other pests

Compost Properly

•Avoid problems

• Make sure that birds are placed in the composter correctly

• Away from side walls

• Sufficient litter between layers

• With larger birds it may be necessary to use more than one bin at a time

• Divide mortality into multiple bins

•Make sure that storm water does not get into the composter

•Make sure that the birds are covered correctly

• 8-10 inches of litter

Bury Birds Correctly

•Location:

• Located outside of the 100-yr flood plain

• A minimum of 100 feet from public waters, streams, ponds, wetlands, etc.) (200 feet is recommended)

• Located minimum 100 feet from wells & sinkholes (200 feet recommended)

• At least 100 feet from property lines (200 feet recommended)

• Away from public view

Bury Birds Correctly

•Other considerations

• Covered with 2-3 feet of soil

• At least 2 feet above bedrock

• At least 2 feet above seasonal high water table

• At least 2 feet above highly permeable soils

Other Options

• Incineration

• Uses fuel so can be costly

• Very good at destroying pathogens

• Can cause odor/smoke problems when starting up

•Freezers

• Use electricity

• Birds must be removed

• Usually birds are rendered

Be Proactive

•Know the history of the farm

• If you have a constant problem, take preventive measures before it happens

• Example, Necrotic Enteritis

• Usually seen at around 16 days of age (11-28)

• Be proactive to soothe the gut through this time

• Probiotics

• Copper sulfate

• Citric acid

• Apple cider vinegar

Protect Your Flock

•Biosecurity is one of the best ways to prevent disease

• It is important that every farm has a plan and follows it

• Who is in charge of making sure the plan is followed?

• Plans should match needs

• For example, breeder farms need higher levels of biosecurity than broiler farms

Vaccinations

•Biosecurity is all about disease prevention and includes vaccinations

• Are vaccination schedules developed for the disease challenges in your area?

• Are vaccines handled properly?

• Storage?

• Application?

Prevent DiseaseWhat's the Problem Here?

Prevent DiseaseWhat's the Problem Here?

Prevent DiseaseWhat's the Problem Here?

Prevent DiseaseWhat's the Problem Here?

Prevent DiseaseWhat's the Problem Here?

Conclusion

•Focus on what you can control

• Do the basics well

• Clean waterlines

• Manage litter

• It’s all about keeping the birds comfortable, free from stress and preventing diseases from entering the farm

Thank You

The University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources programs are

open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual

orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, or national origin, marital status,

genetic information, or political affiliation, or gender identity and expression.

Jon Moyle, Ph.D.

Poultry Specialist

University of Maryland Extension

Office 410-742-1178 ext. 309

jmoyle@umd.edu