by Good afternoon. Today we will tell you what diseases of geese can destroy poultry. Pathogenic bacteria and viruses are equally dangerous for humans and their pets – animals and birds. The diseases caused by them cause great damage to the goose population in particular: the birds lag behind in growth; they develop worse; the egg production rate of laying hens decreases; breeding qualities deteriorate; in the worst case, the death of the population is possible.
What diseases of geese can destroy the poultry population
Attention! All advice in the article is for informational purposes only. If the birds are sick, do not waste time – contact a veterinarian.
One of the main tasks in preventing diseases in goose flocks is their prevention. If the poultry house is dirty, damp, the air is stale, the birds become weaker and more susceptible to pathogenic microorganisms and often get sick.
If the owners feed this poultry incorrectly, it can lead to gastrointestinal diseases. Therefore, only good-quality food should be introduced into the geese’s diet. Rotten, sour, musty or oversalted feeds, as well as treated grain, should not be introduced into the daily menu.
Viral enteritis
This type of enteritis is a contagious viral disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and other organs of geese. Viral enteritis can be the cause of mass mortality of young animals. This disease is not treatable with chloroform, ether, 0,25% trypsin solution, and can persist for 24 months in 40% glycerin, as well as in allantoic fluid at 4ºC.
But when the temperature rises, it quickly dies – if the temperature rises to 60ºС, the virus dies in an hour, when it rises to 70ºС – in 1/6 hour. To completely destroy the virus, you can use disinfectants.
This enteritis usually affects goose chicks and musk ducklings. The first symptoms appear in chicks at 6-12 days of age. After a bird has recovered from viral enteritis, it remains a carrier of the virus for 4 years.
When the disease first appears in a poultry house, it can kill up to 100% of the young stock. If the farms are unfavorable, the mortality rate of chicks can gradually decrease by 3% over 4-30 years, and then increase again to 60-70%.
The source of infection may be sick and dead chicks, as well as adult geese that grew from recovered goslings, hatching eggs obtained from virus-carrying females, as well as feed, water or equipment contaminated with excrements of sick birds. The infection may be transmitted transovarially, alimentarily or aerogenically.
When raising goslings in natural conditions, mortality among young animals only increases with each new herd, this is due to the fact that the number of viruses accumulates in the premises. When incubating eggs from infected geese, embryos also become infected and on the 25th day of their growth, increased mortality is observed.
The incubation period of the disease usually lasts up to 6 days. Sick young animals look depressed, are inactive, huddle together, lose their appetite, sometimes conjunctivitis and nasal discharge may occur. Then watery diarrhea may appear, fluid fluctuation in the abdominal cavity, hyperemia of the skin, goslings pluck their down and feathers, lag behind in growth and development.
There are no pathological changes in the body of goslings that died from birth to 4 days of life. In older chicks, a transparent liquid of a straw color or gelatinous contents can be found in the abdominal cavity, mucus in the oral cavity and stomach, signs of cuticulitis, catarrhal, fibrinous or hemorrhagic enteritis, enlargement and hyperemia of the liver are also noted, blood filled the spleen and kidneys, the heart muscles are colored the color of boiled meat, the cellulose under the skin is dry, serous effusion is visible in places.
This type of enteritis can be preliminarily diagnosed based on epizootic data, clinical symptoms and pathological changes. To confirm the diagnosis, several sick or dead chicks are sent for laboratory testing, where the pathogen is isolated and typed, and bioassays are made. Differential diagnostics are performed to determine salmonellosis, colibacillosis and pasteurellosis.
Once a diagnosis of viral enteritis has been made, it is necessary to combat it according to the instructions.
Specialists have developed special vaccines against this disease that do not harm goslings and adult individuals. Adult individuals are vaccinated with this preparation for immunization approximately 1,5 months before the start of laying eggs with an interval of 2-3 weeks. Immunity to viral enteritis is developed in geese 3 weeks after the second vaccination. Antibodies neutralizing the virus are transmitted transovarially.
If the chicks are obtained from unvaccinated females, they are vaccinated in the first two days after birth. In this case, immunity to the disease is formed after 1,5 weeks and will last for 90 days. As a preventive measure, you can use serum or citrate blood taken from young animals that have recovered from the disease.
Salmonellosis or paratyphoid fever diseases of geese
The main symptoms of this disease in geese are septicemia, gastrointestinal tract damage, and conjunctiva. The causative agent of paratyphoid fever is S. typhi murium, which is an active gram-negative bacillus that does not form spores or capsules. However, other types of salmonella may also be isolated from sick chicks. Salmonellosis can cause mortality of 16-20%, sometimes 70% of young animals.
The following may also decrease:
- hatchability of chicks;
- herd safety;
- intensity of weight gain;
- decreased appetite.
The causative agent of paratyphoid fever can also cause toxicity in humans.
The source of infection is sick and recovered individuals, the infection can also be carried by rodents and ectoparasites. Birds get pathogens through unwashed hands, household items, with infected food or water. It is also possible to transmit salmonellosis by airborne droplets. The incubation time of the disease depends on the body’s resistance to the disease, as well as on the method by which the pathogen penetrates, and can range from ½ day to 36 hours.
In chicks, the disease usually progresses very quickly and is accompanied by the death of goslings within 2-12 hours, while there are no visible symptoms of the disease in geese. In the case of an acute course, the disease begins 1-1,5 days after the pathogen enters the body. The main symptoms are decreased appetite, general and muscular weakness, drowsiness.
Later, the disease may manifest itself with the following symptoms: lacrimation, nasal discharge, serous mucous conjunctivitis, wheezing, difficulty breathing, goiter atony, diarrhea, ataxia, and head tilt.
The disease lasts 1-2 days. If the course of paratyphoid is subacute, its symptoms are similar, but longer in time. The mortality of young animals can be 40-60%. Surviving chicks will lag behind in growth and development for a long time. In chicks older than 1,5 months, the disease is asymptomatic.
Pathological changes that occur in acute and subacute forms of the disease are: inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa, pneumonia, serous or serous-fibrinous pericarditis, liver degeneration, the appearance of foci of necrosis of the lungs, liver and spleen.
Embryos infected with the salmonellosis pathogen die after 1,5-2 weeks of incubation.
The disease is diagnosed using epizootic, clinical, pathological and laboratory studies.
To combat the disease, certain measures should be taken. The livestock is examined for the presence of antibodies to the salmonellosis pathogen. If up to 10% of sick individuals are found in the herd, their treatment will be economically unprofitable. If there are fewer sick birds, they are slaughtered and disposed of, and healthy birds are given antibiotics for 5 days – ampicillin, tetracycline, gentamicin, monomycin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol.
All medications are diluted with water. For goslings, 6 g of antibiotic per 1000 heads is enough. In the next 2,5 months, goslings are given furan series agents at a rate of 7 g of the drug per 1000 heads. Adults are given medications at a rate of 50 g per kilogram of weight.
If the farm is not doing well, the chicks are given a live avirulent vaccine against waterfowl paratyphoid fever orally from the 3rd day after birth. The vaccination is repeated after a couple of days. In this case, resistance to the disease will be maintained for up to 105 days. Adults should be vaccinated 25 days before they start laying eggs. Chicks born from vaccinated females are vaccinated at the age of 1,5 weeks.
Pasteurellosis of geese
This disease is infectious, its course can be acute, subacute and chronic. Pasteurellosis is characterized by septicemia, its course is severe, mortality is very high, especially in young animals. All types of poultry are susceptible to this disease.
The causative agent of pasteurellosis is Pasteurella multocida. If this bacterium is cultivated in a nutrient medium, it exhibits pleomorphism. Depending on external conditions, Pasteurella multocida can survive in natural conditions for 30-120 days. The following drugs have a negative effect on this bacterium:
- a mixture of 3% formalin and 3% caustic soda;
- iodine monochloride – 10%;
- bleaching powder is a clarified solution containing 5% active chlorine;
- suspension of bleaching powder – 20%.
The sources of infection are sick and recovered geese, eggs laid by them, infected feed, and the infection is also carried by rodents and insects. The disease is transmitted by contact. Most often, pasteurellosis enters the bird’s body through the respiratory system, but it can also enter through the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract.
The infection survives in the external environment for a long time, and is also carried by carriers of pasteurella. Geese become carriers of this pathogen after they have recovered from pasteurellosis, as well as after the bird has been vaccinated with a live vaccine.
Virulent types of the pathogen cause embryo death on the 9th-15th day of incubation, while weakly virulent ones do not affect embryos. However, hatched chicks will be carriers of this disease and are dangerous for surrounding geese. Depending on the degree of virulence of the pathogen, the incubation period can be from two days or more.
In the case of an acute course of the disease, a dead geese suddenly appears among the apparently healthy geese. and more. Subsequently, the mortality rate of geese increases rapidly and can reach 90% or more. If the course of the disease is acute, the geese are depressed, lose their appetite, have a runny nose, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and diarrhea. Gradually, the bird becomes very weak and dies in about a day or three.
If the course of pasteurellosis is subacute, the clinical symptoms are the same, but they are less pronounced. Chronic course of the disease is accompanied by wheezing, edema of the interpulmonary space of the infraorbital sinuses, arthritis.
After diagnosing pasteurellosis, general veterinary and sanitary measures should be taken, restrictions are imposed on the farm, sick and weak individuals are slaughtered and then processed into meat and bone meal. A number of preventive measures are carried out on the farm to prevent the risk of spreading the disease to geese and it is explained how to use the vaccine.
The bird is vaccinated with an inactivated or live vaccine. When vaccinating with inactivated vaccines, where pasteurellosis has appeared, antibiotics are used at the same time – chloramphenicol or bicillin-3. These drugs are also used in drug therapy. When vaccinating with a live vaccine, antibiotics should not be used.
Neisseria goose disease
This disease is infectious, its main symptoms are as follows:
- the mucous membrane of the cloaca of geese turns red;
- fibrinous scabs are formed;
- bleeding erosions;
- swelling of the affected areas.
In males, other symptoms are observed during the disease:
- sclerotic inflammation of the penis;
- curvature and prolapse of the organ from the cloaca.
The causative agent of the disease is diplococci of the genus Neisseria. Along with this disease, the bird may exhibit:
- staphylococcus;
- streptococcus;
- Proteus and a number of other bacteria.
Neisseria usually affects geese older than 8 months, and ducks are also susceptible to this disease. Males are especially sensitive to neisseria.
The disease occurs in an epizootic form, characteristically, recovered adult individuals often suffer from infertility, and the number of unfertilized eggs can reach 45-90%. The mortality rate from neisseriosis among adult geese can be 3-12%. The carriers of the pathogen are sick and recovered individuals.
Birds are usually infected sexually, the pathogen can also be transmitted through infected litter, and transvarial transmission is also possible. The incubation period is from 3 to 15 days. The disease progresses during the period of active mating of adults. The disease can last 30-45 days. The bird loses weight sharply, and if a septic process begins, it dies.
All geese from affected flocks are given an intramuscular injection of bicillin-3 as a preventive measure. The injection is given once, the dose is 60000 units/kg of live weight, and an antibiotic (levomycetin or tetracycline) is added to the feed at a rate of 0,15 g ha for each individual in the morning and evening for 5 days. If necessary, the course of treatment is repeated after a week.
When the parent flock of geese is being assembled in the fall and during the period of active mating (every 30-45 days), the genitals of the geese should be examined in order to promptly cull sick and suspected individuals. The remaining birds are given antibiotics as a preventive measure. Females should be inseminated with sperm from healthy males. All poultry houses, walking areas, containers, and equipment should be disinfected according to the instructions.
The main diseases that can become the main causes of mass mortality in a flock of geese were described above. To prevent this from happening, preventive measures should be taken to reduce the risk of diseases. And if the diseases have already appeared, then appropriate drugs should be used to combat them.
We have told you which diseases of geese can destroy the flock. Take care of the birds!
If possible, please consider it. keeping any poultry on deep litter (sawdust + bacteria): the chicken coop is dry, warm in winter, no smell, no flies, and cleaning is done once every 3 years!
