Dropsy in chickens: causes and symptoms, methods of treatment for a swollen abdomen, what to do

Poultry farmers often have to deal with various diseases affecting birds. Dropsy in chickens is found on poultry farms around the world, it affects about 10% of the world's number of domestic birds. Therefore, it is important for farmers to learn to recognize pathological changes in order to take timely and adequate measures. Treat dropsy with medicines or folk remedies.

Causes of dropsy in chickens

Earlier, poultry farmers thought that dropsy was a hereditary disease. Breeders tried to create breeds immune to pathology, but in vain. The accumulation of fluid in the stomach was noted in birds of all breeds: both long-standing and recently bred.

Today it is known that dropsy is not an independent disease, but a sign of other pathologies in the bird's body, including metabolic disorders and hypovitaminosis. If the bird has a swollen belly, then you should suspect:

• violation of the body's water-s alt balance;
• past intestinal pathology;
• intestinal obstruction;
• disruption of the heart muscle;
• pathological changes in the kidneys and liver.

Hens of all ages get sick with dropsy: both broilers and laying hens.

In laying hens, dropsy occurs mainly in old age, when the laying period ends, and it is associated with liver wear.

In young broilers, the digestive tract does not digest food well, because the acidic environment is not fully formed in the stomach.Poorly digested mass, passing into the intestines, is not absorbed, nutrients do not enter the blood, but remain in the tract, as food for putrefactive bacteria.

Pathogenic microorganisms, as a result of vital activity, produce toxins that adversely affect the heart, kidneys, and liver. Blood stagnates in the vessels, fluid accumulates in the belly. This is how dropsy develops.

Main symptoms

Chickens develop dropsy of a specific type - the abdominal cavity. In this type, a significant amount of fluid accumulates in the bird's belly. The disease is manifested by the following symptoms:

• visual enlargement of the chicken belly;
• unnaturally shaped belly;
• sluggish, sedentary state of the bird, finding it mostly in a sitting position;
• short of breath;
• paw tension when walking.

The disease is accompanied by severe pain in the abdomen, although the body temperature of the sick individual remains normal. Dropsy is not contagious to other chicken coop dwellers.

Diagnosis of disease

It's easy to understand that a chicken has dropsy. You just need to press your fingers on your stomach. When sick, he is tense, and fluid is felt under the fingers.

What to do if the belly of a chicken is swollen?

An effective way to deal with dropsy has not yet been created. Usually veterinarians advise immediately to kill a sick individual. But some farmers feel sorry for prematurely slaughtering a bird in which a lot of money and labor has been invested. In this case, you can alleviate the torment of the chicken, for this they use medicines and folk methods.

Drug therapy

If dropsy is the result of an infectious disease carried by the chicken (eg salmonellosis), then the best treatment option is the use of acidifiers. These drugs:

• destroy pathogenic microflora found in food and drink;
• normalize digestive function;
• restore he althy intestinal microflora.

For the choice of acidifier, it is better to consult with a veterinarian. Most commonly used:

• DrSintes series medicines;
• Animalcide (in dissolved or dry form);
• Baracid;
• Celco Acid;
• Novibak (in the form of a solution);
• feed additives of the Mixodek series (a mixture of acids of different concentrations for chickens of all ages).

These drugs will not cure a sick chicken, but they will alleviate her condition. But the use of acidifiers helps prevent the appearance of infectious intestinal pathologies in other chickens.

Folk methods

There are two folk methods of dealing with dropsy:

• belly piercing;
• soldering a sick individual with decoctions of diuretic herbs (bearberry, St. John's wort, milk thistle).

After using any method, the diet of chickens is enriched with vitamins and minerals:

• ascorbic acid (vitamin C) - cabbage, tomatoes, peppers are added to the feed;
• phylloquinone (K) - food is enriched with green ingredients (lettuce, celery);
• calcium (its sources are oats, barley, peas).

In winter, a vitamin-mineral complex can be purchased at a pet store.

Treatment regimen

Treatment should be careful, it is important not to worsen the condition of sick chickens. Therefore, it is worth talking in detail about the methods of dealing with dropsy so that farmers do not make mistakes.

Acidifiers

Detailed instructions for using the drug are written on the packaging of acidifiers of all brands. All instructions practically do not differ from each other, the drugs work according to the same scheme. The differences are only in dosages and minor nuances of application.

General principle for the use of acidifiers:

• in the summer, 1000 kg of ready-made bird food is combined with 3 kg of the preparation (this ratio can be used to calculate the amount of acidifier for any amount of food);
• in the winter months, the concentration of the drug decreases, 1000 kg of feed and 2 kg of the drug are mixed (if you plan to use an acidifier in liquid form, then you need to take 1 ml of the substance for 1 liter of water).

Acidifiers are completely harmless to the body of birds, they do not accumulate in their tissues and organs.

Puncture of the abdominal wall

Many farmers are skeptical about the puncture of the belly of chickens. Inexperienced farmers do not risk doing this procedure at all, for fear of harming the birds. If there is any doubt that it will be possible to carry out the manipulation correctly, then it is better to contact a veterinary clinic.

For farmers who decide to fight dropsy on their own, instructions are given for puncturing the belly of a chicken:

• you need to take a large needle, sterilize it well in boiling water or an antiseptic solution;
• take a sick individual, try to calm her down;
• ask for help from a nearby person (one holds the bird, the second performs the operation);
• gently insert the needle into the belly, using a syringe to draw out the fluid from the abdominal cavity.

After the operation, the chicken stays in an isolated room for several days. She needs to calm down and recover. The water in the drinker is diluted with diuretic solutions.

Consequences of the disease

The poultry farmer must understand that dropsy of the abdominal cavity in chickens is an incurable disease. All the above measures are short-term, they allow the bird to live a little longer, but after a while the pathology returns.

The disease-carrying bird is lethargic, practically does not move, due to which venous blood stagnates in the tissues. Because of this, the sick individual dies. That is, the treatment of chickens is an unnecessary and costly measure.

Experienced poultry farmers advise not to waste time and money, but immediately send the diseased individual for slaughter. After plucking, it can be seen that the surface of the carcass is grayish-blue. If cut along the belly, a large amount of yellowish mucous liquid will begin to pour out.

Prevention measures

Dropsy in both adult chickens and broilers can be prevented by following the preventive recommendations below:

1. Every 3-4 days, dissolve the veterinary vitamin-mineral complex Forte Universal in water in drinking bowls. For 1 liter of drink, consume 8 grams of the drug.
2. From the first days of life of chickens, add Bifidum-SHL or another veterinary probiotic to their food. This drug helps to maintain normal microflora of the digestive tract.
3. Monitor the level of oxygen in the room where chickens and hens are kept. The optimal concentration of oxygen in the air is not lower than 20%.
4. Ventilation in the chicken coop should work so that air is supplied in a volume of 7 m^{3 per hour per 1 kg of bird weight.}

The owner must equip the chicken rooms so that they constantly maintain good air circulation so that harmful gases do not accumulate.

Dropsy is a non-infectious disease, harmless to the human body.Therefore, after slaughtering sick chickens, a person can safely eat their meat. The only problem is disgust: some owners, having seen enough of birds with swollen bellies, cannot eat them, throw away the carcasses.

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