Common Poultry Diseases Overview

Meyer Hatchery, and our partner hatcheries, have a rigorous and continuous sanitation routine in place that includes every stage of the incubation process from start to finish. Additionally, our flocks go through a comprehensive vaccination process, and we are monitored continuously by NPIP and state vet officials who oversee and test the health of our flock and processes. Meyer Hatchery is NPIP certified with the additional classifications of AI clean and Salmonella monitored. Birds from Meyer Hatchery are disease-free. Your main weapon against any poultry disease is good poultry husbandry and biosecurity.  

Name	Age of Bird	How contracted?	How Diagnosed?	Prevention?	Treatment	Human Health Risks	Other Info
Marek's	symptoms begins at 3 week or older; death can occur as young as 8 to 10 weeks of age.	Contact w/infected chickens or environment; NOT transmitted through hatching eggs or on their shells	flock history, symptoms, postmortem findings	Vaccine (vaccination only gives chickens a chance to build resistance and reduces the instances of symptoms developing. It does not guarantee that they will be immune.) Meyer Hatchery can vaccinate your day-old chick orders, just select that option at checkout! Husbandry Biosecurity Marek's can survive YEARS in dust or litter	None	None known	Marek’s has an incubation period of about 2 weeks, and that, coupled with immunity passed from mother, means they will not show signs until they are at least 3 weeks of age. Marek's is MOST common in chicks 12-25 weeks of age
Newcastle	2+ days	inhalation or ingestion of the virus from body excretions of infected birds or carriers in air, water, or feed	Symptoms, but ultimately lab results	Biosecurity, Husbandry, vaccination	Time and reduced stress	Temporary (3-7 days) eye infection possible from handling vaccine or infected birds	Recovered birds are immune, but will be carriers for up to a month
Avian Influenza (AI)	Any age	contact with infected birds and their body discharges, husbandry, wild birds	Symptoms, but ultimately lab results	Biosecurity Meyer Hatchery is NPIP certified, AI clean and Salmonella monitored	if a mild case of AI - antibiotics to help prevent any secondary infections	the highly pathogenic form has the potential to infect humans but rarely does	This is a reportable disease; recovered birds are immune for several months, and lifelong carriers
Coccidiosis	10+ days	contact with infected droppings, supplies, or environment, wild birds	Flock history, but ultimately postmortem findings or fecal test	Sanitization Biosecurity 0-16 week chicks can be treated w/cocciodiostat	Amprollium	None known	May result in permanently stunted growth
Pullorum	Any age	Passes from infected breeders to chicks thru hatching eggs and from chick to chick in incubator/brooder	Symptoms, but ultimately lab results	Closed flock, purchase only from NPIP certified sources Meyer Hatchery is NPIP certified, AI clean and Salmonella monitored	None	Eating contaminated meat can cause acute intestinal infection	Recovered birds are carriers; this is a reportable disease
Blackhead's	4+ weeks; common in turkeys, rare in chickens	ingestion of infected droppings, earthworms, flies, insects; spread by wild birds	Symptoms, but ultimately postmortem findings and lab results	Husbandry, sanitization, regular worming, rotate flocks	None	None known	Recovered birds are carriers
Pox (dry) Also called Avian pox, chicken pox (not related to the human illness), cutaneous pox, fowl pox, and sore head.	Any age	Skin wounds from insect bites, dubbing, fighting, or other injury; feathers, scabs, and dander from infected birds.	Scabs on several birds, but ultimately lab results positive for the virus	Control of flies, mites, and mosquitoes.	Since it spreads slow, you can stop the spread by vaccinating as soon as you see signs. Otherwise, no treatment. Birds recover in about 4 weeks.	None	Incubation of 4-10 days

Reference:

The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow