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Show Care Should Be Taken To Prevent Loss Carelessness, ignorance and common com-mon carriers are costing Utah poultry poul-try men through disease losses over $1,000,000 in extra net profits, annually, an-nually, expert poultry veterinarians report after an intensive study if conditions. Visiters, poultry peddlars, cui dogs, rats, magpies, sparrows and other pests are largely responsible for these tremendous losses by spreading destructive maladies from coop to coop. Poultry men the state over should rise up in mass to assure for themselves these added returns by eliminating the pests, prohibit visitations and adopt a standard system of coop hygiene simple but effective. Announcement that the reduction and eventual elimination of disease losses in chicken flocks promises the greatest and most certain opportunity op-portunity for increased returns for Beehive state producers, was made recently by Dr. Hugh Hurst, poultry poul-try veterinarian for the Utah Poultry Poul-try Producers Cooperative Association. Associa-tion. This can readily be apppreciated when it is considered that thousands thous-ands and thousands of productive fowls are taken, annually in this state by the disease scourge. Reports Re-ports indicate that although poultry poul-try diseases are not as prevalent in Utah as in most other states, they are taking 15 to 25 per cent of this state's birds each year, much of the time without the owners knowing just what is happening. Reduction of these losses with no proportionate gain in overhead expense should double and may even ev-en trebble net profits to producers. When poultry men are making profits now despite the ravages of disease, any additional returns that do not increase expenses will of course be so much "velvet." "Prevention" ane: not "cure" is the solution of the disease problem. prob-lem. Eliminate the common carrier, car-rier, prohibit people access to poultry poul-try runs and houses and the first step towards the eradication of profit's greatest modern enemy has been taken. The v.hole-hearted cooperation of every poultry man in Utah, whether he owns one or 25,000 chickens, is necessary to obtain any permanent results. No individual or group of individuals can hope to solve the problem working alone. In this connection, if some sort of unified supervisory control of the care and handling of all flocss could be devised de-vised similar to that in operation in the poultry association, disease could be minimized within 60 days. 1 The next best thing seems to be the universal adoption of a scien-tuic scien-tuic system of coop hygiene and j sanitation, which if used by every , pi-Uitry man is certain to bring bi. itsults. It is set out by Dr. Hurst as follows: First destroy the pests mentioned and prohibit visitors in coops, whether they be friends or strangers. strang-ers. Next at regular intervals coops should be swept thoroughly and dusted, then cleansed with a solution solu-tion containing one pound of lye to every 30 gallons Dt water. After Af-ter this is allowed to stand 30 minutes min-utes it should be washed out with clean wacer, preferably under pressure pres-sure of some hose. Finally the entire surface of the coops and furnishings must be sprayed with some standard coal ta preparation using a three to six per cent solution depending upon up-on the killing strength of the reagent. re-agent. The lye solution which is applied until the whole surface is damp, destroys many of the germs and parasites' and the job is completed com-pleted by the disinfectant. General instructions are to repeat re-peat this procedure at least twice a year when there is no sign of disease. If disease is present in the neighborhood, the preventative measures should be used at least once per month, and is some malady breaks out in your own coop, twice per week is not too often. When a poultry disease epidemic is raging or a producer believes he may possibly carry germs to his own flocks, every available precaution pre-caution should be taken. The producer upon entering the coops should put rubbers over his shoes and then disinfect the overshoes by dipping them in 'the coal tar preparation. prep-aration. Further, his work clothes should be covered by a sterile jacket jack-et ci some sort. Such measures will prevent the transfer of germs from the producers clothes and shoes in the inside of his coops. Though elaborate, these preparations prepara-tions and precautions may save an entire flock. Carelessness and dis-logard dis-logard for detail may be disastrous. Instances are quite common where tingle inddividual producers have los. 100 per cent of their flocks without hardly knowing what has struck them. Others have lost thousands of birds and their resources re-sources crippled, and the lamentable lament-able thing is that sciintific disease prevention as suggested could have saved at last 75 per cent of these losses. Once bronchitis or chicken pox is contracted by a flock, cures are ve; y uncertain. Some of the sick biids may be revived and saved, however, by proper feeding and watering and the adoption of the greatest possible sanitary care. At the first indication of illness, the sick fowls and any others that have positively been "exposed, should be isolated immediately. Then the en. ire coop should be sterilized as previously recommended. If possible pos-sible a veterinarian should be called call-ed to diagnose the illness. Dead birds must be burned instead of Luried at all times, as the latter arc often dug up by dogs. Infectious bronchitis is the most deadly and destructive disease afflicting af-flicting Utah poultry. It is caused by a filtrable virus, which is ultra-microscope ultra-microscope in size. The first symptom of affliction is drowsiness. The infected birds become lazy and sluggish. Then they start to sneeze and cough a little, at the same time shaping their bodies into a "ball" form oy drawing ih the head and drooping the wings and tail. The sneezing and coughing becomes be-comes more violent, the birds' eyes water and their noses get plugged with mucus. If the diseased bird is not removed from the flock at once, every sneeze and cough scatters scat-ters bronchitis germs and death all over the coop. In addition to the numerous germs and bacteria that prey upon chickens there are countless varieties vari-eties of parasites which Dr. Hurst classes as contributing factors to mortality when associated with any disease. Healthy birds, like healthy heal-thy humans, are naturally mere resistent to disease and no bird can be at its best when covered with parasites inside and out. Though poultry disease is relatively rela-tively scarce in the Beehive state, its elimination promises a great source of potential revenue for Utah producers, as stated. To make these added profits pos sible, poultry experts the state over are directing a concerted offensive against poultry maladies. When an infected coup is found, a sign is tacked up warning people to beware be-ware of infected premises and reminding re-minding owners to maintain a constant con-stant vigilance themselcves, both for their own and other producers' protection. If the owners fail to take account of trie sign, the property prop-erty is placed under strict quarantine, quaran-tine, violators of which are subject to fines, prison sentences or both. To further the program of disease dis-ease prevention, classes, lectures and demonstrations are being held in the poultry centers throughout the state. Poultry veterinarians representing the state department of agriculture and the Utah poultry poul-try association are working overtime over-time to clean up existing ailments and prevent new outbreaks, and they are asking that all poultrymen give full support. Besides Dr. Hurst the list of poultry poul-try veterinarians who are working to eliminate disease in Utah, includes: in-cludes: Professor Byron Alder, poultry poul-try specialist at the Utah State Agricultural college; Dr. D. E. Mad-sen, Mad-sen, veterinarian in charge of the state pathological veterinary laboratory labor-atory at the college, and Carl Frishknicht, assistant poultry specialist spec-ialist at the U. S. A. C, besides the following members of the association's associa-tion's veterinarian staff: O. Wen-nergren Wen-nergren of Logan; C. T. Jones, American Fork; James W. Chambers, Cham-bers, Garland; W. E. Thorpe, Eph-raim; Eph-raim; R. C. Swalberg, Spanish Fork; S. E. Nelson, Preston, Idano; J. I. Curtis. Richfield; and N. C. Spalding Spald-ing of Provo. |