Newcastle disease: Signs, prevention and treatment

Annette Muhavi, a poultry Technician vaccinates chicks in KALRO Offices, Kakamega. [Mumo Munuve, Standard]

Every poultry farmer keeping a large number of birds for commercial purposes is mainly concerned with three or four issues, with the ability to raise flocks with minimum mortality losses (high survival rates) being paramount. For broiler farmers, a final mortality rate of 2-5 per cent is acceptable until birds are sold off at 35-37 days of age, while for layer farmers, a survival rate of 90 per cent over a period of 24-28 months is acceptable. Other factors that farmers must manage include nutrition and the cost of poultry feed, basic animal husbandry practices, and access to markets. Today, we will focus on a respiratory disease of poultry called Newcastle disease, which every farmer needs to know about.