Pasturella in chickens

[Sue]

I will be getting my first hens in March and I am a little concerned as I understand Pasturella can cause a problem for chickens. I used to keep rabbits and several of them had conditions related to Pasturella. My question is this - is Pasturella something that can be in a certain environment and if so, is there anything I can do about it. My rabbits were inside large hutches inside a large airy, well lit wooden shed and only occasionally went outside on the grass, but they were still affected. We do have the odd rats in the area, but so does everyone else. I understand it can be carried by rats. Would appreciate any advice from experienced hen keepers, or even vets!

 

[Chicken Vet]

Hello,

There are several actions you can take to help reduce the chance of Pasturella developing.

Rodent control is an important consideration when keeping chickens, we would advise that you place Bait Stations around the hen housing area and make sure that these are regularly topped up with poison. If the poison is disappearing then you know you have rats and mice still visiting. Please remember that it is important to ensure that these are kept out of harm’s way of other pets and children.

Always provide your hens with fresh clean water on a daily basis and remember to disinfect your feeders and drinkers regularly, this reduces the opportunity for bacteria to multiply and cause problems.

The other important area to keep clean is the run and coup. The coup will need all organic material removing on a weekly basis and regularly disinfecting with a glutaraldehyde type disinfectant such as Rhodasept. If your hens roam on bark chippings then these should be removed on a yearly basis and replaced with fresh bark.

Chickens usually develop Pasturella only as a secondary infection after respiratory diseases such as IB and Mycoplasma have infected the hen. Please look at our recent article on Respiratory diseases. When you purchase new hens we would always advise that you ensure they have come from a reputable supplier and have been vaccinated and free of disease. If introducing to existing hens then ideally quarantine for at least three weeks to ensure they are disease free.


Best Wishes,

Chicken Vet

 

[Sue]

Thank you for your reply 'chicken vet'. I will be doing my best to prevent rats. They won't be able to get into the house or run, but I can't prevent them having access to the garden, where the hens will be roaming. I thought I read somewhere that there was a vaccination for Pasturella. Can you tell me whether this is in fact the case and whether it would be worth doing, or do I just need to try to avoid any respiratory disease?

The reason this is concerning me so much is because my rabbits were never anywhere rats had been and so I don't know how they would have picket it up. Is it something that can be carried in the air or how is it picked up?

 

[Tim]

Without wishing to interfere, I wanted to say something (and you can imagine how busy Chickenvet gets - so just in case....)

Rats are really bad news for chickens - it is essential to keep on top of numbers or they will suddenly multiply like mad. With chicken feed around and fresh water they will thrive so agree totally with CV on the Rats...

Good general housekeeping is basicly what I would be thinking of - firstly with the rats and then an ongoing program of keeping the birds clean. There are diseases all around but I have found over the years that a good strong immune system (ie healthy birds) through a good diet will keep most problems away.

'Secondary' infection is basically when a bird becomes ill with one thing which causes them to pick up something else that's passing.

I quote from Chickenvets Respiritory Disease in Chickens article:

"....are mostly viruses which will not respond to antibiotics. However these viruses often damage the respiratory system sufficiently to allow secondary bacteria such as E. coli and Pasteurella to cause infection and in severe cases blood poisoning."

So by keeping the chooks fit and healthy and not allowing one disease to take hold, you are stopping another! Bingo

I don't know much about Rabbits - but if there was a possibility of Rats getting in somewhere (they can squeeze through very small holes) this might explain it??

 

[Chicken Vet]

Hello,

We agree with Tim, hygienic conditions are the best way to avoid illness. Unfortunately rats are extremely common and if your rabbits were housed in a shed and grazed on grass they would have almost undoubtedly come into contact with rats.

Keep everything clean, control rodents, feed healthy diets and obtain hens from reputable suppliers and you will be doing your very best to keep happy, healthy hens.


Chicken Vet

 

[karlooben]

please can you give me some more info on Pasturella please its something i have never heard of before not that i am geting paranoid :lol: but its great to always learn something new and i loked it up online but didnt seem to find out much on it .

 

[Tim]

I think it's Pasteurella multocida a bacteria.

As far as I'm aware, it's not that common in poultry but is found in many mammals. Rats are well known as the infective source and the disease is commonly called 'Fowl Coholera'. I haven't looked but you might find out more looking for this.

There is a vaccine according to my book and antibiotics can be effective.

 

[karlooben]

thanks tim