Chickens: Chicken Gout

Among the large number of different diseases observed in chickens, gout is especially worth highlighting. This disease is also called uric acid diathesis. It is characterized by the deposition of uric acid salts in tissues and organs.

Uric acid can accumulate in the blood of birds due to increased feeding of animal protein feeds. Such products are: fish, fishmeal, meat and bone meal. Gout can also occur if only dry concentrated feeding is used, with a lack of essential amino acids, if the diet is high in vegetable protein, with a lack of movement or a lack of ultraviolet rays.

If gout is detected in chickens, urgent action must be taken. First of all, the bird should be isolated from the rest of the livestock. An important role in the treatment of uric acid diathesis is played by the condition of the room in which the diseased chicken is kept.

The health of a sick individual is negatively affected by high humidity in the chicken coop, damp dirty bedding, low temperatures, high contamination of the feed with various bacteria and fungi, as well as a high salt content in food. Gout can develop due to a lack of vitamin A in the bird’s body.

For the treatment and prevention of uric acid diathesis, it is necessary first of all to balance the diet in terms of vitamin and protein composition. Essential amino acids must be present in the feed, and additional greens and succulent feed must be added. Regular food in the feeder should be hay, grass meal and haylage. It does not hurt to include cabbage, carrots, fresh grass, fermented milk products in the feed.

All year round, various additives and mineral elements should be added to poultry feed: shells, gravel, crushed shells, chalk, old slaked lime, natural gypsum and others. And in order for the supplements to be better absorbed, they are given to chickens with grains, vegetable fat, yeast and other products.

In some cases, lactate or calcium gluconate can be added to the feed. Such supplements are not recommended for more than 15 days.

Anna Evans

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