Post-mortem of Chicken: Steps And Results

Poultry business is a very promising and lucrative business; it is one of the fastest ways to make money from agriculture. However, as lucrative as the business is, it has just one cog in its wheel, it is the poultry birds’ diseases. When poultry birds are down on any disease, the productivity of the birds is greatly affected and this can reduce the profitability of the business

Rearing chickens from a day old to maturity is not a small feat, the birds are prone to lots of infections and diseases, so any time you observe a change in the behavior of your chickens, you should know that something is wrong with their health. At times, sudden death can occur without any prior signs; when this happens, you need to carry out a post-mortem examination on the dead chicken to uncover the cause of the death for further prevention.

How Post-Mortem in Chicken Works

Post-mortem operation is an operation carried out on dead birds to know the real cause of their death. Its result will give you a precise and relevant solution. A post-mortem is done when there is acute mortality on the farm claiming a humongous number of chickens. This operation reveals the actual cause of the mortality and the actual medication to prevent further outbreaks of such disease.

During the post-mortem, the chicken’s internal organs like the liver, gizzard, small and large intestines, kidney, crop, and other parts. It is believed that some infections and diseases usually target a particular part of the chicken, for example, coccidiosis infection affects the small intestine of the chicken.

A post-mortem test examines each part of the chicken, particularly the internal parts, reveals the condition of the part, and tells if a particular infection is domiciled in it. The dead chicken is used as a specimen for the post-mortem and it is usually done in the laboratory.

  Steps Involved In Carrying Out a Post-Mortem in Chicken

Prior to carrying out the post-mortem on the chicken, you should first check your environment for any causative agent like the nature of the litter material. Check the moisture content level of the litter material; check the birds’ droppings for any changes. After these, the major poultry post-mortem operation starts and it goes thus;

Step 1: Soak the Bird in water to prevent the spread of infections through the spreading feathers.

Step 2: Cut the skin of the chicken’s thigh, if there is spotted blood on the thigh it is a sign of GUMBORO DISEASE but to confirm this check the chest if the same blood spots stain the chest, then you conclude the bird has GUMBORO disease

Step 3: Check the intestine; if you observe that there is excess fat on the intestine, it means the chicken has PROLAPSE. 

Step 4: Check the gizzard; if you notice the gizzard is greenish in color, it is a MIXED INFECTION, use antibiotics for 3-5 days.

Step 5: Check the liver; If there are spots on the liver, the disease is LEUCOSIS. Apply antibiotics to treat this.

Step 6: Check the proventriculus; If there are blood spots on the proventriculus, the disease is NEWCASTLE DISEASE.  Use antibiotics and when the birds are well treated apply Newcastle disease vaccine.

Step 7: Check the intestine; if the intestine looks brownish or of cola color when cut, it means the bird has  COCCIDIOSIS.  

NOTE: If any of the above results could be seen on a chicken, it is advisable to treat the remaining chickens on the farm against the disease revealed from the post-mortem examination. Also, a bird cannot have all the above diseases but one or two may be observed. 

Lastly, post-mortem is very important when you observe the sudden death of your chickens. Effective treatments and vaccinations should be administered to prevent further losses. Also, do not vaccinate sick birds, rather give necessary treatments before vaccination; vaccination prevents diseases while treatment cures diseases. 

Read also:

• HOW TO RUN A FREE-RANGE CHICKEN FARMING SUCCESSFULLY
• 7 MISTAKES THAT MAKE POULTRY BUSINESS FAIL  
• KUROILER CHICKEN VS NOILER CHICKEN: DIFFERENCES AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS
• CHICKEN FEEDING GUIDE: FOR BROILERS AND LAYERS
• COCCIDIOSIS IN POULTRY: CAUSES AND TREATMENT

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