Fowl Cholera in Chickens: Signs, Sudden Deaths and Prevention

What fowl cholera is and why it scares people

Fowl cholera is caused by a bacterium called Pasteurella multocida. The bacteria live in the throat and nose of some birds, and in the droppings of birds that have recovered or are carrier birds. That is the first thing to understand: a flock can look clean and still carry the organism.

What makes it frightening is the speed. A farmer who walks the house in the morning can find two birds dead and the rest feeding normally. Two days later the house can be losing birds every few hours. We have seen farmers call us after finding their best-feathered birds dead in the corner, which is a classic pattern for this disease.

Fowl cholera is not like a disease you see creeping up over a week. It can be acute, where birds die before you notice any sign, or it can drag on as a slower infection with swollen joints, watery eyes and weight loss. Both forms can appear in the same flock.

Signs to look for, bird by bird

In acute cases, the first sign is often a dead bird. The ones you see in the house may be the fastest birds in the flock, so the loss looks random. Before a bird dies you may notice some of these:

• Sudden lethargy, with the bird sitting apart from the group and not coming to the feeder.
• Fever-like signs: ruffled feathers, drooping wings and a bird that stands with its eyes half closed.
• Greenish, yellowish or watery droppings, sometimes with a foul smell.
• Discharge from the nostrils or beak, and in some birds a gurgling or rattling breath.
• Swollen wattles and sometimes a swollen face, though this is more common in the slower form.
• Lameness, hot or swollen joints, or a bird that cannot stand on one leg.

Look at the dead birds too. A bird with a swollen liver, enlarged spleen or small white spots on internal organs is telling you something. Your vet can examine those birds properly, and this is one of the most useful things you can do before the next bird dies.

Do not guess from one sign. Fowl cholera looks very much like other respiratory and gut diseases. Keep a note of what you saw, when, and in which pen, and send that with any bird you take to the vet.

How it gets into a house

Think of fowl cholera as a disease that rides on things. The bacteria do not need to fly. They need a route into the bird's mouth or nose, and everyday farm life provides plenty of routes.

1. Droppings and litter. A carrier bird sheds bacteria in its droppings. If the litter is wet, the bacteria survive longer and get kicked up into the air and onto feed.
2. Drinking water. A dirty drinker, a bell drinker sitting in spilled water, or a tank without cleaning is an easy way for the bacteria to move through the whole house.
3. Wild birds and rodents. Sparrows, pigeons and rats that come into feed stores and houses can carry the organism from farm to farm.
4. People and equipment. Boots, crates, trays and egg collectors that go from one house to another.
5. Stress. Birds that are crowded, too hot, or recently moved are more likely to get sick once exposed.

In Ghana we see the risk climb during the rainy season, when floors stay damp, feed gets wet in the store, and drinkers collect algae and soil. The harmattan can be a different problem: dry dust carries organisms on the air, and birds breathe in more of it through open-sided houses.

Why the rains make it worse

Wet weather is the most common setting we hear about. A flock that managed well through the dry months can run into trouble in the first heavy rains of the season, and the reasons are practical rather than mysterious.

Water finds its way under curtains, through gaps at the bottom of walls and along the wrong side of the drinker line. Litter that was dry on Monday is soggy by Friday. Birds spend more time crowded near the warm spots because the house is cold and damp, and crowding spreads everything faster.

Feed is the quiet culprit. A bag left against a wet wall for a week can take on moisture and mould. Stressed birds that eat less and drink less are easier to infect. If you are running a house in the rains and see a dip in appetite before any other sign, treat that as a warning and tighten your routine that same day.

Our rule of thumb for customers: if the litter is wet enough to stick to your hand when you squeeze it, the house is not ready for birds to stay in it that way.

A prevention routine that actually works

No single product stops fowl cholera on its own. What works is a routine that closes the routes described above. The steps below are general good practice; follow your vet's advice on any vaccine, treatment or additive, and on whether your area has a known history of the disease.

• Keep litter dry. Top up fresh material in the wet spots every day during the rains, and move drinkers so spills do not sit under them.
• Clean and disinfect drinkers at least weekly, and daily if the water looks cloudy or smells.
• Store feed off the floor, away from walls, and throw out any bag that smells musty or has clumps.
• Put a footbath at the entrance and change or clean boots when you move between houses.
• Keep wild birds and rats out with closed bins, sealed feed stores and tidy surroundings.
• Do not mix birds of different ages or from unknown sources in the same house.
• Quarantine any new birds and any bird that looks unwell before it joins the main flock.

For the full picture of farm hygiene, the steps in our biosecurity guide go into zones and footbaths in more detail. The cleaning side of it is covered in our coccidiosis article, because the wet-litter problem is the same. Chicks that arrive stressed from a long road trip are also more likely to struggle in a damp house, which is why our transit mortality article is worth reading before you receive a delivery. If your flock is in the coastal belt near Kasoa, our local page explains how we pack and dispatch.

Vaccination: what to ask your vet

Vaccines exist for fowl cholera and are used in some flocks, particularly where the disease has been seen before. Whether your flock needs one, which product, and when, is a decision for your vet. Vaccination is one layer of protection, not a replacement for clean management, and no vaccine will rescue a flock kept in wet litter.

As a typical example only, a vet might plan a vaccine for birds at around the point they go to lay or before the rainy season, with a booster if the product requires one. That is an example of a timetable, not a prescription. Your own vet knows your flock, your region and the products available in Ghana, so follow your vet's advice on every step.

When you talk to your vet, ask these questions:

1. Has fowl cholera been diagnosed in this area in the past two years?
2. Do you recommend vaccination for my flock, and at what age?
3. How long does protection last, and is a booster needed?
4. What signs after vaccination should I report straight away?
5. What should I do with any birds that die suddenly?

Telling fowl cholera apart from other sudden problems

Several diseases can kill birds quickly. Use this table as a starting point for your conversation with the vet, not as a diagnosis.

If more than a few birds are affected in two or three days, do not wait to see if it settles. Call your vet, send the notes you kept, and keep the affected birds separate while you wait.

The first day after you see deaths

The first 24 hours matter more than most farmers expect. The steps are simple, but they are easy to skip when you are tired and upset.

1. Write down how many birds died, which pen, what time you found them and what the survivors looked like.
2. Separate any birds that are clearly sick. Use a separate pen with its own feeder and drinker, and do not carry the same bucket between pens.
3. Remove dead birds with gloves and keep them in a sealed bag or a covered pit away from the house. Do not leave them lying in the litter.
4. Check drinkers, feed and litter, and fix obvious water leaks and wet patches.
5. Call your vet, describe the signs, and ask whether a post-mortem on a fresh bird is worth doing.
6. Wash your hands and change boots before going into any other house.

Do not start giving medicines on your own because a neighbour said something worked. Follow your vet's advice on any treatment, including whether it is needed at all.

When to stop waiting and call

Most farmers call the vet too late, usually because they hope the problem will pass. These are the points where we tell customers to pick up the phone the same day:

• Two or more birds die suddenly in one day, with no obvious cause such as heat.
• Birds are dying in more than one pen, or the illness has moved from a pen to the next.
• Birds show swollen joints, limping or a fever-like look along with the deaths.
• Egg production or feed intake drops sharply over a few days.
• You are not sure whether the deaths are normal for your flock.

Calling early costs you a phone call. Waiting too long can cost the flock. Your vet is the right person to decide what to do next. Other diseases can look similar in the early stages, so it helps to read up on the Newcastle disease signs and the Gumboro age window so that you can describe what you are seeing clearly. Our about page explains who we are, and the FAQ answers the common questions we get about farm visits and chick health.

What we see from the hatchery side

We do not treat birds on our farm. Our job is hatching and dispatching day-old chicks, and we keep our own houses clean to avoid bringing problems into the chicks we send out. The people who call us about fowl cholera are usually buying chicks for a farm that has already had a bad season, so the questions tend to be about biosecurity, not chick quality.

When customers ask what they should change first, our answer is usually the drinkers and the litter. Those two things are cheap, easy to check every day, and they reduce a lot of risk. We also tell people to keep a simple record of mortality. The record-keeping guide shows the columns we recommend. A pattern of deaths in one pen on the same day each week tells you more than a single bad morning.

Every chick we ship comes with a batch record showing the vaccines given at the hatchery. That record is useful when you talk to your vet, because it shows what the chicks already had before they reached your farm. It does not replace the vet's plan for your flock.

A weekly fowl cholera checklist

Print this list and put it on the house door. The point is to make the boring things happen every week, so that the one bad week does not catch you unprepared.

• Walk the house and check litter in the corners, under drinkers and near the doors.
• Look at every drinker for slime, algae, soil and leaks.
• Clean and disinfect drinkers, then refill with fresh water.
• Check the feed store for damp, mould, rodent droppings and open bags.
• Refresh the footbath and check that it is at the entrance.
• Note any deaths, the pen, the date and the signs you saw.
• Check that vaccination dates match your vet's schedule and that the record is up to date.
• Call your vet about any change that you cannot explain.

If you are just starting out

A new farmer usually has two worries: losing birds and spending money on the wrong things. Fowl cholera fits both. You can avoid most of the risk by planning the house and the routine before the birds arrive, rather than fixing it after the first deaths.

Build the house so that rain does not reach the litter. Put drinkers where spills will not soak the floor. Keep a footbath and a clean box for tools at the entrance. Agree a vet before you need one, and ask them to show you what a healthy bird looks like on a visit. A farmer who knows what normal looks like is far quicker to spot the first abnormal bird.

Keeping fowl cholera out of your house

Fowl cholera is a disease of routine. The bacteria are always somewhere in the environment, and the birds that get sick are usually the ones whose house is wet, crowded or stressed. Fix the water, the litter and the entrance, and you remove most of the reasons it gets in.

If you are planning a new flock, buying day-old chicks from a source you trust is the first step. You can see how we handle that on our day-old chicks page, check what is on the list in our price guide, and reach us directly on WhatsApp at +233 24 915 1503 with questions about your house. For delivery arrangements to other regions, see our delivery page, and you can place an order through the order form once you have decided on your numbers.

Questions farmers ask