Occurrence of Respiratory Affections in Commercial Broiler Chicken Reared in Srinagar (J&K) India

The present study was aimed to study the occurrence of respiratory tract affections in chickens in urban and suburban areas of Srinagar. A total of 186 broiler flocks with flock strength ranging from 374 to 10,000 birds were screened. Clinical history, mortalities and morbid pathology were noted. Studies carried out included evaluating mortality pattern with special reference to clinical and postmortem examination of respiratory involvement, estimation of mortality due to respiratory involvement on the basis of necropsies conducted. Overall mortality recorded was 3.5%, with the flock wise mortality ranging from 1.1 to 20%. Clinical signs observed were dullness, depression, ruffled feathers, nasal exudate, rales, cough, sneezing, dyspnoea, conjunctivitis and swollen head. Necropsy of 5200 carcasses revealed 46.79%, 55.43% and 44.79% occurrence of lesions in trachea, lungs and air sacs respectively. The gross lesions observed in trachea included congestion (28.97%), exudates (26.52%), congestion + exudates (26.16%), haemorrhage (4.76%) and caseous plug in larynx and trachea (13.81%). Lesions observed in lungs included congestion (100 %), consolidation (13%), nodular lesions (6.6%) and urate deposits (3.81%). Air sacs showed cloudiness (67.3%), thickening with fibrinous or caseous deposits (32.69%) and urate deposits (3.06%).The present study revealed that respiratory tract affections constitute an important component of morbidity and mortality among broiler chicken reared in Srinagar and its adjoining areas.