In this lesson, you will learn to
- ✓Know the thresholds that trigger a call, without waiting
- ✓Prepare what the veterinarian will ask for: record sheet, photos, fresh bird, feed
- ✓Build a working relationship with the local veterinarian, and know what NEXTEKCI can provide
The call thresholds
| Signal | Threshold | Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| Mortality | More than 1% in one day in the first week; more than 0.5% per day two days in a row after that; any sudden peak | The same day |
| Water | Consumption down 10 to 15% without the heat having dropped | Within the day |
| Nervous signs | Twisted neck, paralysis, trembling, circling | Immediately (possible Newcastle disease) |
| Droppings | Blood, white or green diarrhoea in many birds | The same day |
| Breathing | Rattling at night, swollen faces, beak open at rest in many birds | The same day |
| Laying | Drop of more than 5% in one week, abnormal eggs | Within 24 h |
| Growth | Uniformity below 70%, growth curve broken with no cause found | Within the week |
Simple rule: when in doubt, call. A call for nothing costs a phone call; a late call costs a flock.
Preparing the call
- The record sheet: age of the flock, number of birds, deaths per day, water and feed consumption, vaccines and treatments already given with their dates. A photo of the record sheet sent to the veterinarian on WhatsApp.
- Photos and videos: sick birds (posture, droppings, eyes, legs), litter, house, and a short video of the flock with sound (rattling).
- One or two freshly dead birds (from that day), kept cool, never frozen, or a live sick bird for the post-mortem.
- A sample of feed from the bag in use, and the bag's label.
- What has changed: new bag, breakdown, storm, visitor, vaccine, weighing.
What you do while you wait
- Isolate the house; remove and isolate the sickest birds; plenty of fresh water.
- Correct the environment: litter, ventilation, heat at night.
- Put nothing in the water without advice: no antibiotic “while waiting”, no mixing in of the neighbour's products. They blur the diagnosis and create resistance.
- Do not sell, do not move birds.
The local veterinarian, and NEXTEKCI
Your local veterinarian is the one who prescribes for you, vaccinates, carries out post-mortems, reports. Choose them before the chicks, agree on a visit at brooding and one at mid-flock, and pay them: a veterinarian who knows your farm reacts better. The State veterinary services step in for notifiable diseases.
NEXTEKCI, for its part, provides support for the 72 hours following delivery and answers technical questions on WhatsApp at +225 05 44 83 27 79 (photos and videos welcome), and Maria, the online assistant, answers at any hour on the website. This support does not replace the veterinarian: it helps you know when and how to call them.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Have the local veterinarian's number on the record sheet and in your phone before the chicks; include their fee in the flock's budget.
- ›Give your technician the right to call the veterinarian directly as soon as a threshold is crossed, without waiting for your approval.
- ›Forbid any product in the water without a prescription: it also protects you at the time of sale.
For the technician
- ›Thresholds displayed in the house; call the same day as soon as a threshold is crossed, with the record sheet and photos.
- ›A freshly dead bird kept cool (never frozen), a feed sample, the list of what has changed.
- ›Isolation, environment corrected, nothing in the water while waiting.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- What are our call thresholds, and are they displayed in the house?
- If a threshold is crossed this evening, who do you call, and what do you send even before they arrive?
- When did the veterinarian last visit the farm?
Key points
- •Thresholds: mortality (1%/day in week 1; 0.5%/day two days in a row; peak), water −10 to 15%, nervous signs (immediately), blood or diarrhoea, rattling, drop in laying > 5%.
- •When in doubt, call; a late call costs a flock.
- •Prepare: record sheet, photos and video, freshly dead bird not frozen, feed sample, what has changed.
- •While waiting: isolate, correct the environment, nothing in the water, do not sell.
- •Local veterinarian chosen before the chicks; NEXTEKCI as back-up on +225 05 44 83 27 79 and with Maria.