Raising ducks and chickens is considered important in rural areas because it can be the main source of income for many people. But poultry keepers face various problems that cause losses, and bird flu is one of them: it can start killing all the birds on a farm.

1. All equipment and premises linked to the farm must be kept disinfected, with special attention to keeping the yard clean. You can use a NaOH2 solution to clean items kept on the farm, and a sodium hypochlorite chlorine solution to keep farm equipment clean.

2. Vehicles used to carry chickens, eggs and their feed must also be kept clean. Cages and other items can be sterilised with heat.

3. The farm's floor, roof and walls should be washed from time to time so germs cannot reach the chickens. Quaternary ammonium salts can be used to protect against germs, and a calcium hydroxide solution should be used on walls and floors.

4. Feeders must be cleaned and washed with disinfectant to keep them free of germs. Feed tanks should be emptied and washed with pressurised hot water so that germs or disease do not reach the birds.

5. Farm workers should use rectified spirit, Savlon or Dettol solution to keep their hands and feet clean. A cresolic acid solution can also be used to clean poultry farm floors, and solutions made from synthetic phenol can be used to clean the floor and protect it from germs.

6. Formalin and permanganate can be used for fogging the farm. Unused items lying around the farm should be destroyed, and farmers should remove farm waste, spoiled eggs, grass and chicken feathers.

7. Infected waste must be burned, and no waterlogging should be allowed there. Egg products can be burned along with chicken carcasses. If disease breaks out, infected poultry feed should be burned first. The clothes workers wear while burning infected birds and materials should also be burned.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.