Specific pathogen eradication programmes are routine. The high cost of medication encourages routine sensitivity testing prior to or in conjunction with medication. Finally, since generation intervals are short, we are able to achieve disease control in ways that are not available to other production systems. It was formerly believed that a single bacterium or virus causes a single disease. In the poultry industry, the environment, bacteria and viruses all interact to create a very complex landscape.
Poultry production is based on a pyramid.
At the apex of the pyramid is a very small population of elite breeding birds. These are supported by the hatcheries and processors. Given that one male selected by the primary breeder could theoretically contribute genes to up to 2 million broiler chickens, disease resistance can spread very rapidly. We face a wide variety of production issues, ranging from production planning to dead bird disposal. The actual application of the aforementioned items must naturally be adapted to local circumstances.