Care of the chicken during monsoon
A. Maintenance of poultry houses

• Areas around the shed to the extent of 5 meters must be cleaned and free from shrubs and grasses. For efficient drainage system the drains should be cleaned. Leakage of roof must be corrected in time. If overhangs are provided sufficiently, rain water may seep in. necessary curtains of polythene may be provided without obstructing light. Care should also be taken to repair all cemented floor and to keep these dry as far as possible.
• In case of litter, all care must be exercised to keep these dry by checking the possible leakage of rain water from the window and sides of the house. Occasional wrecking of litter and mixing of drying agents such as lime-powder, gammoxene 5 % ammonium sulphate etc. will maintain the dryness. Wet litter on the otherhand will be the breeding ground of coccidiosis, enteries, worm infestation etc. the use of bagesse should be done with caution as it may harbour Aspergillus fumigatus, a mould which penetrates the lung tissue and produces ‘Brooders Pneumonia’ in chicks.

B. Feed storage

• Prior to monsoon sufficient quantity of feed should be stored to cover the entire need during rainy season otherwise during transportation food bags might get loaded with extra moisture from rain. Once purchased, feed bags should be stored on wooden planks one feet above the ground level as well as one feet from the side walls of the godown.
• If the inside humidity is high or there is any water leakage, the condition in any case will be inducing to heavy infestation fungi and molds. The most dreadful fungi affecting feeds like ground nut meal, maize, sunflower cake sesame meal etc. is Aspergillus flavus. The toxins produced by this species is known as aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2. The B1 type is actually toxic.
• The effect of feeding is reflected on poor growth, drop in egg production, low feed conversion, liver turns and even mortality in layers and broilers. However, there is no fixed safe level of aflatoxin in all kinds of livestock feed. 0.05 ppm level in broiler and 0.1 ppm level in layers were found to be practically tolerable levels. Duck and Turkeys are more susceptible to the toxin than chickens.

C. Storage of shell-grit: shell grit becomes scare in rainy season. Since it is a cheap ingredient and can be preserved for a long time, it will be a wise decision to store the material quite ahead of rainy season.

D. Storage of Fish-meal: after considering the total need, it is also advisable to procure good quality fish meal just before the rain starts. Otherwise the product may be get oxidized when stored at high humidity at sellers go down. The addition of an antioxidant, ethoxyquin to the fishmeal immediately following its manufacture will markedly preserve the original quality.

E. Improvement of water quality

• It is but natural that in rainy season water from well, ponds, rive or even from tap gets contaminated due to admixture of various microbes brought by percolation of mouldy rainwater through its environment.
• Treatment of drinking water with alum followe3d by sedimentation for 24 hours will purify the water. Another way of purifying water for drinking of birds may be done by mixing 2 gms. of bleaching powder containing 35% chlorine with 1000litres of clean drinking water and ultimately exposing the treated water for at least 3 hours before its actual use. Alternately ‘Medichlor’ at the rate of 10 ml in 100 litres of drinking water. The treated water should remain exposed for minimum 2-3 hours before being used.