Veterinary Services

A sudden die-off in a small batch of home-reared bantam chicks was investigated. Four chicks were submitted and all had severe pulmonary congestion, attributed to possible heat stress in the brooder. The incident was reported to the State Veterinary Service who conducted a visit to the premises and ruled out any risk of involvement of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Starveout was suspected following significant mortality in ducklings purchased as day-olds from the south of England. Seventy-five deaths from a batch of 1600 birds were reported. Post mortem examination showed very pale livers and empty gizzards typical of starveouts.

A combination of yolk sac infection, starveouts and kidney failure was found in broiler chicks with elevated first-week mortality. The birds were noted to be variable in size on delivery.

The owner of a 32,000 free-range hen unit reported a recent increase in the mortality rate to an average of sixteen birds per day. Examination of seven carcases revealed moderate to good body condition but poor feathering. Two of the birds were found to have acute egg peritonitis and two had chronic egg peritonitis. Another bird showed evidence of severe vent pecking, and cannibalism with partial evisceration was noted in another carcase.

Classical Marek’s disease was diagnosed in an eighteen-month layer that lost condition and died.

A two-year-old captive capercaillie died after an illness of ten days. The bird was thin and post mortem examination revealed consolidation of the cranial half of one lung, from which Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated. Another capercaillie had died suddenly when this bird first became ill but was not examined.

Wild birds

Numerous swans, waterfowl and other wild birds were examined under the national surveillance programme for avian influenza. Not all carcases were suitable for detailed examination, but trauma was a common cause of death, affecting several species. Starvation was responsible for die-offs in auks such as guillemots (Uria aalge) and razorbills (Alca torda) – such incidents, often referred to as "wrecks", can occur if there are temporary shortages of available food caused by rough seas or changes in fish behaviour. Avian tuberculosis was diagnosed in mute swans (Cygnus olor) and in a pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus), and aspergillosis caused the deaths of mute swans and a whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus).

Several reports of multiple deaths in siskins (Carduelis spinus) were reported. A non-lactose or late-lactose-fermenting E. coli was consistently isolated from the birds, and subsequently serotyped as E. coli O86. This organism typically causes deaths in siskins (and to a lesser extent other finches) in the months March to May.