Veterinary Services

Salmonella Pullorum was isolated from the eggshells and yolk sacs of unhatched chicks from a farm where only 25 of 72 eggs had hatched. Previously S. Pullorum was isolated from ill-thriven chicks on this site.

Profuse growths of Pasteurella multocida were isolated from two layers showing septicaemia and sinusitis at postmortem examination. Sinusitis had been observed in the flock some months earlier and had been treated with antibiotics. Signs of disease returned four weeks after younger pullets joined the main flock.

Game birds

Coccidiosis was the most frequent diagnoses made in pheasants, three to five weeks of age. Presenting signs were variable but included failure to thrive, seeking heat, diarrhoea and raised mortality. On some sites clinical disease may have been precipitated by adverse weather or by bitting to control feather pecking. Coccidiosis was also diagnosed in red-legged partridges aged four weeks.

Rotavirus infection was confirmed in three batches of pheasant chicks aged seven to 10 days, showing signs such as chilling, diarrhoea, stickiness of the feathers, and elevated mortality. Rotavirus infection was also diagnosed in pheasants aged one week that were smaller than expected, and in birds aged two weeks with increased mortality – disease on this site may have been precipitated by an abrupt change from crumbs to mini-pellets. A combination of coccidiosis and rotavirus was found in a batch of pheasants aged three weeks that had never thriven since arrival as day-old chicks. Infection with rotavirus was also confirmed in a batch of 2000, six-day-old, red-legged partridges in which approximately 400 birds died. In all batches birds were found with yellow fluid or frothy caecal contents typical of rotavirus infection.

Colisepticaemia was diagnosed in two-week-old pheasant chicks. The estate reported 500 deaths from the batch of 4400. Disease may have been precipitated by a failure of the thermostat on the ventilation system.

Spironucleosis (hexamitosis) was confirmed in pheasant chicks aged one week, an unusually young age to be affected. Mortality in the batch of 800 reached 15 per cent, and very large numbers of motile protozoa with the morphology of Spironucleus species were present in smears from the small intestine. The problem only affected birds in one shed. The SAC suggested that the birds had been exposed to massive environmental contamination. More typical was an outbreak of spironucleosis in pheasants aged five weeks with a history of rising mortality and scour. Affected birds were uneven in weight and in moderate to poor condition. Fluid and frothy contents were evident in the small intestine and approximately half of the birds had frothy fluid caecal contents.

Aspergillosis was diagnosed in pheasants aged two weeks and three weeks. Postmortem examination of the younger birds revealed no gross abnormalities other than one chick with a swollen eye due to a white caseated mass within the conjunctival sac. White nodular lesions were present in the lungs and air sacs of the older birds. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from the lungs of both age groups.

Pigeons and cage/aviary birds

Salmonella Typhimurium phage type 2 was isolated from the brain, liver, heart-blood and intestine of a three-month-old racing pigeon. Problems of weight loss and central nervous system signs were described, and six of 60 young pigeons had died or been culled.

Neurological signs were also reported in a collection of border canaries. Three out of 50 young canaries exhibited blindness and loss of balance for several months. Histopathological examination of the brain of an euthanased bird demonstrated a non-suppurative meningo-encephalitis consistent with a diagnosis of toxoplasmosis.

Large numbers of "megabacteria" (Macrorhabdos ornithogaster) were found in proventricular smears from a young budgerigar – several birds in the collection were fluffed up, had green faeces and were grinding their seed.