More recent poultry questions and answers

Poultry

Silkie chickens dying

I just found another dead silkie. The first one that died was a hen that had a huge tumor on her neck. What can cause that? Today the rooster died. Is this a disease or is it because of the cold weather? I brought my last chicken into the basement. I clean the coop every spring and put down fresh pine shavings. Can you help me?

It is pretty tough to diagnose something without looking at the birds. However, it would appear that you could have a number of diseases such as Marek's, which is a cancer-like disease caused by a virus and thus without cure. I would suggest that you inject the remaining bird with a broad-spectrum antibiotic that would be available at most farm stores. Penicillin or whatever they carry will do. I would also suggest you move the bird to a new location as whatever is infective may still be there.

Jeff Firman
Animal Sciences

Gander mating duck

I have Chinese gander, a Chinese goose, a Pekin drake and three Pekin ducks. The gander mates with one of the ducks, but not the goose. Is it possible for the gander to cross with the duck? The duck is laying eggs. Would they be fertile?

I am not aware of a natural mating of a duck and a goose resulting in a fertile egg. However, the cross of a Muscovy drake with a Pekin duck will hatch mule ducks. Artificial insemination techniques are used to mate the Muscovy male to the Pekin female.

In Europe and Asia many mule ducks are produced because they are large, have quality liver and a fat content in the carcass. Muscovy (a duck from South America) and domestic ducks (such as the Pekin, which were developed from Mallards) are very different. They have been genetically isolated for over 50 million years.

Jesse Lyons
Animal Sciences

Turkey fights

I have about 15 turkeys. Four are currently laying eggs. One hen has a large open lesion on her back area and blood on her beak. I separated the hen from the flock and treated the wound, but have discovered two other hens with lesser but similar lesions. I noticed some fighting between rival hens when a new group of turkeys was introduced into the existing group, but this stopped and they seem to be getting along. What is the cause of these wounds and what treatments should be attempted?

It sounds like they are working on each other. This is usually a sign of stress or some type of nutrient deficiency. If the birds are not crowded or something else is causing stress, I would guess a feed problem. Do they have a complete mixed feed suitable for laying birds? Do you have a calcium source available at all times? If not, I would do so. Sometimes small flock owners forget birds need to be provided with vitamins and minerals unless they are out getting fresh forage and bugs.

Jeff Firman
Animal Sciences

Blackhead treatment for turkeys

What medications treat histomoniasis, blackhead in turkeys?

Four drugs are effective; Carbarsone, Nitarsone, Ipronidazole and acidified copper sulfate. The copper is probably the only one that would be readily available and is probably less effective than the others. Since this organism works through cecal worms, a good worming program helps dramatically as well as moving birds on range frequently.

Jeff Firman
Animal Sciences

Turkey diseases

I am an assistant professor at the university research farm at Chennai, Tamil, Nadu, India. I would like to know more about turkey disease management. We have a flock of about 800. Can you tell me about avian pox, blackhead and pendulous crop conditions?

Here are my thoughts on the three disease problems you asked about.

Avian pox is occasionally seen in the flock (all species) with brown to black scabs seen on the unfeathered skin of affected birds. These cutaneous pox lesions usually resolve without complication although lesions on the eyelid can lead to secondary bacterial infections of the eye. These eye lesions can cause blindness and lead to the death of the bird. In diphtheritic pox (wet pox) lesions are seen in the upper respiratory and digestive tracts and low to moderate mortality may occur. With wet pox birds will often stop eating and the pox lesions may cause a blockage of the trachea. Gross lesions are highly suggestive of avian pox and histopathology is diagnostic. Vaccination is recommended if the flock is in an area where endemic pox is a regular problem. Turkeys are vaccinated in the lateral mid-thigh region as wing web vaccinations may sometimes spread pox lesions to the head. The virus must have a skin lesion to allow it to infect the host so measures to prevent trauma and cannibalism can prevent the spread of the disease. Biting insects can spread the virus from a viremic bird to a naive host and these circumstances result in the most severe flock outbreaks of pox. Naturally, when possible, the control of biting insects can dramatically stop the spread of this virus.
Histomoniasis (blackhead) is an often-fatal disease of turkeys that also can affect chickens, peafowl, guinea fowl, and game birds. This disease is caused by Histomonas meleagridis a protozoal organism that needs the cecal nematode Heterakis gallinarum of the chicken to complete its life cycle. Recent research suggests that Ascaridia spp. can also be the intermediate host for this parasite. It is because of this disease that it is not recommended to allow chickens and turkeys to live on the same range. Affected poultry develop sulfur colored diarrhea, become depressed and anorectic, and die. The lesions of histomoniasis develop in the liver and ceca. Large areas of hepatic necrosis (0.5 to 1.5 centimeter diameter) have a diagnostic "target-like" appearance. Initial cecal lesions are a serous/hemorrhagic exudate that develops into a cheesy cecal core. Recent FDA regulations (USA only) have removed the two most effective treatments for histomoniasis in turkeys, dimetridazole and ipronidazole. For individual bird treatments, such as for peafowl not intended for human consumption, metronidazole (Flagyl TM) can be administered at 60 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, for 5 consecutive days. Treated birds should be moved to non-contaminated premises to prevent reinfection. Nitarsone (Alpharma Inc.)also has label claims for the prevention of histomoniasis in turkeys and chickens at 0.01875 percent in the feed with a 5-day withdrawal prior to slaughter. The treatment of affected flocks with levamisole or fenbendazole will also rid the flock of the required intermediate host (Heterakis or Ascaridia) and this will slow the spread of the disease.
Pendulous crop is a sporadic problem in turkey flocks. The cause of this disease is the loss of muscle tone to the crop and delayed crop emptying. Some turkeys with have this problem and still make it to market although it does decreased body size. The cause of pendulous crop is allowing a flock to be without feed and then allowing them to gorge on feed. The turkeys will overfill their crop and damage the my enteric nerve plexus that innervates the crop smooth muscle. The crop will then become flaccid and pendulous. Preventing gorging will prevent most (but not all) cases of pendulous crop.

Alex J. Bermudez
Associate Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology
Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab