Birds 2 Flashcards
Disease investigations what is an important aspect and how to determine
Definition of problem - Comparison to breed standards/targets ○ 1% first week mortality ○ Mortality breeders - 1% per month ○ Broilers now about 3.5% per batch
If mortality is a feature of disease what to do
POST-MORTEMS
Define biosecruity and 3 ways this is upheld
Biosecurity is the prevention or control of contact of pathogens with animal populations
Basics
1. All in all out
○ Easy as day old chick is independent -> can separate
○ Need some time when the whole site is empty in each cycle
2. Single age sites
○ Stops build-up of challenge to later flocks
○ Stop the spread from non-susceptible to susceptible flocks
3. Single purpose sites
○ Only one part of the process
○ Slaughter house isn’t with breeders or growers
Define management and what need to keep in mind
- It is the control and adjustment of the environment, nutrition or any other factor by the keeper of the animal.
○ It is also the failure to adjust these conditions. - The failure to decide a parameter of the environment to the detriment of the animal is a profound welfare issue
- By domesticating animals we invented management.
NEED TO - Freedom from hunger, thirst, disease and pain and able to express normal behavioural patterns.
What adjustments are important with management and which vets involved with
• Stock type ○ Males and females • Equipment • Housing • Food quantity • Food quality • Water quality • Lighting • Ventilation • Temperature • Humidity • Stocking density • Biosecurity • Vaccination and medication programme - vets largest impact
Beck what is normal in parrots, diseases and what cause
- Parrots -> upper beck curved over the lower beck
○ NOT normal in chickens - Beck upper or lower may overgrow -> need to be worn down naturally
○ Hepatic diseases and mites can cause overgrowth - Change in texture of the beck -> Psittacine beck and feather disease
- Trauma, pulling of the bird while grasping onto objects or just bird fighting with each other -> Not necessary need to euthanise, can grow back the beck
Beck trimming what used for, how occur and issues
- Reduce the effects of feather pecking/cannibalistic behaviour
- Hot blade, laser
○ Painful due to exposure of nerve fibres - Painful to eat after the procedure -> deepen the feed tough so doesn’t have to
- Can get post-infection leading to mortality
○ Infection can move into blood vessels of the beck -> localise to joints -> Can lead to osteomyelitis -> die of septicaemia
Oropharynx what are some important lesions and main disease in pigeons, what if see lesion
- Trauma/toxins -> foreign bodies such as fish hooks, trauma from crop tubing, burns - necrosis, chemicals
- Trichomoniasis (canker)
- If see lesions - TAKE A SMEAR
Trichomoniasis (canker) what birds common in, age and how transmitted
• Common in pigeons in small numbers
• Most common in young post-fledgling altricial(when first hatch reliant totally on parents) birds
○ Pigeons, Magpies, Budgies. Raptors
• Transmitted via feeding of young birds, possible sexual behaviour of regurgitation
○ Raptors possibly get infected via prey of infected pigeons
Trichomoniasis (canker) predisposing factors, signs and lesions
• Predisposing factors ○ Immunosuppression diseases - circovirus ○ Stress (overcrowding) ○ Intercurrent disease • Signs ○ Hypersalivation/regurgitation/vomiting ○ Poor growth ○ Severe form - systemic and death • Lesions ○ Diptheretic oral lesions § Thickening oesophagus/crop wall
Trichomoniasis (canker) treatment and control
• Treatment ○ Easily treated with § Ronidazole, emtryl (don't over medicate as can be toxic) - Control ○ Predisposing factors ○ Maximize host resistance ○ Source of infection-> Could be the water supply -> clean this out often ○ Strategic medication § Parents § Fledgelings
List some differential diagnosis other than trichomoniasis for budgies, pigeons and raptors
- Budgies ○ Goitre and other obstructions causing regurgitation ○ Behavioral regurgitation ○ “Megabacteriosis” - a yeast ○ Crop mycosis (regurgitation and lesions) ○ Vitamin A deficiency - Pigeons ○ Herpesvirus ○ Pox - Raptors ○ Helminthiasis ○ Pox
Stomatitis in gallinacious birds (chickens, turkeys) what is not likely and what is likely
- Trichomoniasis is very rare - NOT THIS ONE
- Pox
- ILT (infectious Laryngotracheitis virus)
Oesophagus and crop when change in what species, variation and what can be found within folds how significant
- EXCEPT in pigeons in breeding season -> crop produces nutritional regurgitate (crop milk) to feed the babies
○ Increase in gland production - Crop size and shape varies between species, generally lots of folds and therefore flexible
○ Parasites can be found within the folds
§ Contracaecum in fish eating birds -> generally not causing an issue
Humans can be an intermediate host -> severe enteritis and abdominal pain
What are the 2 main diseases of the oesophagus and crop
1) herpes virus
2) crop mycosis (canidiasis, thursh)
herpes virus what lead to and lesions
- Polyuria -> pale kidneys
- Diptherial membranes down oesophagus
- Inclusion bodies found in histology
Crop mycosis cause, predisposing factors and lesions
- Overgrowth of Candida albicans -> opportunistic pathogens
- Predisposing factors
○ Crop dysfunction -> stasis, impaction, diseases
○ Suppression of normal bacterial flora
○ Poor hygiene - Lesions -> Thickening of alimentary and digestive tract especially in the crop, crop can be flaccid, filled with mucoid fluid content
Crop mycosis diagnosis, treatment and control
- Diagnosis -> Gram stain to find the budding yeasts via smears/scraping
- Treatment -> Antifungal agents -> Imidazole, Nystatin, Amphotericin
- Control -> involved correction/avoidance of predisposing factors
Proventriculus function and clinical signs when diseased
- Producing hydrochloric acid and pepsin
- Generally non-specific clinical signs in disease -> just looking sick -> fluffed up, bottom of the cage
○ May see vomiting -> vomit/seeds ends up on the back of the head, shake their head
○ May see dilation of the proventriculus
Gizzard function
- Grinding action to break down food (seeds)
- No obvious demarcation between gizzard and proventriculus in some birds like penguins
- Produces cuticle that protects the mucosa of the wall against the grinding action
What injury results in issues or both the proventiculus and gizzard
- Foreign bodies/impaction
○ Coarse indigestible food, grass, straw etc.
○ Special issue in young ostriches with over-consumption of sand/gravel leading to impaction
○ Consumption of mature grass can result in tangled mass can form rope leading to intestinal intussusception
What are the 3 main diseases that cause enlargement of the proventriculus
1) Proventricular Dilation Syndrome (neuropathic gastric dilation, myenteric ganglioneuritis)
2) Megabacteriosis - Avian Gastric Yeast
3) Parasites - nematodes (Tetrameres, Contracaecum)
Proventricular Dilation Syndrome (neuropathic gastric dilation, myenteric ganglioneuritis) what cause, where found, signs, diagnosis and treatment
○ Viral disease
○ Not found too often in Australia mainly in quarantine facilities -> not exotic but not common
○ Signs: anorexia, weight loss, wasting, regurgitation, myelitis - ataxia, treatment
○ Diagnosis: radiography - contrast studies
○ Treatment: supportive: affected birds often die despite treatment
Megabacteriosis - Avian Gastric Yeast what birds most susceptible, cause, signs, diagnosis and treatment/control
○ Budgies/canaries and finches particularly susceptible
§ Finches need special nutrition as omnivores -> maggots, insects help decrease susceptibility
○ Generally occurs with other diseases -> possibly a secondary disease to coccidiosis
§ Predisposing factors -> stress, viral infection, nutrition
○ Signs - weight loss, weakness, high morbidity, some mortality, regurgitation
○ Diagnosis - presence of the yeast rods via faecal smear, also can do via histopathology of proventriculus
§ Found in the proventricular glands
○ Treatment/control
§ Amphotericin B (human or bird version) for a few days
§ Acidify drinking water
§ Balanced diet -> finches as above
§ Probiotics -> not cheap
What parasites are important in the proventriculus what birds common in and significance
○ Tetrameres common in pigeons
○ Contracaecum -> common in fish eating birds
○ In small number not large issues but in large numbers can lead to large amount of ulceration
§ Perforation of the stomach, peritonitis
List the 3 main diseases of the gizzard
1) gizzard impaction - Enlargement of the gizzard due to engorgement or feed or consuming something it shouldn’t eat
2) heavy metal toxicities
3) gizzard parasitism
Heavy metal toxicities what results from and diagnosis
○ Ingestion of lead, zinc, others ○ Diagnosis § X-ray - radiopaque material in left side of the GIT § Blood lead § Serum chemistry □ delta ALAD ↓ □ haeme synthesis □ protoporphyrin □ Anaemia
Heavy metal toxicities in waterfowl what form occurs and treatment
§ Chronic form more common due to low exposure via environmental contamination -> ingestion into gizzard and absorption
□ Enlargement of the gizzard, cannot grind the food and pass through the rest of the GI tract
□ Impaction of the alimentary system
§ Treatment - removal of the source
Heavy metal toxicities in parrots what form, clinical signs and diagnosis
§ Generally ingest via metal coating objects/cages –> Acute form
§ Clinical signs
□ Sudden death, blood in droppings, depression, polyuria, neurological signs (convulsions), dehydration
§ Diagnosis
□ Lesions -> acute nephrosis, lead particles within histopathology
□ History -> just got new toys, cage etc.
□ Response to treatment
□ Blood chemistry
□ Radiography
Heavy metal toxicities 6 treatments options and controls
○ Treatment
1. Remove the source
2. Chelation therapy - Ca EDTA (IM or Oral)
3. Laxative
4. Activated charcoal - hard to give if cannot pass food down to lower alimentary tract
5. Surgery? -> if severely ill may not be the best option
6. Supportive therapy -> vitamins, fluids
○ Control
§ Exclude access
§ Good-quality wire
§ Weathered wire
§ Treatment of wire
Gizzard parasitism in finches what are the main ones
○ Finches
§ Thickening of the coiling of the gizzard
§ Examples
□ Acuaria (also common in chickens)
® Spiuroid helminths, intermediate hosts of insects and beetles
® Signs - weight loss, poor growth and death
® Control - removal of intermediate hosts -> difficult in outdoor aviaries
□ Candidiasis
Viral enteritis what is the most common one, also called, cause, signs and results
○ Also called: malabsorption syndrome, runting/stunting syndrome, infectious stunting, pale bird syndrome, helicopter feathering
○ Unsure the exact viral cause
○ Signs - undigested droppings, reduced growth despite good appetite, poor plumage
○ Results in - Malabsorption -> undigested food found in the colon
§ Something affecting digestion and absorption
□ Shortened villi, shallow crypts and damaged cells
Pancreas also damaged
Viral enteritis clinical signs
- Diarrhoea
- Undigested faeces
- Blood in faeces
- Severe cases -> fatality
What are the 5 main bacterial enteritis
1) salmonellosis
2) campylobacterosis
3) necrotic enteritis
4) ulcerative enteritis (quail disease)
5) avian tuberculosis
Necrotic enteritis what caused by how occurs, what common in and clinical signs
○ Caused by Clostridium perfringens type A and C
§ Live in the intestinal tract anyway -> need predisposing factors to cause disease
□ Change in diet -> from juvenile to grower hen
□ Other diseases such as coccidiosis
○ Common in broilers but can affect a large amount of bird species
○ Clinical signs
§ Subclinical - reduced growth rate
§ Clinical -> death, diarrhoea, blood in faeces
§ Lesions -> oedematous organs, enlarged livers, necrosis/thickening of villi of intestinal mucosa
Necrotic diagnosis, treatment and control
○ Diagnosis
§ Take a smear
§ Look under slide
§ Gram stain -> shouldn’t see lots of gram positive bacilli in normal chickens
§ Histopathology -> bacteria clustered on top of villi, necrosis of the villi (not the deeper layer of mucosa)/thickened
○ Treatment
§ Antibiotics -> readily work against -> Neomycin
○ Control
§ Gradual introduction of new ration
§ Prevention of coccidiosis
§ Avoid feeding wild birds -> lorikeets die from eating feed they shouldn’t
Ulcerative enteritis (quail disease) what species, caused by, clinical signs, treatment and control
○ Multiple species affected
○ Caused by Clostridium colinum
○ Clinical signs
§ High mortality, acutely sick, depressed
§ Lesions -> wide spread necrosis throughout whole length of GIT tract (whole width of the mucosa is affected), deep penetration -> peritonitis
○ Treatment
§ Antibiotics
○ Control
§ Reduce predisposing factors
□ Reduce stocking density, wire floors, control coccidiosis
Avian tuberculosis caused by, transmission, does it affect lungs and zoonoses?
○ Caused by Mycobacterium avium - environmental inhabitant excreted in faeces -> chronic condition
§ Therefore can see in most birds however not commercial as don’t live long enough
○ Faecal-oral infection via contaminated dropping or carcasses
○ BUT doesn’t affect the lungs - no respiratory involvement
○ POTENTIALLY ZOONOTIC -> generally immunocompromised people -> REPORTABLE CONDITION
avian tuberculosis clinical signs and diagnosis
○ Clinical signs
§ High mortality, vents stained with dark coloured droppings (diarrhoea)
§ Lesions -> cheesy exudate attached to cloaca, throughout intestinal tract, liver
○ Diagnosis
§ Lesions at post-mortem
§ Take a smear
§ look under slide with acid fast staining -> chickens will see lots of mycobacteria, other birds not necessarily
§ Culture via special medium -> takes 4 weeks to grow
Avian tuberculosis treatment and control
○ Treatment
§ Long term not usually warranted
○ Control
§ Separate from source of infection - outside or carrier bird (need to quarantine)
§ In commercial farms -> removal of birds before 1-2 years old as chronic condition
§ Remove/treat the soil?? -> CAN BE INFECTIVE FOR UP TO 10 YEARS
□ Treat soil with lime, and put more soil on-top and monitor
