Poultry diseases

Your birds look and act sick. They are coughing and gasping and they have watery eyes. They have swollen sinuses. You see a drop in egg production. What's wrong with them? Is it serious? What should you do?

Just like in people, respiratory symptoms in poultry have many potential causes. Some more serious than others. Successful treatment of your birds depends on an accurate diagnosis of what is causing the symptoms. In this article, we will talk about some common respiratory diseases of small flocks and one rare but potentially devastating disease, Avian Influenza.

Mycoplasmosis

One of the most common causes of respiratory illness in poultry is a disease called mycoplasmosis caused by mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG). This bacteria can infect chickens, turkeys, and upland game birds such as pheasants and quail. Turkeys are the most likely to develop severe infections while infected chicken may or may not sow obvious symptoms. However, even if infected birds don't show symptoms, they can still transmit the infection to other birds.

Clinical signs of MG include nasal discharge, watery eyes, swollen sinuses under the eyes, coughing, and a drop in egg production. The disease is spread primarily by respiratory secretions from the birds. Contaminated people or equipment can spread the disease from pen to pen, even if there is no direct bird to bird contact. Breeding hens can also transmit this bacteria into their eggs resulting in chicks or poults that are already infected when they hatch. While MG is seldom fatal, it is difficult if not impossible to eradicate once it enters your flock. Certain antibiotics can reduce the effects of the disease, but birds are not likely to be cured. Once infected a bird remains infected for life even after antibiotic treatment. If MG diagnosed in your flock, you should contact a licensed veterinarian for management recommendations. You should only administer antibiotics under the direction of veterinarians. Inappropriate use of antibiotics can lead to negative consequences. For example, some antibiotics can end up in the eggs which can pose a hazard for people eating the eggs. And unnecessary use of antibiotics may also lead to antibiotic-resistant disease in your flock.

Infectious bronchitis (IBV)

Another common respiratory infection in poultry caused by a virus known as IBV. Symptoms of IBV included coughing, wrinkled eggshells, and drop in egg production. This disease spreads very rapidly. Adult birds generally recover on their own after several weeks. However, IBV infection may cause death to loss very young chickens. Administrating antibiotics to birds with this viral disease is ineffective because antibiotics don't treat viral illnesses. If IBV is suspected in your flock, you should contact a licensed veterinarian for treatment recommendations as well.

Infectious Laryngotracheitis

Another common but far more severe viral respiratory infection is infectious Laryngotracheitis (ILT). Infected chickens develop severe respiratory problems and may even cough up bloody mucous. High death loss may occur in all ages of birds. If birds recover, they may remain infected and continue to spread the illness even if they don't have symptoms. Prompt action is key with ILT. If the disease is diagnosed early, you can quickly vaccinate infected birds to stop death losses.

So far, we have talked about three common respiratory symptoms in poultry Mycoplasma Gallisepticum (MG), Infectious Bronchitis (IB), and Infectious Laryngotracheitis. Now we will turn to a rare but potentially devastating disease, Avian Influenza.

Avian Influenza

In 2014 and 2015, an outbreak of Avian Influenza affected poultry in multiple states in the Western and Central US resulting in the Death or destruction of over 50 million birds and costing millions of dollars to control. This outbreak was the single largest foreign animal disease event in US history to date. Avian influenza is caused by a type A influenza virus. Most of the Avian viruses don't cause illnesses in people. There are two types of Avian influenza: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (High Path AI) and Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Low Path AI). Low Path AI can cause minimal illness in infected birds. High Path AI is usually lethal to poultry. However, even occurrences of Low Path AI are cause for concern. Some forms of Low path Avian influenza may be capable of mutating into a deadly form of the disease. Clinical signs of Avian Influenza are highly variable but range from watery eyes, nasal discharge, and coughing and gasping to swollen head hemorrhages on the body and the comb, and high death losses. Mild forms of Avian influenza are common in wild waterfowl and shore birds and may be transmitted to poultry through direct contact with these birds or through contact with contaminated feces or water. To prevent Avian influenza in your flock keep your poultry and domestic ducks and geese away from wild waterfowl and shorebirds and places where these birds congregate such as streams and wetlands. While Avian influenza it is relatively uncommon in poultry flocks, the economic consequences of an outbreak can be severe. Identifying the disease early in crucial for preventing it's spread. If you have a high death loss situation in your flock, you should report it to your state animal health department so that a high path AI outbreak can be ruled out as the cause of mortality as soon as possible.

There are many poultry illnesses that can cause respiratory symptoms such as coughing, nasal discharge, and watery eyes. Each poultry disease has its own treatment so before you decide what to do, you need to determine which disease is causing these symptoms. How to do this? Typically small poultry producers don't have the knowledge base and resources to accurately diagnosed and treat poultry diseases on their own at home. You need to find a poultry veterinarian to help guide you through this process.