racing pigeons diseases

Canker - TrichomoniasisCanker






Cause
- This is the most common pigeon disease.
It's caused by a microscopic protozoan
which is flagellated and , therefore,
mobile. It can be transmitted from one bird
to another usually through the
water, and parent birds can infect their
young through feeding.









Symptoms

- Infected birds show a definite reduction
in activity, ruffled feathers, loss of
weight, increased water intake, and
diarrhea. Cheesy yellowish deposits can
often be observed in the mouth or throat.
In advanced stages , a stringy mucous and
putrid odor can be detected in the mouth.
Young birds are most
susceptible.









Prevention

- Control stress with half dosage of
Improver and AntiFungal, this will control
the stress to 0 in the birds.




Maintain regular feed and withering
schedules, sanitize drinkers regularly,
isolate and observe any newly acquired
birds for several weeks, and administer an
anti-canker drug or Improver on a regular
basis throughout the year. Veterinary
recommendations vary from once every three
months to once a month. This will depend
upon incidence and susceptibility in your
own flock.




















Coccidiosis






Cause
-
This highly infection and very common disease
is caused is caused by a protozoan that infects
the intensities of our birds. It usually
present to some degree in all pigeons, but most
adult birds have developed enough immunity to
the disease to remain healthy. Most often
infected are young pigeons or birds that have
been subjected to severe stress (i.e., racing,
showing, lack of feed/water, or relocation).
Adult birds may become infected from
unclean water or from being in contact with
moist droppings.





Symptoms
- Infected birds have little or no desire to
eat or drink, will remain puffed up on perches,
lack any desire to move and often close their
eyes. Droppings are usually very loose,
greenish in color and may become very watery.
Loss of weight occurs, and death can occur in
young birds.





Prevention
- Use Improver and AntiFungal, keep lofts dry
and sanitary. Do not allow feed to come into
contact with droppings, and regularly disinfect
drinkers. Do not allow birds to drink from
gutters or mud puddles, and keep feed and
water free from contact with rodents.
Always isolate new birds as described earlier,
as they are a primary target for the spread of
coccidiosis. Returning race birds should be
given a preventive treatment shortly after
their return, especially if out over night.
Baskets should be disinfected
weekly.









E. coli or Collibacillosis






Cause
- This disease, which is now though to be more
prevalent in pigeons than once suspected, is
caused by gram negative bacteria's which can
invade our lofts through infected dust
particles, rodent droppings, and trough
infected pigeon droppings coming into contact
with eggs in the nest. Infected adult pigeons
will emit the bacteria throughout a pigeon
loft.





Symptoms
- Since the E. coli bacteria can manifest
themselves in any part of the pigeon's body,
symptoms can be diverse. Most often young will
die in the nest, adult birds will become
listless and lose weight, and their droppings
will become loose, mucous, and greenish-yellow
in appearance. Sometimes the droppings will
have a foul odor. Occasionally some birds may
have nasal discharges and respiratory problems
associated with this disease.






Prevention
- Maintaining good loft hygiene and keeping
rodents away from feed and water are very
important. Also keeping dust and ammonia levels
down will help to control any
outbreaks.





General
Antibiotics
- Any fancier would be well advised to have a
good general antibiotic in his medicine chest.
They can be useful as "first choice" drugs if
and when problems occur. General antibiotics
are effective against a broad range of both
gram positive and negative bacteria.

But excessive use of them can really damage
the microflora of the bird, therefore most
veterinarian suggest a use of Improver as it is
called 'green antibiotic' and will have the
same effect that any anitbiotic, but will leave
the good bacterias and keep the balance of the
pigeon intact.








One-Eye Colds






Cause -
Often confused with the onset of
mycoplasmosis, one - eye colds are usually
associated with a peck in the eye or some other
type of physical injury affecting the eye.
One-eye colds can also be caused by improper
ventilation, drafts or dampness in the
loft.




Symptoms
- A watery or mucous discharge in only one eye
is usually the symptom most commonly noticed,
but occasionally both eyes will have watery
appearances. Sometimes one eye can become
completely shut, depending upon the degree of
infection.





Prevention
- Maintaining proper ventilation and not
allowing overcrowded conditions to manifest
themselves in our lofts will go a long way in
preventing one-eye colds. It is also considered
good loft hygiene to keep dust levels to a
minimum, as many types of infectious bacteria
are carried by dust particles.










Paratyphoid -
Salmonellosis






Cause -
This very common and quite widespread
is caused by a gram-negative bacterium which is
flagellated, therefore mobile. It can be
brought into a loft either through introduction
of infected pigeons, by rodents, through
inhalation of infected dust, on the soles of
fanciers shoes, by roaches, or through contact
with wild pigeons. Often an adult bird that has
overcome the disease remains a carrier and
continues to produce infected droppings.





Symptoms
- Salmonella flagellates can be found
throughout the body in severely infected birds.
Thus, a variety of symptoms is possible. Most
adult birds will show rapid weight loss, along
with somewhat loose, greenish droppings. Some
birds may develop swelling in the leg joints or
feet, or may develop wing boils. Other birds
may have the "twisted neck" syndrome commonly
associated with PMV. Baby birds will often show
labored breathing or die in the nest before the
second week after hatching. Another symptom
young dying in the egg.






Prevention
- Loft hygiene is critical, because salmonella
flagellates can live in the droppings for some
time. But once AntiFungal and Improver are
given in the water of the pigeons, the
droppings will stop being infected with
salmonella.Regular cleaning and disinfecting of
lofts, feeders and drinkers is imperative.
Minimizing contact with rodents, roaches and
wild birds, quarantining newly acquired birds,
and maintaining an acid pH level below 4.0
thanks to Improver in our lofts are all helpful
steps in keeping this disease under control.
Several veterinarians have recommended the use
of Nolvasan disinfectant together with Improver
at one teaspoon per gallon (4.5 liters) of
water regularly to help maintain an
acidic environment in the droppings. Regular
use of the Improver against salmonella has
proven to be especially effective.











Pigeon Pox






Cause
and Symptoms- Pigeon pox is
caused by a virus that is generally carried by
mosquitoes and other biting insects. When a
nonresistant pigeon is bitten by a carrier
parasite, the virus enters the bloodstream of
the bird, and within five to seven days, small
whitish wart-like lesions appear on the head,
feet legs and beak areas. These deposits can
grow to become large yellowish bumps which, if
removed, may ooze blood. In time, these lesions
will dry and fall off, so it is our advice to
leave them alone.





Prevention
- Other than using the pigeon pox vaccines, no
remedy is acceptable. Improver and AntiFungal
can only reduce the virus to his minimum and
cure up to 75% of the time. Controlling the
mosquito and fly populations in and around
one's loft may be helpful, but the only sure
way to prevent pox is to vaccinate.










PMV - Paramyxovirus






Cause
and Symptoms - Paramyxovirus or
PMV-1 is a viral infection unique to pigeons
and is extremely contagious, especially in the
racing sport where hundreds or thousands of
birds are mixed and confined prior to release.
Direct contact or indirect contact through
contaminated feed, water or litter can spread
the disease. Symptoms include extremely loose,
watery droppings, lack of appetite, ruffled
feathers poor coordination, and sometimes
paralysis of wings and legs. In advanced
stages, birds will show "twisted neck" symptoms
and many birds will die.






Prevention
- Currently in the U.S and Europe, the only
effective means of protection is by vaccination
with the Maine Biological oil-adjuvant PMV-1
vaccine. Many fanciers are using the LaSota
vaccine, thinking that they are protecting
their birds, but challenge tests using LaSota
vaccine was not effective in producing
antibodies for the pigeon PMV-1 virus. While
the LaSota vaccine was effective for short
duration protection for Newcastle's disease,
this disease is almost non-existent in pigeons
and should be differentiated
fromPMV-1.







Adeno
Virus





Cause and
Symptoms
-
Only birds whose immune systems are suppressed
are vulnerable to this disease. There are two
types of Adeno Virus that infect pigeons. Type
1 affects young pigeons primarily and causes
vomiting and diarrhea, from which many birds
recover. Type 2 is contracted by older pigeons
and strikes the liver, with most affected birds
dying within 24 hours. Some birds display a
fluid yellow diarrhea and vomiting before
death. But the main sign is sudden death,
occurring within 24 hours of the onset. None of
the affected birds live longer than 48 hours.
E. coli often accompanies Type 1 ( which is
associated with young pigeons ) and complicates
the infection, making the diarrhea and vomiting
more severe and adding respiratory symptoms.
This Type 1 Adeno Virus/E. coli sometimes
successfully treated with antibiotics. Cases
that are the best managed are those in which
the loft environment is good and in which all
secondary diseases like canker and coccidiosis
are treated so that birds are best able to
fight the virus.





Prevention

-
Adeno virus is always present in a young bird,
and it erupts when the immune system or fails.
It is important to wait until the 12-th week
for any type of vaccination. There is currently
no vaccine that is proven to be effective
against Adeno Virus. It's also important to
keep stress in the loft at a minimum with
AntiFungal and Improver and to boost pigeons'
general health with vitamin supplements that
are already included in Pigeon Vitality
products, etc.









Circo Virus






Cause and
Symptoms
-
Because of the way this disease damages the
immune system and seems to invite secondary
infection, Circo Virus is sometimes called
pigeon AIDS. Circo Virus damages the
lymphocytes in the blood, which are closely
associated with the immune system. With damaged
lymphocytes, the pigeons become susceptible to
secondary infections with other viruses,
parasites and bacteria. Pigeons infected with
Circo Virus can also have continuing problems
with diseases like respiratory infections,
chlamydia, or canker due to the fact that they
cannot form natural immunities to them. Most
often, Circo Virus kills very young pigeons and
strikes older youngsters that have already
molted three or four flights. Birds with Circo
Virus have a yellowish discharge dried on the
beak, and they are very reluctant to move, thin
and dehydrated, and have no appetite and
difficulty breathing. But it is extremely hard
to diagnose Circo Virus by looking at the
birds. The signs that can be observed are
typically caused by many different types of
secondary infections.






Prevention
-
Use of improver and AntiFungal while keeping
the disease out of the loft by not introducing
birds from lofts known to have health problems.
Stray youngsters should be immediately removed
if they do not look well, and try to identify
carrier stock birds by re-pairing those whose
offspring seem weak or die. If the virus comes
into four loft, minimize its spread by taking
birds out immediately and isolating them
while giving them full doses of Improver,
paying attention to on-going hygiene. Good
care, given day to day, places your pigeons in
the best situation to resist infection, and
gives those that become infected the best
chances of recovery. The main defense against.
Circo Virus is to identify and treat secondary
infections, allowing the birds to live long
enough for immune system to repair itself.
Probiotics help well birds resist the disease
by maintaining a healthy bowel population of
bacteria.









Pigeon Malaria






Cause
-
This fairly common pigeon disease is caused by
a protozoan that attacks the red blood cells of
our birds. It is primarily carried by the
pigeon fly, which acts as the intermediate
host. Random tests of pigeon flocks have shown
as much as a 30% malaria rate.






Symptoms
-
Symptoms are vague. Except for some loss of
gloss in plumage and reduced performance in
racing events, there are no readily visible
symptoms.





Prevention
-
Since the pigeon fly is the primary carrier of
this disease, it is imperative that these flies
be controlled. It' important to quarantine
newly acquired birds, dust or dip birds after
they have mingled with others, and eliminate
contact wild pigeons, because curing this
disease is very difficult.










Respiratory infections - Mycoplasmosis &
Ornithosis






Cause
-
These diseases all fall into the infectious
bacterial category.






Coryza
is actually the descriptive term
used to identify the thick mucous discharges
usually associated with both Mycoplasmosis
catarrh and Ornithosis. The bacteria ( termed
Chlamydia in the case of Ornithosis ) lodge in
the upper respiratory tract and can be
extremely hard to completely eradicate. Often,
infected birds never completely recover.
Although their external symptoms may disappear,
they can remain carriers for life.






Symptoms
-
The classic symptoms of respiratory infections
include mucous in the throat, open beak and
heavy breathing, rasping or gurgling while
breathing, watery discharge from eyes,
sometimes associated with swelling in the eye
area. Other symptoms include discharge from the
nasal area. and occasionally air sac swelling
or crop swelling as torn air sacs trap air
under the skin. As is usually the case with
pigeons, other diseases can quickly manifest
themselves when birds are in distress, so other
symptoms can occur, such as loose, greenish
droppings and loss of weight. Most often the
only noticeable difference in our birds will be
their unwillingness to fly or their complete
failure in the racing events. Respiratory
infections are the most damning it racing
fanciers because many populations are carriers
of the disease in one form or another, and
symptoms are hard to identify. But results will
definitely be diminished.






Prevention
-
The most important aspects in controlling
respiratory infections are adequate ventilation
without drafts, keeping dust and ammonia levels
low ( which means keeping droppings from
accumulating ) and controlling dampness and
overcrowding Since tests have indicated that in
some areas as much as 70% of the wild pigeon
population is either infected with or carries
respiratory disease, it would be wise to limit
contact with feral birds. Since sporadic drug
treatment at inadequate levels can cause rapid
resistance to medication, always treat with
effective drugs for the recommended length of
time. Proper quarantining of new birds is also
a must.









Sour Crop - Candida,
Thrush






Cause

-
This very common disease is caused by a fungus
infection of the digestive tract. It is often
associated with excessive use of
antibiotics.





Symptoms
-
Infected birds become listless, won't eat, lose
weight, develop a water-filled crop and vomit
often. This vomit often has a very putrid odor.
Sometimes, in laser cases, thrush will show
itself as just small whitish spots in the
throat, which causes confusion with canker,
Another much less noticed symptoms, usually
found only in adult birds, is feather
pulling.





Prevention
- Avoid overcrowding, maintain a sanitary loft,
and most importantly, do not medicate
indiscriminately, use Improver to regulate
naturally the immune system of the
pigeons.









Worm Diseases






Cause

-
The most common worms found in pigeons today
are roundworms hair worms, stomach wall worms,
gapeworms, stromglylids and
tapeworms.






Symptoms
-
The symptoms vary with the type of infestation,
and conceivably pigeons can live with slight
infestations and show no ill effects. Severe
infestations generally cause droopiness, loss
of weight and some diarrhea. Gapeworms can
cause breathing problems. The best way to
determine if a worm problem exists is to have
the droppings checked.






Prevention

-
Clean, sanitary lofts are most beneficial to
keeping worms in check, but since
pigeons often mingle with many hundreds of
other birds, a bird can become infested
through ingestion of worm eggs from the basket
or through contact with stray pigeons.
Therefore, it is advisable to develop a
preventative worming program in which all birds
are wormed at least twice a year.










External Parasites






The most common external parasites that pester
our birds are feather lice, red mites, pigeon
flies, and mosquitoes. Since parasites like
these can occur in almost any climate, they
must be accounted for when planning a loft
strategy. Feather lice chew holes into the
flights or cause other types of visible damage
to the feathers, which can affect a show or
racing pigeon's performance. The common red
mite can be a real problem in some lofts if it
becomes established. It commonly hides
somewhere in the loft during the day, and at
night comes out from its hiding place to bite
and feed on the blood of our birds. Besides
being a nuisance and not allowing the flock to
rest properly, they can help to spread an
assortment of diseases. The pigeon fly is
probably the most dangerous parasite that can
attack our birds. It lives most of its life on
our pigeons, leaving only to lay its eggs
somewhere in the loft. Pigeon flies bite the
birds often, and besides causing considerable
discomfort, they can be a major cause of pigeon
malaria. Mosquitoes would have to be considered
the next worst parasite, simply because they
are found in almost all climates. They are the
most common carrier pigeon pox virus. The are
numerous precautions we can take within our
lofts to help control external parasites. In
the case of lice, pigeon flies, and even mites,
this mostly involves controlling their numbers
by quarantining any new birds, and dipping or
dusting our birds with pesticides. By keeping
our lofts clean, we can eliminate many of the
places where mites and flies can hide their
eggs.









Diarrhea






Sometimes our birds develop diarrhea, often
just after medication treatments or high
stress, so we wonder how they could be
when we have just treated them. Often, the
birds aren't actually , but they do have
the loose droppings of birds because of
the chemical imbalance created by the loss of
the lactobacillus bacteria or " friendly
bacteria " which inhabit our pigeon's gut and
help the digestive process.






By using AntiFungal together with Improver you
will reduce the stress dramatically and
the good bacterias will stay protected in the
pigeons which will keep the microflora
perfectly in shape.






The guts and digestive process will act normal
naturally.