Health Related Topics - Poultry

10 simple ways to recognise heat exhaustion in chickens Why it's potentially fatal, how to spot it in time and what to do. Learning about how heat affects chickens is a potential life-saver, because the fact is that heat exhaustion and heat stroke are killers which can creep up very quickly if you're not clued into what the signs are.  In this article, we'll look at how to tell if your flock is becoming badly affected by the heat.  Why is recognising heat exhaustion important? A chicken's normal body temperature is between 40ºC and 41ºC . They don't have sweat glands,...

Unfortunately, a lot of people think that grit and oyster shells are the same things. They are not.  Your hens require both oyster shell and grit. Without it, serious health issues can arise, such as Sour Crop and Brittle Bones. So now we know that our ladies need oyster shells and grit as additives to their diet, but why do they need them? Oyster shell is exactly what it says; crushed oyster shell.  It is  high in calcium which is what our ladies need. Oyster shell is also known as soluble grit. This is because it dissolves in the hen’s gut and...

A Guide to Recognizing and Treating Chicken Foot Problems Picture: GOUT - Scaly leg mites burrow under the scales on a chicken’s shanks and feet  causing the scales to stick outward. Swelling of the joints due to gout (above) may be mistaken for deformity due to scaly leg. Artwork by Bethany Caskey. Diagnosing Leg Mites, Gout, and Bumblefoot in Chickens Two common chicken foot problems and leg ailments are leg mites and bumblefoot, both of which are easy to treat. Less common, but sometimes mistaken for either leg mites or bumblefoot, is a type of arthritis known as gout, which...

There are two main types of Coccidiosis – Intestinal Coccidiosis and Cecal Coccidiosis. In the intestinal version the intestinal tract is affected by the Eimeria, and in the Cecal version, the cecum is affected. Coccidia have two main phases in their life cycle; one phase occurs outside the host and involves the development of the infective stages (oocysts), and the major phase which occurs within the host and involves massive multiplication and sexual reproduction. Birds ingest a number of oocysts and become infected. The severity of the infection depends on the numbers that they are host to. At a low...

Vent gleet also sometimes referred to as cloacitis or thrush is a fungal infection involving the digestive and reproductive systems. Often the first signs of this infection can appear at the vent. When examining the vent, it appears to have a whitish discharge that can sometimes smell like fermenting yeast. The feathers surrounding the vent and backside are often missing and coated with fecal material as well as yeasty discharge and some crusting. The skin around the vent can also appear reddened and irritated. The degree of vent gleet can vary. Some cases are quite obvious, and others times it...