Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and return it when the warts are gone and the bird appears healthy. There is no known
treatment. It cannot be spread to humans.
KINKY BACK
If you are considering meat birds, this is a fairly common disease of broiler flocks, a sad
side effect of engineering animals to grow faster and fatter than they should. The rapidly
growing spine twists, arching or bending to the point of paralysis and crippling the bird
indefinitely. Ultimately the legs give out under the massive weight. It's not pretty and
there is no cure: these birds must be culled for their own sake.
They will not be able to survive to harvest weight, and their lives would be sorry ones.
LARYNGOTRACHEITIS
This throat disease is caused by birds being in contact with infected droppings or with
the carcasses of infected birds. Its symptoms are trouble swallowing, ruffled feathers
around the neck, and watery eyes. Your hens might gasp, stretch out their necks, and
suffer just to breathe. Their throats are getting clogged up from mucus, and it could kill
the bird if not seen to. The virus can be treated only via vaccine, since antibiotics are
useless.
LICE
Lice are not fun. These little, flat, straw-colored bugs can live on your chickens in the
land between the skin and feathers and cause mild problems (like itching) or more aw-
ful ones (like so much itching your poor hens can't sleep). Chickens must be able to
clean themselves, so regular free-range flocks that can ruffle their feathers, preen, and
take dust baths usually keep down their louse issues through normal care. But birds with
sliced-off beaks in confinement with no opportunity to gussy up may be more suscept-
ible. If your birds get lice you can remedy it with a powdering of anti-lice-mite treat-
ment.
MAREK'S
This unfortunate, serious, and fast-acting disease will kill a whole flock if left to spread.
Marek's is a form of bird herpes that causes everything from splayed-leg crippling to
spinal cysts. Symptoms include young chicks eating constantly but losing weight, white
tumors with brown scabs on the skin, and paralyzed legs (one leg pointing forward and
