Pigeon Pox Vaccine Update. Fanciers may recall that in the previous month’s Journal I reported that the Australian Pigeon Company ( APC ) had applied for an emergency permit from the APVMA to supply pigeon pox vaccine to fanciers. Dr Tim Wilson of Scolexia ( a vaccine supply company based in Melbourne ) is helping the APC. As part of the permit application Dr Wilson advised the APVMA that “The urgency of this permit is that a new batch of pigeons is ready to be vaccinated prior to racing and if released unvaccinated will be susceptible to pox infection either with the vaccine strain from older vaccinated birds or to wild strains. Whilst generally self-limiting the disease can be severe leading to severe deformities with loss of structures or interference with breathing, eating or vision. The priority assessment is requested to enable the protection of the racing pigeon population, especially the younger birds being raced for the first time this year. Now is the time that the young birds are normally vaccinated.” I supplied some additional text stressing the urgency of the situation -- “The very activity of racing pigeons provides a unique situation where birds that are often quite young and from many different lofts mix intimately in race baskets in an environment that is potentially stressful. In this situation the risk of the spread of diseases such as pigeon pox is high, if not inevitable. In the absence of a vaccine, we would anticipate an outbreak of this disease in the first weeks of racing. With the vaccine being the only practical way of protecting the 10,000 to 20,000 young pigeons that will begin their racing career in July and August of this year in Melbourne alone, the availability of the vaccine is crucial.” Despite our extensive application, unfortunately the APVMA rejected our application for an emergency permit. On their advice we are now preparing a permit for a research permit. This permit will allow the APC to sell a given number (as yet uncertain but probably hundreds) of vials to fanciers for the purpose of gathering clinical information about the vaccine. The information will then be collated and form the basis of a registration dossier submitted by the APC to the APVMA. Each fancier who obtains a vial of vaccine will be supplied with a form to complete and return noting any adverse reactions, percentage of takes etc. It will be essential that fanciers do this otherwise we will not have the information that we need to form a registration application and the vaccine will again no longer be available. Many fanciers will be frustrated by the inability to obtain pox vaccine particularly since the vaccine has been a feature of the Australian pigeon racing scene for over 30 years and has a reputation of being safe and effective. However this is, quite simply, the situation we find ourselves in. The APVMA has requested current clinical data before clearing further vaccine for sale. Bioproperties on behalf of the APC currently holds 3000 vials of vaccine. Before the current restrictions came into place the APC had supplied 63 vials to fanciers this year. The last vial was supplied on the 15th February. Unfortunately no more vaccine can be made available until an appropriate permit is in place.
In addition to the vaccine supplied by the APC before the 15th February, some fanciers still had vaccine from previous years. This has created a problem because it means that some fanciers have vaccine and others don’t. As most fanciers would be aware the pox vaccine is a live modified ( ie a weak version of the virus ) vaccine. The vaccine exposes the pigeons to this mild virus in a controlled way. This means that vaccinated birds actually get a mild , harmless form of the disease. These vaccinated birds can however spread the vaccine pox virus to non- vaccinated birds until the scab or thickening that forms at the inoculation site heals. This can take up to 6 weeks. One of the roles of the Victorian Racing Pigeon Body ( VRPB ) is to inform and guide fanciers. To this end the VRPB has taken the initiative in this matter and in order to prevent the spread of vaccine pox virus, has suggested that no fanciers vaccinate their birds within 7 to 8 weeks of racing. Their release is below : --
VRPB Release Dear Members RE: PIGEON POX VACCINE. The Pigeon Pox vaccine commonly used in Australia is currently unavailable. Colin Walker is actively working with the APVMA (Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority www.apvma.gov.au ), to obtain a new production and sale permit. Unfortunately, this is going to take longer than first thought. As a result, we will not have access to the vaccine for the remainder of the 2022 season and possibly into early 2023. The Pigeon Pox vaccine is a live virus vaccine and once the birds are vaccinated, they can carry the virus for up to 6 weeks. The racing season is fast approaching (7-8 weeks away). In the best interest of our racing pigeons and to reduce the high risk of vaccinated birds infecting non vaccinated birds the VRPB (Victorian Racing Pigeon Body Inc) requests that effective immediately all flyers in Victoria stop / do not vaccinate their race team. If you have already vaccinated your race team with left over vaccine from last year this is okay, but we ask that you all follow the appropriate protocols to minimise the mixing of pigeons from other lofts. Effective immediately. No further vaccination of racing pigeons should occur with pigeon pox vaccine until the issue with accessing the vaccine now and in the future is resolved. For more information on Pigeon Pox and the vaccination process please refer to. The Australian Pigeon Company (Colin Walker). https://www.auspigeonco.com.au/pox-virus.html
And so what of the future? Would it not be better if no one vaccinated? As many cases of pox are due to the vaccine virus will the disease just go away? No one really knows what will happen while the vaccine is not available.. It will be interesting to see. My thought is that as pox occurs in feral pigeons and as there are a number of varieties of pox virus that occur in wild native birds ( whose host range, ie the actual types of bird that they will infect, is unclear ) it is likely that there will be occasional “spill-overs” of disease into our race birds. Once one fancier’s birds become infected then if these are raced this could lead to a local potentially explosive outbreak. If this happens, fanciers will have no way of protecting their race birds. Time will tell us how frequently this occurs.
Pox viruses and wild birds Bird poxviruses are a large group of viruses that infect most bird groups throughout the world. The viruses have been present in various bird populations for a long time leading to fairly mild disease usually. On occasion however when a pox virus has been introduced to a new bird group this has led to explosive outbreaks of severe disease with significant mortality. Currently there are 13 recognised species: fowlpox, turkeypox, canarypox, pigeonpox, quailpox, sparrowpox, starlingpox, juncopox, psittacinepox, peacockpox, penguinpox, mynahpox and albatrosspox. It is likely that this list will increase. It seems likely that all bird species are susceptible to avian poxvirus infection. To date, avian pox has been recorded from 278 bird species. A variety of Australian native species have been reported with poxvirus infection including swans, butcher birds, crimson rosellas, tawny frogmouths , currawongs , magpies and penguins as well as peregrine and brown falcons. Most pox virus’ have their “preferred” target species but have the potential to spread to other types of birds. Much is still unknown however about the host spectrum of many of the poxviruses. For example magpie poxvirus disease was experimentally transmitted to other magpies but not to chickens, turkeys, pigeons or canaries. Also work done at the University of Melbourne showed that experimentally transmitted fowl pox virus caused disease in chickens and turkeys but not pigeons. Records of pox virus infection in native birds is maintained in the National Wildlife Health Surveillance Database however it is thought that avian poxvirus infection in Australian birds is far more common than the figures in the National Wildlife Health Surveillance Database suggest.The prevalence of avian pox in established wild bird populations is reported to be between 0.5 and 1.5% however levels can be much higher when new populations are exposed. Frustratingly little is known about the pox viruses that have been reported in wild birds and there is almost no information on which species , including pigeons, that these are likely to infect. For example Poxvirus seems to occur particularly frequently in magpies but it has not been determined if this is a new viral species or an already recognised species that has spilled over into magpie hosts. It also seems likely that previously unrecognised poxvirus strains exist in Australia. Pigeon pox – the disease in pigeons, a summary. Pigeon pox virus causes the development of dry crusty vesicles on the skin of pigeons (cutaneous pox) and yellow ‘cheesy’ plaques in the mouth (mucosal pox). The disease is usually regarded as a mild one, with the birds typically displaying mild or no signs of systemic disease. There are a number of pox virus strains that vary in their potential to cause disease, with most strains causing only small vesicle formation. In fact, most clinically affected birds are infected by ‘escaped’ vaccine strains of the virus. Some strains, however, can cause severe soft tissue damage, leading to deformity of the eyelids and/or the tongue, or loss of sections of the beak. In rare cases the entire beak can be lost. For the average pigeon fancier, however, pox is more a disease of inconvenience than one through which birds die .
Clinical course Birds with the disease excrete the virus in tears, saliva and sometimes their droppings. At certain times the virus is also found in the blood. For birds to become infected, the virus needs a break in the skin or mucous membrane lining the mouth or eyelid to gain entry. The usual mode of transmission in a racing loft is fighting, when the beak of an infected bird simultaneously breaks the skin and leaves a small amount of saliva containing the virus behind. For this reason most lesions are around the eyes and beak, and cocks are more frequently infected. Mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects can also transmit the disease but can usually only gain access to the un-feathered parts of the body and so cause lesions around the head and on the legs. Mites can also spread the virus and can cause lesions to develop on the feathered parts of the body. When non-infected and infected birds share drinkers or bath water, the virus can be transmitted through the water. When sharing bath water, the virus can infect the feather follicle at the time the feather is emerging, and cause vesicles to form here. After infection the virus initially replicates at the site of infection. The virus then enters the blood stream (leading to what is called a a primary viraemia) before localising and replicating in the liver and spleen. The virus then re-enters the blood stream (leading to a secondary viraemia) before localising in the lungs, causing a viral bronchopneumonia. This all usually occurs within 14 days of infection. Birds usually show no symptoms. However some birds, particularly between 7 and 14 days post infection, can become a bit quiet and fluffed, develop a thirst and, rarely, some develop a uveitis (inflammation of the iris and it’s support structures )which may make the iris become pale. The disease runs a natural course of four to six weeks, with birds spontaneously recovering. Deaths rarely occur and when they do, are usually secondary to the physical bulk of the vesicle interfering with breathing, eating or vision. Fortunately, most affected birds develop only one or two small (approximately 3mm) vesicles and essentially remain well in themselves. Pigeons recovered from the disease develop a life-long immunity. No direct treatment is available. However, as lesions in the mouth often become secondarily infected with bacteria and/or trichomonads, treating these will help to dry the lesion up, minimise tissue damage and make the bird more comfortable while the virus runs its course.
Vaccination Pigeon pox is controlled through vaccination when available .
Vaccination technique In Australia the vaccine fanciers are supplied with a small bottle containing a dry orange pellet , and either a second bottle or capped syringe containing a clear liquid. All should be stored in the freezer (not the fridge) until use. When it comes time to vaccinate the birds, fanciers are advised to take the tops off the bottle or syringe and pour the liquid on top of the orange pellet. This will dissolve over about a minute. The result is a thick orange liquid, not unlike tomato soup. This is the vaccine. The best place to vaccinate the birds is on the outside of the thigh. Avoid using the skin over the breast muscles as it is easy to push the needle in too far and damage the underlying flight muscles. Fold a few feathers back the ‘wrong’ way or pull a few feathers out to expose a bald area. This is an ideal vaccination site. The aim of inoculation is not to inject the vaccine but rather to create a puncture in the skin that mixes the vaccine with both air and blood. Dip the supplied needle into the vaccine and push the tip of the needle at an angle through the skin so that a small ‘blood ooze’ is created. Withdraw the needle, leaving a small bead of vaccine behind. The job is done. Most birds will develop a small vaccine reaction – a white thickened skin nodule that may or may not be covered by a scab in 7–14 days. This heals over the following two to four weeks. The inoculated bird is infectious to other non-vaccinated pigeons while it has its nodule. After two to four weeks (up to six weeks after the original vaccination) the nodule heals. The bird is no longer infectious and develops a lifelong immunity.
Commonly asked questions Is the vaccination harmful? Absolutely not. Basically, there are two types of vaccines – live and killed. Live vaccines contain live viruses that deliberately infect the birds with a mild form of the disease. The live viruses in these live vaccines have been modified so that they are no longer able to cause disease. They do, however, stimulate the development of immunity not only to themselves but also to the nastier disease-causing strains. Killed vaccines just contain killed virus. The birds cannot become infected with these viruses but their immune systems are still exposed and an immunity will form. As a general rule, the level of immunity formed is much higher and lasts much longer with live vaccines such as the pigeon pox vaccine currently in use in Australia.
How often should I vaccinate my birds? A single vaccination confers life time immunity, so just once is enough.
What happens if I vaccinate a bird that has already been vaccinated? No harm done. If immune birds are vaccinated again, all that will happen is that they will not react to the vaccine; no thickened nodule or scab will form at the inoculation site. Because they are immune the modified live virus in the vaccine cannot infect them. If there is any doubt as to whether a bird has been vaccinated or not, it is safer to re-vaccinate the bird to make sure that it is immune rather than not to vaccinate.
How young can I vaccinate a pigeon? The recommendation is that all pigeons should be over six weeks of age when inoculated. Often, however, much younger pigeons are vaccinated, even at one to two weeks of age in the nest, without ill effect. As pigeons grow, their immune systems naturally become more and more mature and so they are better able to form a strong immunity to pox virus after vaccination. Also young growing pigeons are facing multiple stresses. Vaccinating with a live vaccine, although modified, is another stress. All together these stresses have the potential to compromise the growing pigeon’s development. The usual advice is to wait until the youngsters are settled in the racing loft, eating and drinking properly and with their own perches. Usually by six weeks of age this has occurred. However, in the face of an outbreak younger birds are vaccinated. If they are well otherwise and are being well cared for it is unlikely that this will do them any harm.
How can pox suddenly appear in a loft? .It’s weird how it can suddenly appear in a loft. Pox virus can be spread by any insect that can break the skin and feed off blood. This not only includes mites that can transmit the virus from bird to bird in the loft but also mosquitoes and feather flies. Apparently the mosquitoes that can carry pox can fly up to 7km. So all you need is a bird within 7kms with pox and potentially a mosquito can give it to your birds
I had never had pox in my loft until several years ago when 6 birds developed pox lesions. I separated them and after 2 weeks they cleared up and I have had no further outbreaks since. Yet in other lofts virtually all of the birds become infected and some quite severely. How can this be? This highlights our lack of knowledge about how different types of pox virus affect different types of birds. When birds become infected with the type of pox virus that they have evolved with then many birds are affected but the disease tends to be mild and self- limiting. This is typically what we see when , for example, pigeons are infected with pigeon pox. However when a bird species is infected with a pox virus from another type of bird several things can happen. The virus may not cause disease. This occurs when pigeons become infected with fowl pox. The fowl pox cannot infect them and no disease occurs. Alternatively , in other situations, there may just be a few cases with mild disease. This happens because a particular pox virus is not really “at home” in that type of bird. Sometimes however when birds are exposed to a type of pox virus that has evolved in a different species of bird ,severe disease with many deaths can occur. This has happened on the Galapagos Islands and Hawaii. When pigeons become infected with a pox virus and the disease does not progress as one would expect it is possible that the pox virus may not actually be pigeon pox but rather a pox virus from a different bird species that has “spilled over” into pigeons Can pox be treated with topical antiseptics like Betadine? Betadine and some other antiseptics will help dry pox vesicles if applied topically but will not treat the disease. The virus is in the blood and shed in saliva.
Can I use Fowl pox vaccine to vaccinate my pigeons against pigeon pox? No , this will not work. Dr Karl Harrigan at the University of Melbourne in 1985 showed that experimentally transmitted fowl pox virus caused disease in chickens and turkeys but not pigeons. This means that using fowl pox vaccine in pigeons would not protect them from pigeon pox.
Can I give my birds a bath after vaccination? If all of the birds have been vaccinated there is no problem. Pox virus can spread through the bath water and infect non-vaccinated birds. Therefore recently vaccinated (within the last six weeks and still carrying a vaccination nodule or scab) and non-vaccinated birds should not be bathed together. If, however, all birds have been vaccinated there is no problem.
Can I loft fly or toss recently vaccinated birds? After vaccination, birds, for the most part, may be treated normally. They can be fed and loft flown normally and, indeed, for young racers, I believe it is important that they be kept in their loft routine. Between one and two weeks after inoculation a reaction to the vaccine will develop at the inoculation site. This can vary from a very small thickening in the skin to a large raised nodule covered by a scab. This reaction develops as the bird is reacting to the vaccine and starting to form an immune response to it. Some birds will appear a bit fluffed and will be a bit less active in the loft during this time. These birds may also drink a bit more and as a result develop watery droppings. This stage is transient and mild. Once the nodule has finished developing the birds are again well. Up to seven days and after fourteen days birds can be managed normally. During this time there is no problem loft flying the birds but it is best not to toss them during this time. After vaccination, manage the team of youngsters normally but be mindful that between seven and fourteen days some might be feeling a bit ‘off’. Also at this time, the uvea (the iris and its support structures in the eye) in some birds can become inflamed. This makes the eyes a bit light sensitive and ‘squinty’. If flown late in the day, when the shadows are starting to get long, the birds can become ‘jumpy’ and a ‘fly-away’ is possible
Can I race recently vaccinated birds? No. Clubs and federations throughout Australia do not allow birds with obvious transmissible disease to be entered into races. Pigeons that are still carrying their scabs after inoculation are infectious to other pigeons (that have not been inoculated) and therefore should not be allowed entry.
I have heard that vaccinating birds can give them a boost and help to improve race results. Is this true? To some extent, yes. As pigeons pass the 14-day stage after inoculation and their reaction at the inoculation site starts to heal, their immune systems are ‘switched on’ and in some birds there does appear to be a short time where a period of ‘super health’ is achieved. Some fanciers have done well during this time and have at least partially attributed their good results to this. However, this practice should be discouraged. Birds will react differently to the vaccine and, while some birds may be very good others may react more slowly and be a bit unwell. These birds will be at risk of being lost if raced. Hopefully, vaccinated birds would be detected by handlers during race marking. There will always be fanciers, looking for an advantage, who inoculate in inconspicuous locations. Federations need to be vigilant against this.
Should I vaccinate birds that appear unwell? Definitely not; for two reasons. Birds obviously unwell with one infection such as ‘eye colds’ will not form a good immunity to a second (that is, the virus in the pox vaccine). Also vaccination is another superimposed stress and can exacerbate pre-existent health problems. For example, if a group of young pigeons are struggling to form immunity and recover from an outbreak of canker or ‘eye colds’, vaccinating them will only make this harder for them and will likely precipitate an outbreak of this problem.
If my birds become unwell after vaccination can I medicate them? Yes, pigeon pox is a viral disease and the commonly used medications, even antibiotics, have no effect on it. If pigeons become unwell after vaccination the cause should be investigated and appropriate treatment given.
I vaccinated my birds and I cannot see any ‘takes’. Has the vaccine worked? Maybe not. Birds should be checked 10–14 days after inoculation for ‘takes’; that is, nodular thickening with or without a scab at the inoculation site. Not every bird will necessarily have this but the majority should. Not having a nodular thickening or a scab arouses suspicion that the vaccine may not have worked. By far the most common cause of vaccine failure is that the vaccine has become warm and thus inactivated; that is, died, prior to use. The vaccine is a living viral culture which is killed by heat and UV light. It should be stored in the freezer, reconstituted immediately prior to use and kept cool and out of direct sunlight while being used. Prolonged exposure to heat and UV light gradually kills the virus in the vaccine meaning that more and more vaccine needs to be inserted at the inoculation site to provide sufficient live virus to form an immune response. Eventually all virus will die. There will be nothing for the pigeon to react against and no immunity will form. There is usually no problem with use or storage once the vaccine has reached the home loft but keeping the vaccine cool during transport and posting can be a problem because of the shipping distances involved and the hot weather of Australia. Having said that, when compared to other viruses pox viruses are fairly tough and there are instances of vaccine not being refrigerated for several days (and even being reconstituted with boiling water) and still working. Every effort should be made, however, to keep the vaccine cold. Other causes of vaccine failure include poor vaccination technique or inoculating birds that have diseases that interfere with the functioning of the immune system. In particular, Circo virus infection is becoming more and more relevant here.
Is it ok to share my vaccine with other club members? Absolutely not. This is a really silly activity that has become acceptable practice in some parts of Australia. There are many diseases in young pigeons that are spread through the blood – common ones include Circo virus, Herpes virus, Chlamydia and Salmonella. If you are the last ‘cab off the rank’, in effect you are inoculating birds with all the germs found in all the pigeons that have been previously inoculated with that batch of vaccine. Direct inoculation into the bloodstream is a really great way of introducing these diseases into your birds. It is far better to have your own bottle of vaccine. If you must share, only share with a fancier whom you know has no health problems in his birds.
Can I re-freeze and re-use the same vaccine? This should not be a problem provided the vaccine has not been in full sun for an extended period or been allowed to get hot during use. A good trick is to pack a stubby holder with ice and have the vaccine sitting in this while inoculating the birds. If after use you think that the vaccine is fine, re-cap the vaccine bottle and place it back in the freezer. It will then store satisfactorily. It is always a bother to re-use a bottle in this way, and then find that it has not worked. For this reason it is a good idea, when re-using vaccine, to just vaccinate 2 to 3 birds initially and check these ten days later. If they have taken, then you know the vaccine is still viable and you can go ahead and vaccinate the rest of the team.
Is there any treatment for pigeons with pigeon pox? No. There is no direct treatment for a pox virus. Sometimes, however, where pox vesicles form inside the mouth, because of the warm wet environment there, they can become secondarily infected with bacteria and canker organisms. Sometimes these birds will benefit from a short course of canker medication and an antibiotic. This will help to dry up the lesion and make the bird more comfortable while the virus runs its course. Lesions on the skin are best left alone. Attempting to remove them or treating with some topical agents tends to cause more tissue destruction and delay healing.
Management of an outbreak Out of the racing season If an outbreak occurs out of the racing season, provided birds are over six weeks of age and it is at least six weeks before racing, the best thing to do is simply vaccinate the birds. If vaccinating in the face of an outbreak, birds already with the disease need not be vaccinated.
During racing If an outbreak occurs during racing, the situation is not as easy. The usual reason for vaccinating is to prevent just this occurrence. As mentioned above, the disease is rarely fatal and is more one of inconvenience. If birds appear with pox in the racing loft during the season, the flier has one of two options: 1. To vaccinate all birds. This means that between four and six weeks of competition are lost and so this option is rarely taken. 2. To separate affected birds from the rest of the team. These birds can be fed, watered and exercised separately andwhen recovered after four to six weeks can be brought back into the team as fresh birds. The difficulty here is thatthe virus has an incubation period of ten days. By the time it is realised that a bird has pox, it may have alreadypecked or in some other way infected several birds in the loft, which are now incubating the disease and spreadingit further. Eventually, most of the team ends up with the disease. In many lofts, however, this does represent an effective means of containment and as soon as the fancier has hada ten-day break without any new cases, he or she knows that the outbreak is controlled. Recovered birds are competitive.
During Breeding Outbreaks that occur during breeding are usually started by mosquitoes as there is not the same exposure to birds from other lofts as there is in the racing loft. Individual birds that become infected are usually best immediately separated in order to minimise spread of the disease. Mosquitoes can be discouraged by regular spraying with permethrin solution
Conditions that look similar Canker is the disease with which pox is most commonly confused. When pox appears on the skin (the cutaneous form) the dry crusty lumpy appearance of the lesion is usually diagnostic. However, when it occurs in the mouth (mucosal pox) the lesion looks like a yellow plaque, which is easy to confuse with canker. Indeed, in some birds, I can only tell the difference by swabbing the lesion and looking under the microscope. Often, the fancier is alerted to mucosal pox by no response to canker medication. There are three simple loft-based tests that a fancier can use to distinguish between the canker and mouth pox : 1. The site of the lesion. If an imaginary line is drawn through the base of the bird’s beak, then any lesions betweenthis line and the tip of the beak are likely to be pox vesicles. This area is too hostile and exposed for Trichomonadorganisms to survive. Conversely, lesions on the throat side of this line are likely to be canker. 2. Attachment to surrounding tissue. As canker lesions invade, there is often a fragile line of inflammation at theedge of the lesion, which enables separation of the canker nodule from the surrounding tissue. The pox lesion isa vesicle or blister of the mouth lining itself, and so cannot be separated from it. 3/ General health. Birds with canker look sick while birds with pox are usually well in themselves.
VRPB Veterinary Health Management Fund. As discussed last month , the VRPB is keen to investigate current veterinary issues to the benefit of Australian fanciers. These include :- 1/ the high mortality rate and catastrophic losses associated with OLRs 2/ validating PMV vaccination protocols in very young pigeons, aiming to better protect these birds, through a mini vaccination trial 3/ investigate emerging diseases that have the potential to impact bird health and racing generally, notably Herpes virus. 4/ validating PMV RATs in the process making PMV a cheap, easy diagnosis that can be done at the loft by the fancier With the VRPB doing all of the veterinary work for no charge the anticipated costs for this work are $3000, $1500, $4,600 and $500 respectively. These costs are essentially for unavoidable lab costs. The University of Melbourne has kindly agreed to discount its lab charges to help the VRPB. To this end the VRPB has established a Veterinary Health Management Fund. Several thousand dollars has already been donated. If your organisation would like to contribute please contact VRPB treasurer Eddie Szatkowski. All donations will be gratefully received and acknowledged in this magazine. Results will be reported as soon as they are available. Criticism of the VRPB A frustrating situation. A VRPB rep was recently approached by some fanciers that were critical of the VRPB. They said that their rep was not keeping them informed and they did not know what the VRPB was doing. They could not see the point in even having the VRPB in the first place. It was pointed out to them that if they were not happy with their reps performance then, as the position was an annually elected one, they could elect a new rep at their organisations AGM. They replied that they did not attend the AGM. It was also pointed out to them that there are monthly VRPB updates in this magazine, our national Journal. They didn’t subscribe. It was also pointed out that the minutes of each VRPB meeting, which summarised what the VRPB was doing ,were listed in chronological order on the VRPB website at www.vrpb.org.au along with other reference material on health, doping , and animal welfare issues etc. They didn’t use the internet. It is hard to believe that some fanciers might believe that there is no benefit in having a state body to represent the interests of pigeon racing. To me it is even harder to believe that we have not had one up until now. The VRPB AGM is scheduled for the 22nd May at the Western Pigeon Federation headquarters. Details will be in the next Journal and will be on the VRPB website. Born with a fear of falcons. I had a fancier report an interesting observation to me. He was ringing 7 day old babies in the nest. His stock loft is built in such a way that youngsters in the nest can see the sky. While he was going from nest to nest ringing the chicks he noticed that they kept jumping back. He thought—what is going on. He then realised that there was a falcon in the sky above the loft. Incredibly , the nestlings, even at only a week of age recognised it as a potential threat.
Exertional polycythaemia -- a common cause of panting. Concerned that your birds appear well but desperately pant after just a few minutes flying – as testing becomes more thorough we are finding more and more that these birds have an exertional polycythaemia. What is this and what do you do about it ? Over the last month I have been contacted again by several fanciers concerned that their birds are panting severely after moderate exercise Sometimes the panting is seen after flying for just a few minutes. Usually the fanciers are concerned that their birds have a respiratory infection. Now that I am retired , I have put these fanciers in touch with the closest avian vet to investigate the cause. Invariably, the results have all come back quite normal except for very high red blood cell counts. This has been discussed in detail in earlier articles but essentially this occurs when pigeons are forced to exercise beyond their current fitness level. Because of the increased work, more oxygen has to be supplied to the tissues. In an effort to meet this demand and carry more oxygen, red blood cells are released into the circulation so that the red blood cell count rises . Past a certain point however there can be too many red blood cells in the circulation. This abnormally elevated level of red blood cells in the circulation is called a polycythaemia. The red blood cell concentration in the circulation can increase to the point where the blood becomes so viscous that it becomes hard for the heart to pump it around the body. The system can therefore “backfire” on itself causing the birds to be desperately “air hungry” with wide open beaks panting for air often within minutes of exercising. Fit pigeons do have elevated red blood cell counts but this needs to develop slowly over time as part of a normal healthy response to gradually increasing exercise levels. It is the forced increase in exercise over a short period of time that causes a harmful polycythaemia ( high red blood cell count ) to develop. In the units that we use the red blood cell count for a normal fit race bird should be in the range 42 to 50. Some of the panting birds had red cell counts over 70. It seems, however, that any test result over 60 in panting birds could be significant. The answer to the problem is not a medical one but rather one of management. Initially veterinary checks should be done to make sure that there are no underlying health issues that are preventing the birds from responding to training . After this it is good if the birds can be “open lofted” for several hours each day so that birds can fly if they want to but no birds are forced to fly. Blood counts normally return to normal in two weeks. The birds are then gradually brought back into work. Polycythaemia is a condition of which many fanciers are not aware. This needs to change. It is diagnosed by a quick easy blood test called a PCV that most vets can do while you wait. Fanciers need to be aware that panting is usually a sign of exercise intolerance rather than respiratory infection. In the absence of any respiratory symptoms ie sneezing , dirty ceres, eye colds etc polycythaemia should be considered. Fanciers may find the section on the APC website titled “Panting” of interest. The same information is on page 301 of my book “The Pigeon”.
Storing Grain in Plastic or metal bins. It is not uncommon for fanciers to store grain in plastic rubbish bins. Many plastics are quite safe for food storage however studies have found that certain chemicals in some plastics can leach out of the plastic and into food . Some of these chemicals have been linked to health problems. Some plastics contain vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC),polystyrene or bisphenol A (BPA) all of which are potentially harmful. Polycarbonate is often used to make food storage containers .It can release bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that many experts now believe can cause serious health problems. So, best to check at the time of purchase either with the seller or by reading the label to make sure that a plastic bin is fine to use for grain storage. Similarly some metal containers can pose a risk to our birds health. Most notably anything that is galvanised. Galvanising contains lead and zinc, both of which are quickly absorbed into the body and can accumulate over time leading to long tern health issues such as a failure to rend to training and notably in stock birds , infertility. Metal containers and plastics suitable for food storage are Ok as is glass for smaller volumes of “treat” grains or seeds. Non –treated wood is also fine.
Vet Questions 1/ Do you know if DNA parentage testing is available in Australia? I am interested in getting some of my stock birds done. Testing for pigeons is not available in Australia but samples can be sent to Belgium for testing. The vet who does this testing is Dr Pascal Lanneau. If you google him you will find all of the details. 2/ I need some advice on an issue with 2 young birds. They are late bred birds and after a week of training and trying to keep them up they both can't get up off the floor anymore. As if their wings seem to have strained? I have given the entire loft 10 days of Sulpha and today giving Salmonella vacc, however these 2 birds seem different. No lumps or swelling but they both don't want to flap their wings almost as though they have had end flights plucked . Is it possible that like humans they have a muscle strain or maybe have pulled something. Unfortunately without examining these birds the diagnosis is pretty open. Certainly pigeons can overfly leading to myoscitis ( ie inflamed muscles) which is similar to a strain in mammals. In a valuable bird or if a significant number are affected veterinary testing is available to provide a diagnosis. An Xray would see if there was any boney involvement or if the problem was purely a soft tissue one. Blood tests can also be done – an elevation in an enzyme called CPK in the blood is associated with myoscitis and a test called a differential white cell count would be useful to tell if the problem was due to an infection. Further tests could be done as indicated. Obviously these tests cost money and would only usually be considered if the problem was sufficiently severe within the loft to warrant this type of investigation. In the absence of testing , muscle inflammation due to overexertion or injury would be the most likely problem and hopefully would respond to simple rest and time.