PMV RATs These tests are likely to soon be available and make diagnosis of PMV for fanciers much quicker, easier and cheaper. The key points about PMV Rats are :- 1/ Rapid Antigen Tests ( RATs) utilize lateral flow technology. They detect the presence of proteins associated with particular disease causing agents. 2/ RATs have been developed to test for a number of disease causing agents in birds, animals and humans ( including COVID ). 3/ A RAT has been developed to test for PMV in chickens. As the viruses that cause PMV in chickens and in pigeons are very similar ( as shown, in particular, by the ability of one vaccine to protect both chickens and pigeons) it is very likely, indeed almost certain, that the chicken PMV RAT will also detect PMV in pigeons 4/ We have imported some chicken PMV RATs but are keen to validate them in pigeons on cases confirmed to be PMV ( by PCR or histopathology ) before distributing them for use. Hopefully this opportunity will present itself in the coming weeks/months 5/ Once confirmed as diagnostic in pigeons we will make them available. 6/ In the PMV RAT a swab is rolled around inside the birds vent or passed through fresh droppings. The tip of the swab is then placed into a vial filled with extraction fluid. After approx. 3 minutes the swab is removed and several drops of the fluid dripped onto a test paper. A single line appears if the test has been done correctly. A second line appears if PMV is present in the sample 7/ The tests cost about $9.50 each. The test can be done in 3 minutes at the loft by the fancier.
What makes a pigeon vomit? Pigeons vomit due to one of two reasons. Either :- 1/ something irritates the crop or stomach wall triggering a vomit reflex. This can either be a disease process like wet canker or a bacterial or yeast infection or alternatively the ingestion of something that directly irritates the crop wall such as a hot or abrasive substance. With a disease like wet canker, the crop wall is already inflamed. Eating distends a crop that is already sore and so the body’s reaction is to empty the crop through vomiting. Eating a hot or irritant substance causes immediate discomfort and so vomiting is the natural reflex to remove this pain. In either situation the vomiting almost invariably occurs after eating and usually fairly quickly ie within 30 mins of eating. 2/ something causes nausea. Like other animals ( and humans ) birds have a vomiting centre in the brain. If this centre is stimulated by nausea then a vomiting episode occurs. Many things can cause nausea – disease, severe injury and exhaustion but the most common condition that is associated with nausea induced vomiting in pigeons is Rota virus infection. The general debility and severe, potentially fatal, infection of the liver that this virus causes triggers the vomiting centre making vomiting a hallmark of the disease. When vomiting is due to nausea it can occur at any time. It is interesting that fanciers note that if birds with Rota virus are fed in the evening and then checked, at say, 10 pm, then there is no evidence of vomiting . But, if the same birds are checked before light the next morning then vomit will be found. The reason for this is that the vomiting is not due to a problem with the crop or stomach and therefore is not directly associated with eating , but as with other causes of liver disease, the vomiting is due to the nausea that comes many hours later when the food is actually being digested ( or at least trying to be digested by a damaged liver ).
Current Veterinary Issues As discussed in last month’s Journal, as I see it, we currently have two veterinary issues that need to be considered at both a state and national level:- 1/ the high mortality rate and catastrophic losses associated with OLRs. I don’t think that it is reasonable or the best option for each OLR operator to independently try and solve this problem. This approach just doubles up on time, effort and costs. OLRs operate in most states and are supported by many fanciers across state borders. Failing to solve this problem tarnishes the reputation of the loft operators, damages the sport generally and runs the risk of a visit by an Animal Welfare Officer from the RSPCA or local council and the risk of prosecution. To address this issue I think funds should be made available to :- a/ investigate the principle causes of these mortalities through a logical and thorough veterinary diagnostic process. This would involve live bird testing, autopsy, microscopic examination of tissues and various specific tests such as PCRs and bacterial cultures to find out exactly why these birds are getting sick and dying. All we know at the moment is that PMV and Herpes appear to be significant while Salmonella and parasites such as coccidia are not. However the role of other agents such as other viruses and notably Chlamydia in OLRs is not known. b/ conduct a mini immune trial to see if the proposed alterations to the PMV vaccination protocol do actually offer some protection and if so at what level. I have put on the VRPB website a proposed protocol to minimise health issues for OLR managers. These help but more needs to be done. The current proposal is that birds destined for OLRs be vaccinated in their home lofts at 3 weeks and then again at 5 weeks and then shipped. This was discussed more fully in the February Journal The initial trials of the PMV vaccination were conducted in 2012 with the primary objectives of reducing mortality rates, protecting the birds and getting pigeon racing back on the road. Although several protocols were proposed by the Consultative Committee of Emergency Animal Disease (CCEAD , the protocol that the trials showed to be most effective was two shots four weeks apart with both given after six weeks of age With the increased transfer of young pigeons between states due to One Loft Racing and the sale of race teams, the VRPB suggests a review of the current PMV vaccination protocols to find proven ways of protecting young pigeons before being placed in these high risk situations. Anecdotally it appears that vaccinating birds at 3 and 5 weeks of age , if not offering complete immunity, does stimulate sufficient immunity to significantly reduce the severity of the disease. In the proposed trial, blood would be drawn from ten , three week old squeakers to ensure they had no immunity. They would then be vaccinated and blood drawn every 2 weeks to track their developing immunity levels. If the youngsters became immune then altered vaccination protocols could then be recommended with confidence. As it appears that PMV is a significant cause of disease and death in young birds associated with OLRs, squeaker sales and the sale of race teams, offering fanciers a way of protecting their birds that had been shown to effective would benefit us all.
To investigate OLR mortalities I would expect total costs to be $3000. To conduct the mini vaccine trial I would anticipate costs of less than $1500 . Both investigations are currently not proceeding through lack of funds.
2/ Investigate emerging diseases that have the impact to affect bird health and racing nationally. Herpes virus ( causing Inclusion Body Hepatitis) is the concern of the moment. As explained the starting point would be to find out just how prevalent the problem is. As also explained this can be done by running some pan Herpes PCRs at the University of Melbourne. The University has offered us a discounted price of $80/ test and we would need to do about 60. Although donations from several organisations have been gratefully accepted, this investigation is currently also stalled through lack of funds.
In the April Journal five ways of gaining funding relatively quickly were discussed. In the longer term, a successful grant application is a sixth. Of these I thought that accessing funds held by the ANRPB in their Disease Management Fund was the best option. I have had to change my mind. As fanciers would be aware the funds in the Disease Management Fund were donated by Australian fanciers to facilitate making a Rota virus vaccine available in 2017. After this aim was achieved the funds were held by the ANRPB in this fund if ever there was a “next time”. This decision received a mixed reception. Since then further covenants have been placed on the use of this money by the ANRPB. In a document on the ANRPB website approved by the ANRPB members on the 7th March this year and signed by Greg Kakoschke this money now can only be used for “ for the development of treatments for any new diseases or viruses that are found to have high mortality rates in pigeons” . According to the ANRPB the situation will be reviewed in June 2025.
With the ANRPB stating that the fund can only be used for treatment this means that the ANRPB will not release funds for diagnostic work and specifically states that the money cannot be used “for investigative or research purposes”. The ANRPB has also restricted the funds to only be used for a “new” disease. It remains unclear what “new” means – is this “new” to Australia like PMV, “new” to the world like Rota or newly diagnosed but always here like Circo virus. I imagine, however, that they mean “new” to the world, otherwise we would simply adopt treatments already shown to effective overseas making the fund unnecessary. Restricting access to diseases that cause high mortality is problematic and means that diseases like Adeno Coli syndrome that cause disease in many birds but only small numbers die directly would not be covered. Interestingly neither would Covid in humans .The ANRPB document also states that the high mortality disease would need to be diagnosed in 2 or more states. To find out if it was the same problem, diagnostic work would need to be done. Where would the funds for this diagnostic work come from? It is hard to know if you have a “new” disease in 2 states if no money is available to investigate or diagnose it.
The ANRPB explains their decision by stating that the “ probability of future pigeon related viruses remains high”. I happened to be speaking to Prof Grant Rawlin recently . He is head of service at Agribio and was in charge of the diagnostic team at Agribio during the Rota investigation. In his 30 or so years at Agribio there has only been five new infectious diseases diagnosed and only one of these was in birds, and that was Rota. Who knows, there may be another one but , with only one “new” bird disease in the last 30 years, I feel that it is unlikely in my lifetime at least. The other new infectious diseases found during this time were Bonamia in oysters in Australia, Orbivirus blindness in kangaroos, Upper Alimentary Ulcerative Syndrome in dairy heifers and Novel eel virus.
The ANRPB has restricted the use of the money to treatment. Professor Rawlin explained that the cost of diagnosing ( ie not treating ) Rota was $65,000. So based on what has happened over the last 30 years, a new disease seems unlikely and we have no funds for diagnosis. Ironically we don’t need money for treatment .We already have treatments for virtually everything . The only thing we would not have a treatment for is an exotic virus . That would require a vaccine . The production of this would almost certainly need to be funded by the private sector. Unfortunately the $64k would not go very far for this. As a comparison, the Australian Woolgrowers Association contributed $1.5 million to a vaccine manufacturing company to supply a footrot vaccine. Despite everyone’s best efforts , after several years a registered vaccine is still not available.
After reading the Disease Management section on the ANRPB website I had to change my mind about approaching the ANRPB for funds. I believe it is pointless pursuing the ANRPB for funds. That money, the $64,000, is effectively lost to the pigeon fanciers of Australia, at least in the short term for any veterinary work.
So, the current situation is such that there are current veterinary issues whose investigation would benefit all Australian fanciers and a large cash pool donated by fanciers exists. However if fanciers would like the above veterinary work done further funds will need to be sought. After the ANRPB deciding to keep their donated funds of $64,000 to treat any future disease that may occur it is hard to believe that fanciers would donate further funds to them . The VRPB will “fill in the gaps” and address veterinary issues that are currently effecting our sport nationally . Effectively the VRPB will assume the role of a national body to investigate current and future veterinary issues . Hopefully the VRPB will find itself in the situation with funding soon so that this work can proceed. If the VRPB is able to do this work, testing procedure updates and results as they become available will be reported each month in the Journal .
I find the whole situation very problematic but at least one good thing is that Agriculture Victoria operates a Significant Disease Investigation (SDI ) program where the government will cover the cost of diagnostic work in certain situations.. For a disease to be considered “significant” one or more of the following criteria must be met by the disease event. 1. An unusual or atypical manifestation of disease, including high morbidity ( ie number of affected animals), mortality and/or rate of spread. 2. An initial investigation fails to establish a diagnosis, including when veterinary treatment does not produce the expected response. 3. There are findings suggesting a possible effect on trade, public health, biodiversity or the viability of a farm, industry or region. 4. Where there is a genuine suspicion of an exotic or emergency animal disease.
This means that although there may be some costs in initial preliminary veterinary diagnostic work done by the VRPB, if the disease is deemed to be a SDI, then , as with Rota , Agriculture Victoria will cover the cost
Antibiotic Use. I recently received an email from an overseas fanciers. His question was can “ Can I mix the Medpet product “Trimoteraprime sulfa” which contains trimethoprim 30% and sulphaquinoxaline 13% and the Tollisan product “Adeno coli” which contains polymixin sulfate 2.500mg, nitrofurazone 5.000mg, and amoxicillin 15.000mg together in the drinker for my birds?” My response was why did he want to give birds 5 different antibiotics simultaneously and what sort of problem was he having with his birds? His reply was, “ No I don’t have any problems. I'm doing well again. Just a prevention, 2 or 3 days only.” My response was that antibiotics don’t have a preventative role. They treat active infections but don’t prevent future infections. The antibiotics he had mentioned need to be given for at least 5 days. Shorter treatments just kill the easy to kill bacteria and leave behind the harder to kill bacteria. This is one of the ways that hard to control bacterial infections are created.
Fanciers need to keep in mind that antibiotics are not vaccines. Vaccines stimulate the development of immunity that protects the bird from future disease. With antibiotics once a course is completed the bird is immediately vulnerable to reinfection. This means that a bird can be treated for a week with an antibiotic against a particular bacteria and then if the pigeon comes in contact with the same bacteria the very next day after the course is completed then it will become reinfected. Using antibiotics for short periods just kills the “easy to kill” bacteria ( which usually include the beneficial ones that actually keep the pigeon healthy ) and creates populations of “hard to kill” antibiotic resistant bacteria. Most veterinarians frown on so called “shotgun” treatments where large numbers of drugs are given, often in the absence of an accurate diagnosis , in the hope that one may actually treat a current problem. It is ironic that at a time when antibiotic use in animals is coming under increased scrutiny by various authorities ,( because of the risk of the development of resistant bacteria that may make these drugs less effective or ineffective in humans), that with the internet these drugs are becoming more readily available to pigeon fanciers. I guess the take home message is -- antibiotics should be used to treat specific confirmed infections and under veterinary guidance
The Victorian Racing Pigeon Body. The VRPB met again on the 27th March at the VRPU rooms. We are making real progress. Two years ago we were just a group of pigeon fanciers who had each been independently elected by their relative organisations. We didn’t really know each other. After several meetings and many ,many emails and phone calls this has now changed. We now know each other, the strengths of each of our members have become apparent, our aims have been identified and the ways of achieving them has become clearer . Our secretary and WPF rep , Marc Tenaglia and our solicitor Charles Hider have done a lot of work and have proposed the replacement of the Model Rules constitution with the new Own Rules constitution. The new Own Rules Constitution was reviewed by the VRPB members , finalised and will now sit on the table for a month and be placed on the AGM agenda to be voted on in May. One notable change is that member organisations with more than 50 members will be able to have an additional Board rep for every 30 members over 50 that they have. This will not however effect the number of votes per organization. This will still be proportional. The VRPB agreed that there should be a small annual payable fee per member of an organization. A nominal amount of $10 has been suggested which will be put to each organization for consideration. The state government has not yet finalized the changes to the draft Animal Welfare Action Plans. The directions paper consultation period closed on the 20th Dec 2020 prior to the formation of the VRPB. As such the VRPB did not have the opportunity to participate. The government is seeking representatives to be on the advisory committee and has recommended that applicants either be from the pet, agricultural or veterinary industries and be directly involved with the animal/birds in question. Charles Hider will investigate how we can get a member on the committee moving forward and it was agreed that Colin Walker should fill the position if possible. Minutes of the last two ANRPB meetings were distributed to VRPB members before the meeting and various items relating to the ANRPB were discussed. Funding is currently being sort for 3 VRPB veterinary investigations – Herpes virus prevalence, a review of PMV vaccination protocols and OLR disease investigation. Full minutes of the meeting can be found on the Victorian Racing Pigeon Body website at www.vrpb.org.au I. Our inaugural Annual General Meeting will be held on the 22nd May at 3.00pm.
An impossible diagnosis It’s happening again. Every year I get fanciers tell me that they have sent droppings to a vet . After the droppings are examined the fanciers are told their birds have either a Streptococcus or “thrush” ie a yeast infection or both. I would remind fanciers that this is an impossible diagnosis and certainly not an indication for treatment. As mentioned in more detail in previous years Streptococcus is found quite normally in the dropping of 40% of pigeons, including fed winners. Streptococcus, like all bacteria, can cause infections but to be associated with an infection it has to be identified either outside the bowel ie in the body proper or must be associated with an actual infection of the bowel wall itself. Neither of these can be determined by simply examining the droppings. Remember that we all have bacteria, like E. coli ,in our bowel, right now, that can potentially kill us. Just because they are there does not mean that we should start taking antibiotics. That would be ridiculous. We would be taking antibiotics our whole lives and doing ourselves harm. The same applies to pigeons. Yeasts ie “thrush” organisms are also often found in the dropping of pigeons in low numbers. They multiply up in the droppings after the droppings are passed provided the droppings are kept moist. This means that a delay in dropping examination often shows artificially elevated levels of yeast. High yeast numbers in dropping can indicate a problem but to have any validity the droppings must be examined while they are fresh ie within 3 to 4 hours of being passed. So, diagnosing a yeast infection in a bird by examining droppings one or two days later just makes no sense. My advice, if you are told that your birds have a Streptococcus or yeast infection after a dropping examination, get a second opinion.
International News The International Association of Pigeon Veterinarians (IAPV) was formed in 2019 during an international pigeon veterinary conference in Cracow, Poland . It’s members are veterinarians from around the world who are interested in and involved in treating racing pigeons. I am Australia’s representative on the IAPV and to date the only Australian member. President of the IAPV is well known and highly regarded Belgian vet, Dr Pascal Lanneau. The Federation Columbophile International (FCI ) is the international governing body of pigeon racing. The FCI has a veterinary advisory group called the Veterinary and Science Committee that is headed by German vet Dr Elisabeth Peus. Dr Peus is also secretary of the IAPV. Essentially the two groups are made up of the same people. Currently the organisations are busy preparing submissions on Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease for the World Organisation of Animal Health. Pigeons are not particularly sensitive to Avian Influenza (AI ) . When infected they show mild or no symptoms. They are not persistent carriers and clear the virus quickly. The most important point is that they do not accumulate viral loads that are sufficient to spread the virus, in particular to poultry. Pigeons are regarded therefore as what is termed “dead end hosts”. It is hoped that because of this, that restrictions that may affect bird movement during an outbreak of AI will not apply to pigeons and therefore not affect pigeon racing. The FCI , primarily David Madeira ( FCI vice president ), is seeking to get pigeon racing recognised by UNESCO. Holland and Germany have already made submissions. Portugal and Belgium are currently preparing their submissions. Apparently once 5 countries are recognised then the activity is regarded as being recognised worldwide. The submissions aim to place pigeon racing in the area of culture and nature and have it considered as part of the worlds “intangible cultural heritage”. Having the sport recognised in this way is obviously a good thing , offering the sport more protection in the longer term. The Story of “Baby” This is a story about one of my own race birds. It occurred about 30 years ago but is still an interesting story about a clever pigeon. In 1989 I moved to a new address. I had raced in 1988 , would not race in 1989 while shifting and planned to resume racing at a new location in 1990. The new location was about 20 km from where we used to live . A new and completely different loft was built. I had several birds in the race team that were honest pigeons but, in my opinion, not quite good enough to put in the stock loft, so I decided that I would attempt to “break” them to the new location. In order to re home them I thought it best to let each of them raise a youngster at the new loft before letting them out. I duly did this. One bird in particular was a BBPH which had flown the 700 mile race in my final season at the old loft in 1988. The BBPH’s youngster , a BBH, was weaned on the first weekend of May in 1990. The birds that would make up the new race team had all been weaned into the new loft between November 1989 and February 1990 so this BBH was 3 months younger than the next youngest bird in the team but I decided to just leave it in the race loft. The rest of the birds were flying strongly by this stage and the young BBH was lost off the roof. Two days later she was reported about 5 km from the loft. I offered to give it to the fancier that had reported it. He did not want it and so I collected her and put her back in the racing loft. Things then progressed routinely for her until we were about 3 months into the season ie early October. The young BBH was small, light framed with a pale pearl eye, altogether a rather average specimen and so I thought rather than keep her for a 2 year old she would be tossed and take her chances. That weekends toss was 50 miles ( 80 km) north. I put the young BBH in with the others for what would be her first toss. All birds arrived routinely except for the young BBH that was missing. However the next day she turned up. The following weekends toss was 50 miles south. This would be the young BBH’s second toss. Again all of the birds arrived routinely except for her, however again the next day she appeared. It was now 2 weeks until the VHA comeback 300 mile (480 km ) race. The young BBH went on 6 more tosses during this time. She was not late again and was then duly sent to the 300 mile race. She arrived as my seventh bird about 20 minutes after my clockbird. Two weeks after this was the VHA second 500ml (800 Km )race . The young BBH had several more tosses and was sent. This was a hard race with placegetters arriving on the second day. Mid- afternoon on the second I went down to the loft and the young BBH was back. Three weeks later was the 700mile ( 1150 km ) race. I sent the young BBH. There were no day birds but from mid- morning on the second day, birds were steadily clocked. The young BBH arrived late in the afternoon. She had flown 700 miles at 24 weeks of age . It was only 168 days since she had been weaned. Now called “Baby” she again flew both the 500 mile and 700 mile races on the winning day as a 2 year old. Racing as a three year old I sent her to the VHA 600 mile ( 1000km ) race. I actually won this race. I clocked the winner at 7.23 pm on the day, my second bird which was placed 9th arrived at 7.51 pm. I then had 2 more birds arrive before it got dark. At 10.45 pm a fifth bird arrived . It was “Baby”. And what of Baby’s mother – the hen that was allowed to raise Baby in an attempt to rehome her .After flying the 700 mile to my old loft she proved a difficult hen to settle. She would be missing from the new loft and when I drove to our previous address I would find her sitting on the fence where the old loft used to be. For a period of weeks she went backwards and forwards. Eventually she settled down and I was able to race her. She ended up flying the 700 mile race again as a three year old to the new loft. She is the only pigeon that I have had fly the 700 twice to two different lofts. I still have this blood in my loft today. A sister to Baby’s mother bred my Parkes (350 mile )fed winner which in turn bred a triple fed cock that in turn bred a hen that was placed 14th VHA in a very hard 600 mile race. This 14th fed 600 bred 8 fed birds and they have bred on. It is their children that I am racing today.
Pox vaccine update. Following on from the update about pigeon pox vaccine availability from the last journal, our application for an emergency permit to release for sale the available vaccine is progressing better than expected. Even so the “wheels of government” turn very slowly. I am confident that the vaccine will be available in several months but unfortunately not early enough to vaccinate this season’s cohort of young pigeons. The pigeon pox vaccine that we supply has a reputation of being safe and effective. It has been a feature of the Australian pigeon racing scene for 30 years. A small raised nodule appears in about a week after inoculation, this heals in 2 to 4 weeks and the birds have life time immunity with no side effects. I originally bought the seed culture and technology from Zoetis in 1991. Since then it has been made for me by Bioproperties – a large multinational company which conveniently has its world headquarters in Melbourne. Concerned fanciers have reported to me that some fanciers are importing illegally, ie smuggling in, pox vaccine from overseas. After the earlier debacle with smuggled in PMV vaccines I am sure that there must not be a fancier in Australia that knows this is illegal. Just because it gets through customs does not mean that this is OK, it just means that they are too busy to check every parcel and you have been lucky. Some fanciers may have noticed that some pox vaccines in the USA ad EU have recently been de-registered. This is because of concerns that the seed culture was contaminated with a Retro virus. This virus group can cause disease in pigeons and is certainly something we don’t need in Australia. The rules prohibiting import of avian vaccines into Australia are there for a purpose. Selfish and stupid are the words that come to mind when I think of fanciers that do this.
Treating for Respiratory Infection due to Chlamydia prior to racing Len Vanderlinde, said it well at a recent presentation to the SAHPA in Adelaide. Pigeons need ongoing low grade exposure to the common disease causing agents to maintain natural immunity. Treating healthy pigeons for conditions that they don’t have interrupts this exposure and makes no sense, particularly as the race season approaches. Len is currently the most successful fancier in Queensland and so his words should carry some weight.
It is not good practice to routinely give healthy birds lengthy antibiotic courses prior to racing. Some fanciers , in particular give long ie 7 to 20 plus day courses of doxycycline prior to racing to “clean the birds out” in an effort to make sure that their birds don’t start the season with a respiratory infection. Giving an antibiotic course is beneficial if there is a respiratory infection, but if there is no respiratory infection then this course is not only pointless but will do the birds harm. Unnecessary doxycycline disrupts the normal beneficial population of bowel bacteria, can damage the liver and interfers with the absorption of calcium and other nutrients such as vitamin B into the body not to mention interfering with the low grade ongoing exposure to disease agents necessary to maintain natural immunity alluded to by Len. And of course this treatment has no preventative action. If exposed to a respiratory infection within several days of the antibiotics stopping the birds can catch a respiratory infection all over again.
There are only 4 situations where your birds will benefit from a pre- race season treatment with doxycycline. These are :- 1. If testing shows that the disease is active in the birds, even if they look normal. 2. If respiratory infection was a problem during the early part of the racing season the previous year and the loft parameters have not changed (i.e. same loft design, same genetics etc).This suggests that there is a respiratory problem in the birds. 3. If there was a significant amount of respiratory disease in the post-weaning time. 4. If the birds have a current respiratory infection ie visible eye colds, dirty ceres etc
If your birds do not fulfil one of these criteria then no treatment is required. If they do then it is usual to treat the birds for 7–20 days ( although treatments of longer than 10 days are rarely required ) with doxycycline, finishing two to three weeks before racing starts. Just how long an individual team is treated depends on the severity of the problem and the response to treatment. So treat if you need to , but don’t treat just as a matter of routine.
Other Causes of Respiratory infection It is important to remember too that, although most respiratory infections, particularly in young pigeons where “eye colds” are a common symptom, do have a Chlamydial base, that not all respiratory infections in pigeons are just due to this. In a recent client newsletter Dutch vet Dr Peter Boskamp stressed the importance of two bacteria Klebsiella and Pseudomonas as, often undiagnosed, causes of respiratory infections. Dr Boskamp states that although dropping analysis and microscopic examination of a throat swab are commonly done, that these unfortunately are often the ONLY tests that are done . This means that other infections that have the potential to cause poor race performance such as bacterial respiratory infections due to Klebsiella and Pseudomonas go undetected. These bacterial infections were discussed in my book “ The Pigeon” ten years ago but screening for these is also still not commonly done in Australia as well. Respiratory bacterial infections are diagnosed by tests done on swabs taken from the throat and “slot”. Initially the swab is “rolled” onto a microscopic slide , stained and examined microscopically. What is seen can be suggestive of a diagnosis. Definitive diagnosis is made by sending a swab to a lab where the bacteria present can be grown and identified. Usually tests are also done to see which antibiotic is likely to be most effective against the actual strain of Klebsiella or Pseudomonas present in that sample . This enables a targeted treatment with an antibiotic that has been shown to be effective. Baytril used to work well but these days, because of overuse or misuse, not so much. Identification of the actual bacteria has further advantages too. Klebsiella is more common in dirty, dusty lofts while Pseudomonas is often associated with dirty water or objects associated with water such as dirty drinkers or birds drinking from puddles. Having this knowledge helps us prevent re infection. For example if the cause of the respiratory infection has been identified as Klebsiella and the loft is still dusty, then because the source of infection is still there , the birds will become reinfected once antibiotics stop and the problem will reoccur. Some fanciers may wish to have these tests routinely done as part of their veterinary pre- race checks while others may have this suggested to them by their vet if their birds have a respiratory infection that is not responding to routine treatment. The good news is that once a respiratory infection due to bacteria have been identified the bacteria can be tested against a range of antibiotics to see which is the most effective, and steps put in place to prevent reinfection. Dr Boskamp’s concludes his newsletter by writing “Moral of this story. Blind cures are no longer desirable in the time of pigeon top sport. Thorough research, clearly more than manure testing and a throat swab should take place in case of serious problems. Sending samples to a specialized lab to detect hidden infections should also be considered. But what is at least as important is the care for a good intestinal environment and a good general resistance.”
Products and vaccines made overseas. For some fanciers a product or vaccine made overseas seems to have a particular allure with some thinking that these products are better than what we have here. I can assure fanciers that there is no useful product available overseas that is not available in Australia. All of the antibiotics , other drugs and components of the various supplements are available here. I know that overseas there are vaccine marketed for Circo and other viruses but there are several things that Australian fanciers need to be aware of. The hyper regulatory standards that apply to pharmaceuticals in Australia that guarantee that a fancier is actually getting what he pays for do not apply in many other countries. Veterinary based companies can supply products under a system called “veterinary prescribing rights” where vets can supply virtually anything to their clients. Some European vaccines are rather crude affairs- just killed virus. In making these vaccines chemicals are added to the virus to kill it. If not enough is added the virus can revert to virulence ie it is still alive and still cause disease , not enough and the substances that stimulate immunity are destroyed and the vaccine doesn’t work. I have contacted several veterinary companies that supply these vaccines . They could not answer my questions about mode of manufacture, efficacy, trial results etc and referred me to the manufacturers. When I contacted the manufacturers none were able to supply any data that showed that the vaccine actually worked. Once a vccine or product is cleared for sale in any EU country, no matter what standards are in that country, it can then be sold throughout the entire EU. So buyng a vaccine from say a German outlet, may in fact have no data to support that it works, is not contaminated or in fact does not do the birds harm and may in fact only be able to be sold because it was initially cleared for sale in some tiny country somewhere else. Quite apart from the fact that the importation of these products is illegal it is really a matter of “buyer be aware “
Slow crop Delayed crop emptying (slow crop) is a common problem during the racing season. The crop of healthy pigeons should empty within 12 hours if fed twice daily, and within 24 hours if fed once daily. Often the crop of a healthy pigeon will empty in a much shorter period of time, sometimes just two to three hours, even after a full meal. Delayed crop emptying is a non-specific sign that indicates the pigeons are not entirely well. It can be the initial indication to the fancier that all is not well with the team. Often the problem is first noticed when birds are picked up for a morning toss and are found to have food in their crops from the day before. Alternatively, birds may not appear normally hungry and trap sluggishly, simply because they still have food in their crops, waiting to be digested, from their last feed. What are the possible causes of delayed crop emptying? I find it easiest to group potential causes into four categories; namely, problems with the food, the crop itself, the environment and the body generally. The crop The crop is a dilated pouch-like area of the oesophagus (the tube from the throat to the stomach). It is the initial place where swallowed food comes to rest. In health it is a functional, contracting, muscular sac. At the completion of the meal, the crop begins pushing boluses of food through into the stomach. Anything that inflames the crop wall interferes with this function. Common infectious causes include wet canker, ‘thrush’, and bacterial infections (often E coli). Microscopic examination of a sample of fluid taken from the crop (a crop flush) can be used to identify a problem. Food Feeding poor quality food contaminated with bacteria, fungi, or toxins will lead to a slow crop. The body Pigeons that are generally unwell for any reason, often develop a slow crop as a feature of their ill health. One of the initial subtle ways that race birds have of showing us that all is not well is a crop that takes too long to empty. Frustratingly, the list of possible health causes is long. The problem could be a disease elsewhere in the body that, although not immediately associated with crop function (for example, worms or coccidia), weakens the bird. Alternatively, the problem could be one of flock management that indirectly affects the birds’ well-being; for example, over-training. Exposure to heavy metals such as zinc and lead is an often overlooked problem that is particularly associated with a crop becoming slow. Drinkers, storage drums or feed trays made of galvanised metal can all expose the birds to these toxins. Quickly absorbed but slowly excreted, they accumulate over time, leading to a range of health problems including delayed crop emptying and even infertility. If this is a possibility, your vet can do a blood lead estimate. For this test, a small sample of the pigeon’s blood is taken and processed through an in-clinic testing device. Results are ready in three minutes. Because of the long list of possible causes of a slow crop, it is a matter of logically testing the birds and also reviewing their recent management The environment Basically, birds from lofts that fail to provide a sense of well-being or a healthy environment can be expected to experience delayed crop emptying. For example, they may be cold and damp. Lofts may fail to provide a sense of security so that the birds do not rest properly or, alternatively, may be poorly set up leading to excessive territorial disputes. What to do? A crop flush should be done immediately, particularly during racing, to identify any crop infection present, and treatment given as indicated. If no problem is detected, a thorough clinical examination, together with microscopic examination of a faecal smear, may give the answer. If the problem is persistent, more thorough testing for specific diseases, and blood profiles, can be done by your vet. Doing a blood lead test should be considered. Medication is not necessarily indicated. The bird’s recent management should be reviewed, together with the loft design relative to recent weather. If the birds have been working hard and the weather is cold, no tossing for a few days and some probiotics or vitamins may help. Slow crops correlating with a recent change in a grain batch may indicate a feed problem. Interestingly, at a recent avian vets’ conference in Manly, Australia, our guest speaker was Dr Lorenzo Crosti, the veterinary director of Loro Parque in Tenerife. Loro Parque is a world famous bird breeding facility. Dr Crosti stated that he had good results treating birds that were otherwise healthy, but with slow crops, with fennel tea. Fennel tea bags can be purchased from health food shops. Simply make a cup of fennel tea, as you would make a cup of normal tea for yourself. This can then be added to the drinker. There is no strict dose rate. It smells like licorice but, unless mixed too strongly, the birds drink it readily. Chlorophyll, the natural substance that makes plants green, also available from health food stores, has also been shown to stimulate the crop to empty.
Vet Questions 1/ I was after some advice regarding a pigeon with dropped wings. I live in SE Qld near Gympie. I have a loft split in 3 to house Hens & Cocks separately, with 4 chickens in the middle pen. It is attached to a free flight aviary which can be shut to allow each side access to the outside on alternate days. They are not overcrowded & water & food changed daily. It is fully rodent & snake proof & have never seen evidence of any penetration from either. I have had one young hen & more recently, one older cock in separate pens with dropped wings in the last week. I immediately isolated the hen & observed some watery green droppings. At this stage I have not isolated the cock. They are both otherwise spritely & eating, not fluffed up at all. Was wondering what could cause this? I was wondering if it may be Salmonella which I’ve read can cause the joints to swell hence the dropped wings? I really don’t know how to treat as I’m not sure what I’m dealing with.
Thank you for your interesting enquiry. Wing or leg lameness due to Salmonella is due to the bacteria causing an infection in a joint. This infection causes the affected joint to fill with inflammatory fluid that can be easily felt. It would be good to thoroughly feel the joints of any wings that are affected for such a swelling. If this cannot be felt, Salmonella is unlikely. Salmonella also usually presents as a loft problem with multiple birds showing different symptoms of the disease ie wasting and death, diarrhoea, head tilt, bacterial infection of joints etc etc As far as to what could be the cause, it is hard to say . Chickens carry many types of bacteria in their bowels quite normally that can cause a variety of problems in pigeons including joint infections. This is because chickens have long , well developed caecums, something that pigeons do not have. There can be dietary causes eg too low calcium. Lameness can occur secondary to kidney problems which in turn lead to uric acid retention. Birds can injure themselves in the loft. Although we can think of multiple causes, frustratingly, without examining and testing the birds it is not possible to say what the problem might be in your case. If possible it would be best to have an avian vet examine the birds
2/ I have been told that pigeons should not be injected in the thigh because medications may not work if given this way. This seems unlikely but is it true? This is true. Not only in pigeons but in birds generally, the circulation to the legs is such that blood can be diverted directly to the kidney rather than flowing into the body directly. This is due to a valve that occurs in this part of the circulation that does not occur in mammals. This means that , if for example, an antibiotic, is injected into the thigh, it can be transported straight to the kidney and be excreted from the body without exerting any significant effect. If a medication needs to be injected into a muscle it should be given into the breast muscle. Injecting here is not a problem in a stock bird but poses problems in race birds where we don’t want to create any soreness. Fortunately most medications can be given either orally or injected under the skin of the neck.
3/ Does vaccination cause infertility in fancy pigeons, particularly the smaller varieties like Pigmy Pouters and Brunners? There is absolutely no evidence in any peer reviewed veterinary Journal that vaccination causes infertility in any pigeon. I know that one vaccination manufacturer was considering legal action against a particular vet for spreading this bogus information about their product. Several years ago I also had a government compliance officer contact me investigating the same vet for spreading this same mis information because this led to some fanciers not using a registered vaccine against a notifiable disease with a high mortality rate. Fortunately this whole thing seems to have died down now, Common sense tells us that if this was the case then all lofts would be effected to a roughly similar extent where this is just not the case. Some lofts simply had an infertility problem and in the absence of a proper investigation of the cause using a vaccine was a simple ( incorrect ) answer.