Prevention and Treatment of Paratyphoid in Meat Pigeon Farming

The pathogen of paratyphoid is Salmonella typhimurium. Diseased pigeons and recovered pigeons are the main sources of infection, and contaminated feed and drinking water are the main routes of transmission. It is often transmitted through bacteria-carrying eggs laid by the digestive tract of recovered pigeons. However, infection can also occur through the respiratory tract and conjunctiva.

1 Symptoms

After pigeons contract this disease, they are unwilling to move, often stand alone, are depressed, drowsy, have swollen eyelids, lose the original color of the nose cere, have rough and lusterless feathers, reduced appetite or refuse to eat, and suffer from diarrhea, passing green or brownish foul-smelling loose droppings that contain undigested feed components. The feathers around the cloaca are often contaminated by the loose droppings. Acutely affected pigeons die within 2 to 3 days, while chronically affected pigeons have long-term diarrhea, become emaciated, have drooping wings, an unsteady gait, and a tilted head and neck. Some affected pigeons also show symptoms such as difficulty breathing and subcutaneous swelling.

2 Treatment

① Mix 0.3% tetracycline antibiotics and chloramphenicol (chlortetracycline is best) into the feed and feed continuously for 5 to 7 days. ② Mix 0.3% sulfadiazine and the same amount of sodium bicarbonate into the feed and feed continuously for 3 days. In addition, furan drugs also have a relatively good therapeutic effect on this disease, but they easily cause poisoning and should be used with caution.

3 Prevention

① Improve the sanitary conditions of the pigeon house and regularly put antibiotics, vitamins, etc. into the drinking water or feed. ② Newly purchased pigeons should be fed chlortetracycline for 3 to 5 days, mixed into the feed at 0.04% to 0.08%, and given by intramuscular injection at 50,000 units per bird once a day. ③ Diseased pigeons should be isolated for treatment, and recovered pigeons should not be used for breeding and should be culled. ④ The pigeon house, equipment, and site should be disinfected.