How to Identify Pigeon Diseases During Pigeon Rearing

In order to detect sick pigeons early and prevent the spread of epidemics, breeders must carefully observe the flock 3 times a day: morning, noon and evening. The “three looks and nine checks” method for identifying pigeon diseases introduced below is simple and easy to apply, and is provided for reference.

“Three looks”: first, look at the mental state: healthy pigeons appear lively, excited and alert; sick pigeons are listless, lazy to move and slow to react. Second, look at eating and drinking: healthy pigeons eat and drink normally; sick pigeons eat less or stop eating, either refuse to drink or drink excessively, and do not feed their squabs. Third, look at the color and shape of droppings: healthy pigeon droppings are gray, yellowish-brown or grayish-black, shaped in strips or spirals, with a white attachment at the end; sick pigeons' droppings are mostly soft, loose and watery, green, with a foul odor, etc. “Nine checks”: first, check the eyes: healthy pigeons' eyes are bright, clean, alert and wide open. If there are secretions in the eyes, conjunctival redness or pallor, corneal opacity, or constricted or dilated pupils, these are all signs of illness. For example, ophthalmia, paratyphoid, chronic respiratory diseases and vitamin A deficiency often cause pigeon eyes to become inflamed, red and swollen, with increased secretions. Fever and conjunctivitis can cause conjunctival redness. Anemia or malnutrition can cause conjunctival pallor.

Second, check the cere: healthy pigeons' ceres are distinct, white and clean. Among them, normal squabs' ceres are flesh-colored, and young pigeons' ceres gradually change from flesh-colored to white. If the cere is dirty and moist, with a dull color, these are signs of illness. This is especially obvious when suffering from respiratory diseases, colds, paratyphoid and other diseases. Third, check the beak: healthy pigeons' beaks are clean; sick pigeons often have dirty beaks due to increased nasal secretions. Fourth, check breathing: healthy pigeons breathe evenly, 30 times/minute to 40 times/minute; when pigeons suffer from trichomoniasis, tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and other diseases, they have nasal discharge, coughing and panting. In severe necrotizing pneumonia, sick pigeons may be seen breathing with their mouths open, and the exhaled air has a foul odor. Fifth, check the oral cavity: open the pigeon's mouth; in cases of pharyngitis and diphtheritic pigeon disease, redness, ulcers or yellowish-white pseudomembranes appear in the oral cavity and throat. In vitamin A deficiency, grayish-white nodules the size of millet grains can be seen in the sick pigeon's oral cavity. In cases of soft crop disease, the mouth exhales gas with a sour odor. Sixth, check the crop: press and feel the crop with your fingers; if the crop is still swollen and firm 3 hours after eating, it may be hard crop disease; if the pigeon has not eaten but the crop is full, soft and fluctuating, and when the pigeon is held upside down, sour-smelling liquid flows from the mouth, it may be soft crop disease. Seventh, check the anus: first observe whether the feathers around the anus are contaminated by droppings, then use your hand to open the anus and check whether the cloaca is congested or has bleeding points. Eighth, check the body: healthy pigeons have a firm body and full breast muscles. Sick pigeons are generally emaciated and have no strength to struggle when held in the hand. At the same time, attention should be paid to checking for sternum deformities, etc. Ninth, check body temperature: carefully insert a thermometer into the pigeon's cloaca for about 5 minutes to measure body temperature. The normal body temperature of healthy pigeons is 40.5°C to 42.5°C; above 42.5°C indicates fever, but sometimes after strenuous exercise or exposure to sunlight, body temperature also rises by 0.5°C.