How to Identify Pigeon Diseases? Teach You to Tell Pigeon Illnesses with a Discerning Eye

Check the body posture. Sick pigeons are in poor spirits, inactive, isolated from the flock, eat less or not at all, are thin, have ruffled feathers, dull eyes, rapid breathing, wheeze when breathing or make abnormal sounds from the throat and trachea, drink excessively, or fail to feed their young.

Check the eyes. Sick pigeons suffering from ornithosis, paratyphoid, ophthalmia, mycoplasmosis and vitamin A deficiency have red, swollen, inflamed eyes with increased secretions; those with conjunctivitis have reddened conjunctiva and dilated blood vessels; with erysipelas or pneumonia, the conjunctiva becomes cyanotic (purple-blue); with anemia or malnutrition, the conjunctiva is pale; with organophosphate pesticide poisoning, the pupils dilate and the mouth is dry.

Check the cere. A healthy pigeon's cere is bright white and clean. If the cere is dirty and moist, with reduced whiteness and dull color, it is mostly due to colds, ornithosis, paratyphoid and respiratory system diseases.

Examine the oral cavity. If redness, ulcers or yellow-white pseudomembranes appear in the oral cavity and throat, it is pharyngitis, trichomoniasis, thrush or diphtheritic pigeon pox; millet-sized gray-white nodules in the oral cavity indicate vitamin A deficiency; with soft crop disease, the mouth exhales gas with a sour, foul odor.

Examine the crop. Three hours after feeding, check whether the crop has shrunk. If it is distended and firm, it may be hard crop disease; if the bird refuses to eat but the crop is full, soft and fluctuating, and a large amount of sour, foul-smelling liquid flows from the mouth when the bird is held upside down, soft crop disease can be suspected.

Check the breathing. With laryngotracheitis, bronchopneumonia, mycoplasmosis and trichomoniasis, sneezing, runny nose, coughing and a "gurgling" sound may appear; with severe necrotizing pneumonia, the sick pigeon breathes with its mouth open and exhales foul-smelling gas.

Check the skin. With pneumonia, nitrite poisoning, ornithosis, erysipelas and blood hypoxia, the skin appears purplish-black. Touch the skin on the inner side of both wings and the chest; high skin temperature indicates fever, while low skin temperature indicates a deficiency-cold syndrome due to insufficient qi and blood, or a critical condition of severe illness.

Feel the abdomen. Gently massage the abdomen from the end of the sternum toward the pubic bone. If constipated, bean-sized granular droppings can be felt in the intestines; with hepatitis or cirrhosis, the liver feels enlarged or hard; if the abdomen is distended and sagging, and feels soft and fluctuating to the touch, it is peritonitis.

Check the anus. With gastroenteritis, ulcerative enteritis and paratyphoid, the area around the anus is mostly stained with feces; when the anus is turned open by hand, the cloaca may appear congested or have bleeding points.

Check the droppings. Healthy pigeon droppings are grayish-yellow, brownish-yellow or grayish-black, elongated, with a white substance attached at the end. With indigestion or enteritis, @#@247@#@ loose, mushy droppings are passed; with fever, constipation or water deprivation, granular droppings are passed; with intestinal parasitic diseases, fleshy droppings may be passed; droppings containing white and red mucus indicate hemorrhagic enteritis or coccidiosis; black droppings may indicate bleeding in the stomach or the front part of the small intestine.