How to easily diagnose pigeon diseases? Practical methods you can learn at a glance

1. Look at body posture. Sick pigeons are mostly in poor spirits, inactive, isolated from the flock, with ruffled feathers, dull eyes, rapid breathing, wheezing or abnormal sounds from the throat and trachea during breathing, reduced appetite or no eating, excessive drinking, or failure to feed squabs, etc. 2. Look at the eyes. Pigeons suffering from ornithosis, paratyphoid, ophthalmia, mycoplasmosis, and vitamin A deficiency have red, swollen, inflamed eyes with increased discharge. Those with conjunctivitis have congested conjunctiva and dilated blood vessels. With erysipelas or pneumonia, the conjunctiva is bluish-purple. With anemia or malnutrition, the conjunctiva is pale. With organophosphate pesticide poisoning, the pupils dilate and the mouth is dry. 3. Look at the cere. A healthy pigeon's cere is distinct, 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, etc. 4. Check the oral cavity. If redness, ulcers, or yellowish-white pseudomembranes appear in the oral cavity and throat, then it is pharyngitis, trichomoniasis, thrush, or diphtheritic pigeon pox. Grayish-white nodules in the oral cavity indicate vitamin A deficiency. 5. Check the crop. Three hours after feeding, check whether the crop has shrunk. If it is swollen and firm, it may be hard crop disease. If the pigeon refuses to eat but the crop is full, soft, and fluctuating, and when held upside down a large amount of sour-smelling liquid flows from the mouth, soft crop disease can be suspected. 6. Look at 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. 7. Look at the skin. With pneumonia, nitrite poisoning, ornithosis, erysipelas, and blood hypoxia, the skin appears purplish-black. Touch the skin on the inner side of the chest between the wings with your hand. High skin temperature indicates fever, while low skin temperature indicates a deficiency-cold pattern due to insufficient qi and blood or a sign of severe critical illness. 8. Feel the abdomen. Starting from the tip of the breastbone and moving gently toward the pubic bone, massage the abdomen. If there is constipation, soybean-sized granular feces can be felt in the intestines. If there is hepatitis or cirrhosis, the liver can be felt to be enlarged or hard. If the abdomen is swollen and sagging, and feels soft and fluctuating to the touch, then it is peritonitis. 9. Look at the anus. With gastroenteritis, ulcerative enteritis, and paratyphoid, the area around the anus is mostly stained with feces. When the anus is opened with the hand, the cloaca may be seen to be congested or have bleeding points. 10. Look at the feces. Healthy pigeon feces are grayish-yellow, brownish-yellow, or grayish-black, strip-shaped, with white material attached at the end. With indigestion or catarrhal enteritis, @#@247@#@ loose, mushy feces are excreted. With fever, constipation, or dehydration, granular droppings are excreted. With intestinal parasitic disease, fleshy feces are excreted. If the feces contain white and red mucus, then it is hemorrhagic enteritis or coccidiosis. Black feces may indicate bleeding in the stomach or the anterior part of the small intestine.