Backyard poultry medicine for the
non-poultry vet
Tom Hume BVetMed MRCVS
WESTOVER VETERINARY CENTRE, MANOR FARM, OLD CHURCH ROAD, HAINFORD, NORFOLK. NR10 3BG
ABSTRACT: In this second article, the author covers the common diseases seen in backyard poultry and draws
from his own experience in treating them. It provides practical advice and solutions for treating individual birds
or small flocks. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-3862.2011.00073.x
In this second article I will detail my approach to a
‘sick hen’ as well as some specific treatments and tips
that I have picked up along the way.
INTRODUCTION
Hens are invariably presented at the clinic as ‘vaguely
ill’. For this reason I take a more conversational and
detailed history than I do with horse or farm clients. I
need to know what sort of people the clients are, why
they keep poultry and what are their expectations.
The aim of my history and clinical exam is simply to
identify the body system involved. From here I hope
to narrow down to one or two the most likely
diagnoses. It is perhaps not very clever medicine, but
you are normally working with a restricted budget
and most of the textbooks tell you how to diagnose
problems by post mortem. I think the backyard
poultry vet has to come to terms with occasionally
treating in the absence of a diagnosis.
Normal parameters include:
 temperature: 40-42°C
 heart rate: 250-300 bpm
 breathing should be barely visible and about
20-35 breaths per minute.
A word of caution
Enrofloxacin (Baytril®; Bayer) is not just off licence
but the data sheet actually states that it should not be
given to egg-producing birds. Having spoken to
Bayer, it appears the reason is that it is thought to be
linked to hallucinations in humans. For this reason it
is important to talk closely with the owner. If egg
production is important, then Baytril® should be
avoided. If, however, I am dealing with a true pet
then I will use it.
The other problem drug is Fipronil (Frontline®;
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Merial Animal Health Ltd). This is not licenced for
use in any food-producing animal, and therefore it
should also be avoided if the birds are intended for
meat or eggs.

SMALL ANIMAL
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
The respiratory system is highly developed in birds,
involving air sacs to enable gaseous exchange on
both inspiration and expiration.
50 Companion Animal Vol 16 September 2011
The problems I see most commonly are:
 mycoplasmosis
 infectious bronchitis
 aspergillosis
 Syngamus trachea (gapeworm) infection.
Mycoplasmosis
In cases of mycoplasmosis, the history normally
includes recent additions to the flock or a stressful
event such as a move. It is characterised by discharge
from the eyes and nares. Occasionally birds will show
swollen sinuses and respiratory difficulty. The wild
bird population can act as a reservoir of infection.
Treatment: my normal treatment for an individual
chicken is tylosin - 0.5 ml Tylan® 200 injection
(Elanco Animal Health) in the breast muscle for five
days. If there are several birds I use soluble Tylan
administered in the drinking water, 0.5g to 1 litre of
water. For severe or difficult cases I will use oral
enrofloxacin (Baytril®; Bayer), 0.4 ml of 2.5%
solution per kg bodyweight.
Infectious bronchitis
Owners aren’t normally too worried about the
respiratory signs that characterise infectious
bronchitis (IB), as they appear quite mild. Often the
birds will make a silent gaping, gasping action with
the occasional snick or sneeze. What owners will
complain about is the subsequent wrinkled,
misshapen and thin-shelled eggs. This is because IB
will infect the shell gland in the oviduct.
Treatment: I have never been very successful in
treating at this stage. Starting treatment earlier in the
course of the disease may be more fruitful. Tylan® is
recommended. Birds can become carriers, so culling
should be advised.
Aspergillosis
Aspergillosis is most common in birds kept in
poor conditions. Mouldy bedding gives off fungal
spores which are inhaled and settle in the air sacs or
lungs. The disease will often go unnoticed until it
is too late. The signs are vague, of respiratory
discomfort or sudden death. At post mortem the
lungs appear grey rather than the bright pink they
should be.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Treatment: I attempt treatment with ketoconazole
tablets. This is a human preparation (Nizoral®;
Janssen-Cilag), so its use is off licence. The dose I use
is 100 mg (1⁄2 tablet) daily for 10 days. My success
rates are not 100%.
Syngamus trachea
Syngamus trachea is the gapeworm. Birds will gape
and cough repeatedly. I see it more in pheasant
poults than chickens. It is a wonderful diagnosis to
make on post mortem. Open the trachea and you will
see it clogged with adult worms.
Treatment: you can treat it with flubendazole
(Flubenvet®; Janssen), 6g to 2 kg food which is a
powder wormer that can be added to the feed.
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
Heart attack
Sudden death is the presenting sign. It is more
common in heavy breeds and females, due to the high
level of circulating fat necessary for egg production.
The bird’s comb may have changed from red to
purple which can be a sign of poor circulation. I
normally advise owners to try to cut down the diet
for the rest of the flock, and supplement with
vegetable rather than more concentrates.
ALIMENTARY SYSTEM
Crop disease
The crop is an out-pouching of the oesophagus, in
which food is stored for future digestion.
Pendulous crop
Pendulous crop (Fig. 1) is caused by damage to the
smooth muscle nerve supply, leading to loss of
muscle tone and delayed crop emptying. It normally
follows on from an impacted crop or from gorging
following a period of starving.
Fig. 1: A bantam with a pendulous crop.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Treatment: I have given up trying to treat these as I
found it very disappointing. I now counsel the owners
on the birds’ quality of life and on when to call it a
day. Often these birds will maintain good body
condition and be bright and alert for a long time.
Impacted crop
Impacted crop can be caused by the consumption of
long, fibrous vegetation.The crop is very swollen and
has a solid feel to it.
Treatment: The most effective treatment I have
found is to open the crop surgically, remove the
impacted material and then stitch closed again. The
bird should be starved for 24 hours and then
gradually have food reintroduced.
Sour crop
Sour crop can be caused by a yeast or bacterial
overgrowth and will occasionally follow oral
antibiotic treatment. The birds appear quite
depressed, with a soft, swollen crop. If turned upside
down a foul-smelling liquid will drain out. It is
sensible to do cytology on this fluid to determine
your pathogen and choose appropriate treatment.
Treatment: I treat with 100 mg of ketoconazole
tablets (Nizoral®; Janssen-Cilag) daily for seven days
for yeast. If the sour crop has followed oral antibiotic
therapy and it is caused by bacteria then it seems
sensible to change class of antibiotic.
Diarrhoea
There are many infectious causes of diarrhoea
including various strains of Salmonella. The
commercial poultry industry has done fantastic work
in eradicating some of these strains and they are now
quite rare. I do still see E. coli and rotavirus.
E. coli
E. coli is a normal gut inhabitant but can flare up
when the birds are stressed. It normally affects chicks
at about one month of age. They appear depressed,
with ruffled up feathers, but don’t normally die.
Treatment: I treat with amoxicillin in the water
(Amoxinsol 50®; Vétoquinol) 2g to 5 litres of water.
Rotavirus
As in other species, rotavirus is often the first
pathogen that young chicks will be exposed to and,
due to the fragile nature of baby chicks, death rates
can be high. Normally dead chicks will be presented
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for post-mortem examination; they are usually under
ten days of age and have sore vents with faecal
staining. On gross examination, the gut contents
may appear slightly frothy.

SMALL ANIMAL
Treatment: I treat with electrolytes in the water, diluting
one sachet of Energaid® (Elanco Animal Health) in
5 litres of water. I normally cover with antibiotics,
such as terramycin soluble powder, as well.
Companion Animal Vol 16 September 2011 51
 Endoparasites
Internal parasites are very common and, as with
other species, stocking density and land management
are very important.

Helminths
Helminths normally cause greenish or brownish
diarrhoea.

Treatment: I recommend once or twice yearly

routine worming with flubendazole (Flubenvet®;
Janssen) 6g to 2 kg of food.

Coccidiosis
Coccidiosis can be quite serious, particularly the
haemorrhagic group. In my experience, it can start
to affect chicks from as early as two weeks of age, and
there will be diarrhoea and deaths. The oocysts are Fig. 4: Keeping turkeys and chickens together can lead to the turkeys
extremely robust and survive in the environment for becoming infected with Histomonas.

years. They can be seen under the microscope by

taking a smear of the lining of the caecum.The caeca
will appear purple and inflamed on post mortem
(Fig. 2).

Treatment: Prompt treatment with toltrazuril

(Baycox®; Bayer) 1 ml in 1 litre of water is normally
very effective. I then encourage the owners to
reduce the stocking density or rear chicks on a
different area of ground.

Histomoniasis
Infection with Histomonas meleagridis is also known as
blackhead. Chickens are asymptomatic carriers, but
it causes disease and death in young, free-range
turkeys. The signs are bright yellow diarrhoea and
dying birds. At post-mortem examination you will
see discrete ‘target’ lesions on the liver (Fig. 3).

Treatment: the treatment I use is metronidazole at

60 mg/kg. I also advise owners not to rear turkeys on
Fig. 2: Inflamed, purple, swollen caeca typical of the same ground as chickens (Fig. 4), and to worm
haemorrhagic coccidiosis. routinely to kill the Heterakis gallinarum that acts
as the vector.

MUSCULOSkELETAL SYSTEM
It is worth mentioning that the nerves innervating
the leg pass through the kidney, so that kidney
disease may present as lameness. Also, waterfowl can
become lame when infected with helminths, so I
now worm all lame waterfowl as a first-line
treatment if I can’t see anything else obvious.

Arthritis
Arthritis is common in heavy-breed birds and
turkeys that live into old age.

Treatment: I treat with meloxicam (Metacam®;

Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd), 0.5 mg/kg,but counsel
the owners on quality of life and will often
Fig. 3: Pathognomonic target lesions on the liver of a young turkey with euthanase the birds. I do not believe it is fair to
Histomonas infection. amputate a flightless bird’s leg.

52 Companion Animal Vol 16 September 2011 © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

 Infectious arthritis
Infectious arthritis can be caused by Mycoplasma synoviae.
Treatment: I will treat these with oral enrofloxacin
(Baytril® 2.5% Oral Solution Bayer), 0.4 mls/kg
bodyweight. This should be diluted 1:4 in water for
administration by gavage.
Bumblefoot
Bumblefoot is a bacterial infection of the foot pads.
It often starts as a bruise, due to inappropriate
perches or flooring. It can progress to osteomyelitis,
so is worth taking seriously at the start.
Treatment: encourage environmental changes and
surgically debride the ulcer. Follow your debridement
with topical iodine application and get the owners to
continue this at home before a recheck in a couple of
weeks. I often give a course of meloxicam, as for
arthritis, if the feet are very painful.
Fractures
Fracture management is outside the scope of this
article, but repair is possible with intramedullary pins.
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
Egg binding
Chickens that are egg bound may be presented
because they look uncomfortable and are straining
or tail pumping. An egg may be palpable by a finger
in her vent, or visible on radiograph.
Treatment: I normally give 0.1 ml oxytocin mixed
with 0.5 ml saline, and 1 ml/kg of calcium gluconate
into the muscle. I keep the bird warm and the vent
well lubricated.
Egg eating
Clients may complain about chickens eating their
own eggs.
Treatment: my advice is to keep the house as dark as
possible, collect the eggs frequently and scatter golf
balls around as a distraction.
Fig. 5: Egg peritonitis and associated fluid.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Egg peritonitis
Egg peritonitis occurs when the yolk is passed into
the abdominal cavity rather than the reproductive
tract. Often this leads to bacterial overgrowth, the
abdomen may become distended with fluid and the
bird will be quite ill (Fig. 5).
Treatment: the infected fluid can be drawn off with
a syringe in the conscious bird, or the abdomen can
be opened under general anaesthetic and the
infected material flushed and swabbed out. In either
case I would advise flushing the abdomen with
benzylpenacillin (Crystapen®; Intervet/Schering-
Plough) and saline.
Vent gleet
Vent gleet is caused by a herpes virus in chickens and
due to this it is extremely difficult to cure and
affected birds should normally be euthanased. The
signs are a moist, inflamed and very smelly vent. In
waterfowl, vent gleet is caused by Pseudomonas spp. so
treatment can be successful. The signs are the same as
for chickens, but treatment must be prompt to avoid
scarring and constriction of the vent.
Treatment: I use oral enrofloxacin (Baytril® 2.5%
Oral Solution; Bayer) 0.4 ml/kg for 7-10 days.
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Marek’s disease
Marek’s disease is quite common in backyard flocks.
It is caused by a herpes virus and is spread by wild
birds. Most birds are exposed to it during their lives
and will develop a certain level of immunity.This can
be improved by vaccinating the chicks. It is also
worth vaccinating in the face of an outbreak.
The virus attacks the peripheral nervous system,
and one of the first signs is often a drooping wing
on one side, followed by lameness on the same side.
Histopathology will often also show brain lesions.
There are reports of tumours being caused by
Marek’s, but I have never seen this. On gross
post mortem examination the sciatic nerve of the
affected leg is considerably bigger than the
unaffected leg.
Treatment: there is no treatment, so affected
individuals should be euthanased.
ECTOPARASITES
A word of caution about using Frontline: there have
been reports of deaths following application, it is
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believed this is due to an anaphylactic reaction to the
propellant and is more common in partridges and
some bantams.

Lice
SMALL ANIMAL
Lice are about 2 mm long, flat and pale yellow in
colour. They are easily seen by parting the feathers
and will move quickly away from the light. They
feed off skin debris but can be irritating.
Companion Animal Vol 16 September 2011 53
 Treatment: infestations can be controlled with louse
powders, fipronil flea spray or cypermethrin (Deosan
Deosect; Pfizer Ltd) by preparing a dilution of 1:50
with water.

Mites
Red mite
The red mite lives in cracks in wooden houses and
feeds on the birds at night. It sucks blood causing
anaemia and occasionally death. Control must centre
on treating the house. I prefer liquids that will run
into the cracks and crevices.

Treatment: I use cypermethrin (dilution of Deosan

Deosect 1:10) in a weed killer spray and spray the
interior of the house. Other people have used
creosote or even burnt the house and started again.
All bedding should be removed and burnt.

Northern mite
The Northern mite spends its life on the host bird
and will lay its eggs in packets on the feathers.

Treatment: repeated treatment with fipronil or

cypermethrin is necessary every three weeks.

Burrowing mite
The burrowing mite causes scaly leg. Some old-
fashioned treatments include smothering the legs in
Vaseline® or scrubbing them in surgical spirit.

Treatment: topical ivermectin is my preferred

treatment, but it has to penetrate under the scales so
repeated careful application is necessary.

ANAESTHESIA
Chickens may need to be anaesthetised and,
if so, masking down using a mini-Bain system and
isoflurane, is the method of choice. Ketamine can
result in excessive wing flapping on recovery, but
can be used as a sedative at a dose rate of 10 mg/kg
(IM or SC) for birds up to 1 kg or 5 mg/kg for
larger birds.

Birds are extremely prone to hypothermia, so bubble

wrap and heating devices should be used. Analgesia
can be provided with buprenorphine (0.01-0.05
mg/kg IM) or ketoprofen (5-10 mg/kg IM).

WITHDRAWAL PERIODS AND OFF LICENCE USE

Obviously, a lot of my treatments are off licence.
I normally revert to the standard 28 days for meat
and seven days for eggs when using drugs off licence.
EXOTICS

As noted at the beginning of this article, special

precautions apply to enrofloxacin and fipronil.

SMALL ANIMAL

Many of the drugs mentioned in this article are

not licensed for pountry. Readers are asked to use
their own judgement when deciding on the most
appropriate therapy.

54 Companion Animal Vol 16 September 2011 © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd