Bacteria
Bacteria are a class of tiny organisms that can affect our
bird's health; the most common are E-Coli, Strep, Citrobacter and Staph.
Antibiotics are a group of drugs that are primarily used to treat diseases caused by bacteria, for these antibiotics to be effective they must be prescribed by an avian vet who will prescribe the correct drug and dose for your bird after taking a culture test.
Symptoms of diseases caused by bacteria can include droppings that are green or watery. Ingested bacteria can irritate the bowel and damage the bird's kidneys and liver. Weight loss, vomiting and respiratory signs such as laboured breathing, coughing or sneezing is all signs of a bacteria infection.
Seed contaminated with bacteria, mould and toxins will
cause food poisoning. Breeding pairs and their chicks are most at danger as
they may be possibly have been fed soaked seeds , egg food mix and vegetables
all of which can be easily contaminated with moulds.
It is difficult to detect fungal spores on dry seed but I did notice it during the cold damp winter after I had soaked a bunch of sprays in a mix of cold water and F10SC the following day mould spores were visible,these of course were thrown away.
Seed could be contaminated during its growing stages , before or after it is harvested, during storage or transportation. The storage in your birdroom may be unsuitable , is it dry.
Be warned wet grit and wet sand is more dangerous for your birds than dry foods. Vomiting and sudden death will occur if they have eaten either.
E coli and Salmonella are the most common food poisoning bacterias
, we will discuss Salmonella next.
Full clutches of dead chicks with full crops could
possibly be the result of contaminated soaked seed.
I would use F10SC added to the water in which the seed is
soaking as this will kill off any low levels of bacteria.
Bacteria can be caused by inhaled or ingested infections
and left unattended it is life threatening.
A clogged vent may be caused by E coli due to food poisoning.
Keep your birdroom clean, draught free, avoid all stale food, repair any damp areas, avoid peaks and troughs with the birdroom temperatures and make disinfecting your birdroom a regular occurrence.
At the first outbreak of E coli remove all soaked seeds ,
isolate any infected birds , stop breeding , provide heat , remove all grit and
sand and contact your avian vet for a culture test .
Other Bacterias
There are several types of
bacteria that affect birds, the most common I have mentioned.
All bacteria are not harmful
to our birds and by giving a Probotic after a course of antibiotics we can
return our birds guts back to normal.
Probotic is composed of
freeze dried bacteria which can normally be found in the birds intestines. When
added to water these bacteria come alive and help return the birds gut back to
normal.
It is very important that
cleanliness and animal husbandry are practiced over and above the required if
we want to keep our birds free from bacteria.
Strep and Staph are difficult
to diagnose, if suspected you will need an avian vet to take a bacterial
culture before any cure can be offered.
A dusty environment, poor seed,
contaminated air and stress must be avoided if we want to control these
bacterias.
Diplococcus is another bacteria caused by
stress and the presence of mice.
Do empty your millet spray
carton outside the birdroom just incase it contains any mice.
Citrobacter is caused by poor
water hygiene
I do believe the message
is simple if we want to avoid bacteria in our birds. Avoiding mice, stress,
dirty water, bad animal husbandry, poor quality seed, and a dusty damp
environment is the answer.
A bird suffering from a
bacteria infection will be fluffed up , appear depressed , at times excitable ,
weight loss , dull plumage and may also seizure or convulse, this may appear to
be a stroke.
Penicillin/Amoxicillin type
antibiotics are usually prescribed for this type of infection, though your
Veterinarian may prescribe one of the
Tetracyclines.