Trichomoniasis, or Canker
This disease must have been around for many years, I know I have had outbreaks going back almost fifty years. This is a well known but unwelcome disease in the pigeon fancy. I remember Dr Cooper saying the word canker probably describes the disease fairly well and conjures up his mind an ugly ulcerating sore and this is exactly what we find in the throats of poor infected budgerigars.
The first signs are the huddled up birds, then often diarrhoea, some may vomit whole seed or mucous or a mixture of both. They are often at their seed trying to eat, the symptoms are many. This disease seems to strike females more often than males, the birds lose large quantities of weight and the breastbone feels as sharp has a razor.
Some birds have a crop filled with a sticky mucous material; in others it's just empty. You may be lucky enough to feel a thickened area in the neck region or in the crop itself, but as often as not there is very little except a very skinny bird with the inevitable diarrhoea. You see, the birds are starving to death. Even when starving the birds get diarrhoea because all they can do is drink.
This disease is caused by a tiny parasite called a protozoan, in the same general group as the coccidia, but unlike the coccidia these parasites are capable of swimming. They are microscopic in nature and move forward in a sort of spinning motion with the aid of a beating membrane attached to their bodies. It is believed they can be swallowed from contaminated water infected by another bird. The parasite quickly buries itself in the lining of the upper part of the digestive tract, or oesophagus as it is also called. The area may be anywhere between the back of the tongue right down through the crop to almost the entry to the gizzard.The throat area is covered by patches of creamy yellow cheese like material that is often very hard to remove.
The disease can be confused with the fungal infection candidiasis, but to the experienced eye there are differences. What about treatment? Your avian vet will prescribe Baytrill which replaced Emtryl which was somewhat toxic.