A word from the Vet…lumps and bumps

Previous articles have tended to focus on disease problems which might affect the flock as a whole. In this article, we will be looking at a few conditions which tend to be one offs or affect small numbers of birds within a flock but which are, nevertheless, a significant welfare problem to the birds affected and of concern to the flock owner. Such birds should normally be removed from the main flock and either treated or humanely destroyed.

Bumblefoot

This condition is due to infection of the foot joint and tendons, usually due to bacterial infection. Infection may occur as the primary problem or secondary to traumatic injury to the foot. The inflammation causes swelling and thickening of the foot such that the bird may end up with a knobbly swollen appearance to the whole foot or just to some of the toes.

The incidence of this condition will be increased if there is anything within the house which might lead to an increased risk of damage to the feet, for example badly designed or poor layout of house furniture such that birds are prone to injure their feet on feeders, on slats, or any area where the bird has to jump down from one level to another in a confined space. Where the birds cannot use the wings to break the force of the impact, this may lead to bruising of the feet making them more vulnerable to infection.

Poorly maintained slats may also damage the feet, wet litter conditions or very damp conditions outside may lead to some softening of the feet and inflammation of the skin (pododermatitis) making the bird more at risk of bacterial infection penetrating the skin and reaching the foot joint. Rough handling of the birds at any point, for example, when vaccinated or transferred from the rearing site to the laying site, especially if toes get caught in trays or crates, can also damage joints and tendons and may lead to chronic problems later.

If the condition is identified in its very early stages then sometimes isolating the bird and allowing it to rest and possibly treating the individual bird with antibiotics may resolve the condition. In birds where the swellings are very advanced and the lesion is of a chronic nature, recovery is unlikely and birds which are obviously in pain and having difficulty walking should be culled.

Pendulous crop/sour crop

The causes of this problem are not always fully understood. Again, it tends to be an individual bird problem rather than a flock problem. Possible causes include:

- Overeating and physically distending the crop, particularly with fibrous material such as straw.

- Disease in the lower part of the gut due to bacterial infection or parasitic disease which may result in gut stasis and trigger crop problems.

- Very poor water hygiene which may lead to bacterial yeast or fungal infections of the crop lining.

- Very dusty feed or mycotoxin contamination of feed may also trigger crop problems.

- Sometimes seen if birds have been off their food either through illness or feed rejection.

Prolonged antibiotic treatment may sometimes affect the balance of crop bacterial flora and trigger yeast or fungal crop infections in individual bird

Severe cases are unlikely to respond to treatment. Mildly affected birds may recover without any treatment or if isolated from the rest of the flock can be given soft green food such as lettuce and perhaps live yogurt to try and restore crop function.

In some cases, the crop becomes completely blocked. Sometimes this can be relieved by physically kneading and "milking" the crop contents back up out of the mouth while holding the bird head downwards. If this is not successful, the only other treatment is surgical intervention, opening the crop, physically emptying it and repairing the incision. This is unlikely to be a realistic financial option for the free range producer.

Skin lesions

Birds may sometimes suffer skin tears. These can be caused by injury on house furniture or from scratching damage from feet or toes of other birds. Treatment will depend on the size and nature of the lesion. Mild damage should heal on its own. For more severe lesions, the use of an antibiotic spray may be helpful. Birds with very severe skin damage may need to be culled.

Vent problems

Laying hens may get various vent disorders, particularly in the younger bird. Traumatic damage to the vent, usually due to pecking, but sometimes due to straining and passing unusually large eggs may lead to chronic inflammation and a scarring and tightening of the vent tissue resulting in chronic problems and leading to an increased risk of peritonitis.

The incidence of this sort of problem will be less in flocks where all pullets are of a suitable weight and frame size for egg production, where egg size is controlled so that the size is not too big for the young pullet to cope with and by taking all measures to ensure that the flock are contented and happy and less likely to vent peck. If there is a lot of vent damage within the flock, the number of eggs with blood streaks on is usually increased.

Prolapses

In laying hens, it is not uncommon for there to be prolapse of the oviduct. Often associated with overweight birds straining at egg laying. It is thought that the incidence of prolapses may increase where there is heavy worm infestation. Less commonly there is prolapse of the bowel.

In cases of severe prolapse either of the bowel or oviduct, the bird should be culled as it is unlikely to recover. Mild prolapses of the oviduct may settle down but it is best to isolate the affected bird to reduce the risk of pecking damage to the prolapse tissue. Prolapses may occur for the same reasons as vent damage.

Lumps and bumps around the head

Occasionally birds will be seen with swelling of the comb or wattles or sometimes swellings on the face. These are usually abscesses due to bacterial infection commonly with Staphylococcal bacteria and often follow traumatic damage either due to pecking or injury on house furniture. If there is insufficient water in drinkers or birds are having trouble finding sufficient water from the drinkers provided, there may be an increased incidence of swellings around the mouth and under the jaw. These lesions often contain hard pus which is well "walled off" from the rest of the body and usually causes the bird very little problem. If you are seeing large numbers of birds in your flock with such swellings, it is worth seeking veterinary advice as sometimes this can be a sign of Pasteurella (fowl cholera) infection within a flock and birds may require treatment. Another possible (although rare) cause of swelling on the head would be fowl pox infection. You should also check whether there is any obvious problem with house layout or furniture which is increasing the risk of damage to the bird.

Eye problems

Occasionally birds are found with inflammation of one or both eyes. The usual causes for this are corneal damage due to high ammonia levels leading to inflammation and sometimes ulceration of the surface of the eye. This is a very painful condition. Affected birds can lose condition very quickly if not treated as they will have difficulty in competing for food and water.

Eyes can also be damaged by physical injury or foreign bodies such as dust or straw getting into the eye. Affected birds can be isolated and treated with suitable eye ointment and may often make a full recovery.

Sometimes these rather "unfashionable" problems do not receive the attention that they should. If any of the readers have experience of effective ways to cure crop problems and bumblefoot, we would be interested to hear of them.

As mentioned in previous articles, it should be remembered that if a bird has been taken away from the flock and isolated, it may not be possible to re-introduce the bird to the flock very easily.