Canker (Trichomoniasis)

Canker (Trichomoniasis)  Crop & Cyst

Canker is the most common disease of the racing pigeons. It is caused by a microscopic single-celled organism (Trichomonas Columbae)which lives in the digestive tract of the pigeon, usually in the throat and crop but also in areas such as the bile duct.

The organism (trichomonad) needs intimate contact between birds to be spread and is usually transmitted by saliva or pigeon milk. The saliva contaminates the food and water. When the pigeon drinks, the organism is transferred from its beak and when another pigeon drinks from the same water, it also imbibes the trichomonads. Likewise, when a pigeon sorts through grain, each piece of grain contains a small amount of saliva. Adult birds ‘billing’ can transmit the organism, as do parents when feeding their nestlings.

Symptoms

• Mostly characterized by accumulations in the throat ("lesions"). This may cause birds to stop eating, leading to weight loss.
• Pigeons may not be able to close their mouths because of lesions in the oral cavity. The lesions may be yellow, rounded, raised areas, with a central conical spur, often referred to as “yellow button.” They may drool and make repeated swallowing movements.
• In cases when lesions are located in the sinuses or tissues around the eyes, the birds may have water eyes.
• Diarrhoea, increased water intake and respiratory difficulties may also occur. In serious cases, birds may die from suffocation due to the lesions blocking the trachea.
• In severe cases, birds become very gaunt and thin and are unable or unwilling to fly.
• The crop may be covered by a yellowish, diphtheritic membrane that may extend to the proventriculus (stomach).
• Lesions of internal organs are most frequent in the liver; they may consist of a few small, yellow areas to almost complete replacement of liver tissue by poisonous waste.

Products for treatment: Prevention - Control stress, maintain regular feed and withering schedules, sanitize drinkers regularly, isolate and observe any newly acquired birds for several weeks, and administer an anti-canker drug on a regular basis throughout the year. Veterinary recommendations vary from once every three months to once a month. This will depend upon incidence and susceptibility in your own flock.