Young Bird Sickness syndrome (YBS) in pigeons
Other names: Young bird disease، Young birds
Symptoms
- Regurgitation, crop full of water, green/yellow diarrhea, lethargy, weight loss, refusal to eat
- Mostly in young birds 4-12 weeks old, and in the flying/racing season
How it spreads
Gathering young birds from different lofts, baskets, stress, heat.
Diagnosis
Rule out canker, salmonella and paramyxovirus; PCR for circo and adeno.
Treatment
Supportive + treat the secondary bacterial infection as directed by the veterinarian. [Update 3] Harlin & Wade 2009: 'young bird disease' in the first year: delayed crop emptying, regurgitation, diarrhea, weight loss, poor performance; the main cause is circovirus with primary, fungal and bacterial infections and chlamydia. Treatment targets the secondary infections after diagnosis.
Prevention
Good ventilation, no crowding, delay flying in the heat, clean waterers daily.
Treatment and doses are decided by an avian vet after an exam; Zajel does not publish doses.
Other diseases
- Paramyxovirus (pigeon Newcastle disease)
- Pigeon pox
- Adenovirus type 1 (classical)
- Adenovirus type 2 (necrotizing hepatitis)
- Circovirus (pigeon circovirus)
- Herpes (pigeon herpesvirus)
- Pigeon rotavirus
- Avian influenza
Sources
- Vogel, Gehrke, Lehmann - 'Taubenkrankheiten' / Vogel & Gylstorff - standard German pigeon disease texts - not fetched
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov