Common Management-Related Problems in Backyard Poultry

Aggressive pecking, or cannibalism, is one of the most frustrating and common problems to control in floor-reared poultry. Certain species (eg, pheasants and quail) are notorious for cannibalism, often making individual cages the only housing option. Within specific species, some breeds are more aggressive than others.

Cannibalism usually does not begin in chicks < 2–3 weeks old; in young chicks it is generally the result of diarrhea (soiled or pasty vents) or insufficient feed. In mature birds, methods to control cannibalism include decreasing lighting, decreasing bird density, increasing the number of feeders, providing environmental enrichment, and conditioning (trimming) birds' beaks.

If an individual bird has been pecked severely on the skin and separate housing is not available, ideally the bird should be examined by a veterinarian to ensure that its wounds are not infected. In an emergency, spraying or painting the affected area of the bird with tree-pruning tar (pruning sealer) is a quick remedy. After application, the bird should be restrained until the sealant is dry. The tar protects the exposed area from fluid loss, is nontoxic on open wounds, and has the advantage of identifying the perpetrators by staining their beaks black.

If small numbers of birds are the aggressors, red spectacles ("peepers") that attach to their nares (especially in game birds such as pheasants) or red lights in barns can be used to decrease aggressive pecking; the red tint is proposed to mask the color of blood and make it less tempting to pick at. Alternatively, aggressors can have their beaks reconditioned to minimize trauma to themselves or to other birds.

Trauma is the most common problem affecting backyard poultry and includes injuries inflicted by predators, entrapment of limbs in cages or other equipment, cannibalism, crushing (from being stepped on, trapped in doors, etc), and self-mutilation (via spurs, beak, nails). Most adult poultry are highly resilient and seem able to recover from severe injuries if wounds have not penetrated into the coelom or if there is no secondary bacterial sepsis.

Supportive care includes providing warmth (via brooder lamps), ensuring adequate hydration, and tube-feeding warm molasses, sweetened feed, or commercially available syringe-feeding formulas. Hydration can be encouraged by offering a half-concentration powdered milk or electrolyte solution instead of plain water or by syringe-feeding commercially available liquid formulas. Superficial wounds can be treated with antimicrobial cream and parenteral antimicrobials. Note, however, that, as food-producing animals, chickens in the US may be administered only certain antimicrobials approved by the federal government.

Most poultry show evidence of recovery 2–3 days after treatment. If there is no improvement after a few days, the prognosis for full recovery is generally poor.

Although all laying birds (broiler breeder hens, turkey breeder hens, ducks and geese, etc) typically retain more fat in their livers than do nonlayers or males, fatty liver is a pathological condition characterized by extreme fat deposition, a sudden drop in egg production, and increased mortality rates. Hens with fatty liver are often obese and have pale combs and wattles covered with dandruff-like debris.

Overconditioning in backyard poultry is much more common than underconditioning. Overconditioning is thought to result from a combination of fatty feed and decreased exercise. Poultry fed predominantly a scratch diet (poultry treats, table scraps) are predisposed to developing fatty liver. However, nutritional, genetic, environmental, and hormonal factors alone or in combination have all been suggested as underlying factors.

Death resulting from fatty liver is due to liver rupture and hemorrhaging; large blood clots are found in the coelom on necropsy (see fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome image).

Prevention is the best approach to deterring the development of fatty liver in backyard poultry. Most backyard birds have adequate outdoor access for exercise; however, their diet must be controlled. Lipotrophic agents and dietary supplements (alfalfa, wheat bran, fish meal, dried brewer’s yeast, soybean mill feed, vitamin E, and torula yeast) have been used with inconsistent results.

Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome, laying hen

Image

Courtesy of Dr. Yuko Sato.

Cage layer fatigue (osteoporosis) is common in chickens, Coturnix quail, and Khaki Campbell ducks in confinement housing.

Affected birds are unable to stand (see cage layer fatigue image) and have brittle bones. The ribs and sternum are often deviated in a sigmoid shape or fractured at the junction of the sternum and vertebra (see osteoporosis image).

Paralyzed birds are alert and responsive unless dehydrated. Possible causes include deficiencies or imbalances in vitamin D₃, calcium, or phosphorus.

Birds can die acutely (often from fractured spinal vertebrae and severed spinal cords), or they can recover within 4–7 days after being placed on the floor with easy access to food and water.

For backyard poultry, administration of vitamin D₃ (IM) or calcium gluconate 10% (1.5–2.25 mL/bird, IV, every 24 hours for 5 days) can be helpful in cases of cage layer fatigue. At the flock level, the following amounts should be provided in feed: large particle-limestone (15 kg/tonne [30 lb/ton]), dicalcium phosphate (5 kg/tonne [10 lb/ton]), and vitamin D₃ (1.4 million U/tonne [3 million U/ton]) for 1–3 weeks.

To prevent this condition, free-choice oyster shells and other large-particle calcium sources can be offered as a supplement to the diet. Oyster shells must not be ground so small that they pass quickly through the intestinal tract, because it is essential to have slow release of calcium from the grinding of larger particles in the gizzard.

The strain of bird and type of housing also affect the incidence of cage layer fatigue. High egg production breeds, such as Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds, that are housed in cages are more susceptible to this condition. The key is to ensure good nutrition (and good cortical bone formation via adequate exercise/activity) just before the onset of laying. However, prolonged increase in dietary calcium for immature birds before the start of egg production can result in urolithiasis or a permanent cessation of parathyroid gland activity.

The cloacal aperture (vent) prolapses temporarily during normal delivery of an egg (see cloacal prolapse image) in any type of egg-laying poultry. However, slow retraction of prolapsed tissue due to obesity or to poor development (hens that come into lay too early) can predispose to problems such as cannibalism, trauma, and edema formation of the prolapsed tissue, all of which in turn further prevent this cloacal tissue from retracting and result in persistent cloacal prolapse ("blowout").

Cloacal prolapse, laying hen

Image

Courtesy of Dr. Yuko Sato.

Cloacal prolapse is most common in egg-laying poultry (layer-type chickens); however, it can also occur in dual-purpose and meat-type chickens and turkeys, as well as in other poultry species.

Typically, hens with cloacal prolapse are culled. For mild cases in backyard poultry, approaches that can help prevent cloacal prolapse are to stop the hen from laying (by decreasing light or sharply decreasing nutritional energy density), to isolate the hen from other birds, and to keep the hen's vent clean until the cloaca retracts.

Preventive measures include maintaining proper cage stocking density to decrease overcrowding, trimming beaks to prevent cannibalism, avoiding obesity, and ensuring proper light cycles to prevent precocious onset of laying before chicks reach optimal size and weight.

If chicks hatch in the autumn, increasing light in the spring can induce them to begin laying when they are physically immature. Controlling lighting and body weight is extremely important to prevent cloacal prolapse in this circumstance.

Egg binding is common both in young poultry (eg, layer pullets) brought into production too early and in obese hens. The condition can range from temporary egg binding observed in pullets that lay large eggs to complete, life-threatening obstruction of the oviduct. There can be eggs in the coelom (retropulsed back up from the oviduct); single or multiple eggs in the oviduct; or shell membranes, shells, and yolk/albumin concretions in the oviduct.

The impaction can generally be identified on abdominal palpation, ultrasonographic evaluation, or radiographic examination.

Commercial hens with this condition are culled.

Backyard chickens suspected of egg binding should be examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible. If egg binding is detected early enough and the egg is within the distal end of the reproductive tract, wrapping the bird in a warm towel and massaging the abdomen toward the vent, after applying generous amounts of lubricant inside the cloaca, can occasionally induce egg passage.

If the egg cannot be passed, the chicken should be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible, because egg binding can be life-threatening. An experienced veterinarian can puncture the egg with an 18-gauge needle attached to a syringe and aspirate the contents of the egg through the vent opening. Once emptied, the eggshell is gently broken down and removed manually using a lubricated finger passed through the vent into the cloaca. Care should be taken that eggshell shards do not injure the hen. Small fragments of remaining eggshell can be left in the cloaca to pass out naturally.

Emergency surgery to remove the salpinx (oviduct), but not the ovary, is sometimes necessary if the egg cannot be passed. This procedure, called a salpingohysterectomy, carries a low success rate in chronic egg layers that have many adhesions. The surgical approach to egg binding is generally midline; care should be taken to minimize damage to the air sacs. After removal of the oviduct, eggs deposited into the coelom are typically absorbed. In some cases, however, they can be retained in the coelom, where they cause chronic inflammation and illness.

After surgery, most hens assume male characteristics (crowing, aggression, spurs) and are called “pollards” (genetically female, phenotypically male).

• Jacob J. Prolapse in Laying Hens. Small and Backyard Poultry, US Cooperative Extension System (eXtension); date unknown.

• Lighty M, Niel K, Clauer P. Poultry Cannibalism: Prevention and Treatment. PennState Extension; 2023.

• Trott KA, Giannitti F, Rimoldi G, et al. Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome in the backyard chicken: a retrospective histopathologic case series. Vet Pathol. 2014; 51(4):787-795.