Before a veterinarian performs a physical examination on any bird, the bird’s appearance and behavior should be observed from a distance, as the bird interacts with the rest of the flock. The behavior of a flock can be assessed by how the birds interact as a group (eg, huddling when cold).
A healthy bird should be bright and alert, have a good appetite, and interact normally with the rest of the flock. The bird should not show any increased respiratory effort (eg, tail bobbing), unusual postures, or other abnormal findings on physical examination (drooping wings, head tilt, etc).
Immediate emergency care should be provided to a bird, before examining it, if any of the following clinical signs are observed:
acute hemorrhage
head trauma
seizures or other neurological signs
open fractures
extreme respiratory difficulty
weakness
To restrain chickens and other domestic fowl for examination, the handler should reach over the bird's back and hold the wings folded in, close to the body. Then the handler should pick up the bird by inserting the fingers of one hand between the bird's legs while supporting the bird's breast with the other hand.
The bird should not be restrained upside down, because doing so can increase not only the bird's stress and likelihood of regurgitation but also the chance of broken bones, especially if bones are brittle from inadequate intake of dietary calcium. The bird also should not be restrained by squeezing its breast, because thoracic compression compromises breathing by preventing the bird from being able to move its chest muscles to fill its lungs with air.
The bird should be kept as calm as possible to prevent injury to both the bird and the handler. If necessary, a chicken hook (a wire hook used to grab birds by the shanks) can be used to catch or restrain birds outdoors.
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For larger birds such as turkeys, handlers can fold their arms and upper body over the bird's wings and back, hug firmly, and lift. When lifting a bird, handlers can restrain it using both hands by grabbing either or both of the bird's legs or wings, or a leg and a wing on opposite sides. It is important to remain low to the ground when handling bigger birds because big birds might struggle when grabbed by their wings or legs and might need to be released quickly to prevent injury.
For waterfowl such as ducks and geese, it is easiest to use the neck as a catching handle. Once the bird is caught, however, the handler should pick it up by grabbing the wings together behind the back and using the other hand to support the abdomen.
Smaller flight birds, such as quail, chukar partridges, and pheasants, can first be restrained by carefully using a net or towel and then holding the wings or legs. Catching birds on the first attempt minimizes stress.
Physical examinations should be performed systematically:
Examine the head and neck. The comb should be bright red, slightly warm, turgid, and free of scabs and lesions. The bird should hold its head high and have good muscle tone.
Observe the eyes, and check for any discharge or cloudiness that can indicate illness. A healthy adult bird's eyes should be clear and bright with a copper-red iris and a round pupil with well-defined margins. Young chicks generally have blue-gray irises. Eyelids should be free of swelling and opened wide.
Check external nares for discharge, crusts, and scratches. The beak should be smooth, have no cracks, and come to a point at the tip.
Open the mouth, and check for ulcers or other lesions on the tongue and mucosal membranes at the beak commissures.
Check the color of a hen's earlobes to predict the color of eggs the hen will produce. Hens that have white earlobes generally produce white eggs; hens that have red earlobes generally produce brown or other pigmented eggs.
Evaluate the feather distribution, and check for feather loss. Loss of feathers around the back of the body and neck can indicate mating behavior by roosters. Check the base of feather shafts for parasites such as lice, mites, and nits (lice egg packets). Feathers around the vent should be free of blood and feces. Pasting of the vent with loose feces could indicate enteric disease. Check for scabs and blood around the vent, which could be evidence of vent pecking and cannibalism.
Palpate the breast (pectoral) muscles on either side of the bony keel to assess body condition. Using your hand, palpate the breast over the keel bone in a V shape to feel both breast muscles. Palpate the keel bone from the thoracic inlet to the manubrium, feeling the cartilaginous tip, to assess whether the keel bones are deviated or weak. See cachexia image.
Check the pubic bones, the two small bones at the sides of the vent. They should be flexible and have space between them. If the hen is laying, this distance should be 5–6 cm. If the hen is not laying, the pubic bones are usually stiff and close together (≤ 1.5 cm apart).
Check the legs and feet. The scales should be smooth and adhere closely to each other. Raised, crusty scales can indicate a scaly leg mite infestation. Check the footpads for scratches, swellings, or ulcers due to footpad dermatitis (also called pododermatitis or bumblefoot).
Courtesy of Dr. Yuko Sato.
Venipuncture and Blood Collection in Backyard Poultry
Blood can be safely collected from multiple sites in a bird to obtain baseline measurements, including PCV, total solids, estimated WBC count, and serum biochemical profile. The most common site of venipuncture is the brachial (wing) vein (see venipuncture image). In chickens, compared with mammals, this vein is much more superficial, and hematomas form easily here.
Courtesy of Dr. Yuko Sato.
Clotting of blood (even serum) occurs rapidly and abundantly in birds because of the large amounts of tissue thromboplastin present in avian species. In a healthy bird, blood volume (in milliliters) equal to 1−2% of the body weight (in grams) can be safely obtained; in compromised or high-risk patients, the safe volume to obtain is less than this (possibly as low as 0.5% of the body weight).
Other sites of venipuncture include the medial metatarsal vein (located in the medial aspect of the shanks) and the jugular vein. In most birds, including chickens, the jugular vein is more prominent on the right side.
For More Information
Lossie G, McDermott T. Performing a Physical Exam on a Chicken. Ohioline; 2019.
