Trichomoniasis: Finding Sick, dying or dead pigeons?

Trichomoniasis: Finding Sick, dying or dead pigeons?

Hello Everyone

We have been getting an increasing number of Trichomoniasis related calls at this time of year. Every year outbreaks are seen during the late summer and autumn. This disease does not pose a threat to the health of humans, cats or dogs.

The infection is spread as pigeons feed one another with regurgitated food during the breeding season, and through food and drinking water contaminated with regurgitated saliva. Saliva can also contaminate a birdbath. Trichomoniasis cannot live long outside a hosted pigeons.

Trichomoniasis causes lesions in the throat of the infected pigeons, which makes it progressively harder for the bird to swallow its food, and eventually breathe. Birds will also show signs of lethargy and fluffed up plumage, drooling saliva and regurgitated food. Affected birds frequently have matted wet plumage around the face and beak and uneaten food in and around the beak.

If a number of birds show symptoms, we recommend to stop putting out all food and leave bird baths dry for at least three weeks. This helps to disperse the feeding birds and reduce the contact between sick and healthy individuals, thus slowing down the outbreak.  The higher the concentration of birds at a feeding station, the greater the chance of another bird picking up an infected food particle and exposing itself to the infection.

There are also a few other actions you can take to help:

 Use feeders with drainage holes to avoid moisture building up

–          Use more than one feeding site to reduce the number of birds in one place

–          Rotate feeders around several locations to ‘rest’ each spot to prevent build up of infection on the ground underneath.

–          Clean and disinfect feeders and water baths regularly, rinsing thoroughly and allowing to air dry completely – this itself will kill some diseases

–          Keep the bucket and brush you clean feeders with outside and using just for this purpose

–          Sweep up droppings and spilt or old food and disposing of it carefully in an outside bin

–          Change the water in baths frequently – ideally daily

–          Wash your hands carefully afterwards

 

No effective treatment can be administered to birds in the wild, because it is impossible to ensure that the infected individuals receive an adequate dose and that healthy birds do not pick up the medicine.

At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.

Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca

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