Extracted From: A Pocket Guide to Poultry Health and Disease By Paul McMullin © 2004 Click Here to Order Your Copy

Introduction

An infection of ducks with the bacterium Streptococcus bovis. This condition is a cause of sudden deaths in ducklings of 2-3 weeks of age.

Signs

• Sudden deaths.
• Leg weakness or incoordination in a few birds. Affected well-grown birds may appear to have died from smothering.

Post-mortem lesions

• Beak cyanosis.
• Lung congestion and oedema.
• Liver congestion.
• Splenic hyperplasia.

Diagnosis

History, lesions, isolation. Sodium deficiency can appear very similar at about the same age - affected birds respond well to saline injection and will actively seek out salt scattered in the litter.

Treatment

Amoxycillin.

Prevention

Good husbandry and hygiene, extra care in the immediate post-brooding period.