PEAFOWL SICK...

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:05 pm

I have 5 all together in a large pen with grass area.

3 female and 2 male

1 of the peahens is a little slugish..sitting quietly & her feathers looks a little wet looking...it has been raining allot here & today is 2 day of sunshine we have had in a week. Is this a late laying characteristic?

However, She is eating...taking it in whole, the other seems fine...I have wormed them recently....should I do it again because of the rain?
However she is too sick to roost up with the others, too sick to fly?

Or am I just being a paranoid mother/owner of the peafowl?

Pheasant Lover · **Joined:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:21 pm **Posts:** 14

When did you worm her last? she could be going to lay an egg?

Drew Smith · **Posted:** Sat Feb 13, 2010 7:09 pm

I am no eggspert but yep could be worms or could she have eaten some wet grain?
Hope she's better soon
Cheers Drew Smith

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:20 pm

Yes, She may have eaten some wet grain...what will that do to her swell up in her stomach or bacteria.

After doing further research I have decided it may be "coccidisis" a sickness in birds, I have found on this website a copper sulphate solution to use...so I have just given her some on some soggy bread. I will also be watching her carefully over the next seven days. I do hope she recovers, anyway this solution will give them a good clean out even if it is worms too!

Her symptoms are pale, and droopy just a general sick look & staying low to the ground, moving around not as energetically as she normally would, or like the others. Feathers are looking weathered and unkept, disarray. Eye color is still fine, perhaps I have caught it in time!

PeasUSA · **Joined:** Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:26 am **Posts:** 7

how long has she been this way as already asked have you wormed her since she looked this way

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:20 am

I have not wormed her since she look this way, however Capiller worms might be what she has too! So I will worm her for this as well!

Her last worming was 2 weeks ago through water. 3 days she has been like this.

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Mon Feb 15, 2010 5:30 pm

UPDATE OF HER SICKNESS Day is hot & humid (after heaps of rain)

I am convinced its either worms or coccidiosis , so I have given her some sulphate mixture for this & today have substituted with BIG L a wormer that will hopefully help her. At night she doesn't fly up to roost with the healthy others, she sits in the long grass.

WIngs are still droopy & heavy like and rough/pale looking feathers, she is however walking around allot more, but she still very slow, she blinks slow but still an small improvement on yesterday.

Tomorrow I will alternate her drinking water with the sulphate mixture again...to keep her cleaned out and responsive!
I can't give you a description of her poo as I can't single it out from the others!

This was posted by HERO member of this site DEC 20008, talking about coccidiosis and worms.
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=891

Dissolve one pound of Acidified Copper Sulfate into one gallon o f water. This is your base solution. Before I go further, never use metal water containers with Copper Sulfate Take one ounce out of your base solution and put into one gallon of drinking water. Use as the only water source for seven days. It will clean them out and help to worm them also. I have used it for years with good results.

SO THIS IS WHAT I WILL ALTERNATE WITH AS I HAVE HAD SOME IMPROVEMENT ALREADY, I soak the bread in it to give it to her, in hope it goes into her system quicker.

ANY HELPFUL HINTS HERE WOULD BE GREAT!

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Pea Goddess,
A faecal floatation done by your local vet will identify if either Capillaria or Coccidia are the cause of your peafowl's problem. This is cheaper than taking the bird to a vet, but if the results are negative you still won't know what's causing the illness. A sick bird looks like a sick bird ie can be caused by many different illnesses all presenting with the same signs. If you really want to find the answer you may want to take it to an avian vet- there are several in Brisbane. This is your best chance at getting an answer but obviously will be more expensive. In the end the decision is up to you but I would at least get the droppings tested.

If you do in fact have either of these problems you'll probably need something stronger than copper sulphate. Capillaria can sometimes be very difficult to kill and you may need to direct dose the bird rather than rely on in-water medication. Drugs such as Big L (levamisole), Panacur (fenbendazole) or cydectin (moxidectin) may be useful.
Coccidiosis is best treated with Baycox (toltrazuril), or trimethoprim/sulpha antibiotics. Coccivet is a good prevention.

No matter what drug you use you can decrease the risk of reinfection by cleaning up excess droppings, making sure your cages drain well and that there are no wet spots & by avoiding overcrowding. In particular make sure that the birds are fed in a dry area. Also quarantine all new birds for several weeks after purchase AWAY from your existing flock and make sure you treat them for lice & mites & worms during this time

Hope this is of some help & good luck

Parvo

Pea-Goddess · **Posted:** Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:42 pm

Thanks PRAVO for some helpful hints, thanks, thanks thanks,
I will endeavor to seek out avian vet...today I feed her some wormer BIG L she got a real good dose of it, and by the end of the day she wanted to join the healthy others rather than been quarantined into sick bay within the pen (which is a large dog box thing used for nesting) but she has taken to being in there at her own device. Later this afternoon there she only had one wing drooped, rather than the two, she was walking around, she is not so wobbly on her feet, grazing like more.

She is still eating so her throat is not too sore....it has started raining again and yes they do have a large hug with a roost to go too during rain, so its hard to see if your paleness of her feathers have improved.

I have not isolated her or handled her as yet as I feel once I do this she will loose trust with me, so i would rather handler her to feed her medicine straight from the vet (if I have too) rather than handler her just to look at her.

So 1st day of treatment was SUNDAY: With the copper sulphate solution (because I didn't have any BIG L wormer)
MONDAY: Purchased BIG L wormer had given it to her by 11am through water & mixed it in with all food that she ate.
TODAY: Replenished copper sulphate water in the pen along with big L wormer in another container of water, gave her more food which had BIG L Wormer in it, so I know she has had a really good dose. Any water she drinks is just a bonus dose.

TODAY pm saw a little improvement from this thus far. (as mentioned above)

TOMORROW will be picking up droppings & seeking a avian-vet

Total days she has been visibly sick is 4 days now.

Pheasant Lover · **Joined:** Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:21 pm **Posts:** 14

Good info parvo, the only thing I would ad is remove a sick bird as soon as you FIRST see it looking unwell DON"T wait.

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