DIGESTION
IMPACTIONS
Impactions are one of the most frequently seen problems in growing chicks up to adult hood. There are two types of impaction problems. One being acute or newly acquired impactions and the other being chronic or long standing impactions.
Acute impactions are generally those that result from a bird eating too much unusable material vary rapidly. This type of impaction can occur on sand, dirt, rocks, gravel, grass, etc. Death in these instances is often quick due to the overextended and non-functional condition of the proventriculus.
Chronic impactions usually result from the bird having a partially impacted proventriculus which allows some material to pass through normally. This can result from consumption of material like grass, rocks, sand, etc. or some larger foreign body that would partially block the proventriculus. These birds do not gain weight normally, are often eat excess non-food material such as sand, dirt, etc. and often appear malnourished.
Many birds develop this type of problem when confronted with new situations. Moving into new pens, changing diets, excess stress including movement, feed changes, or diseases may initiate the abnormal eating habits and contribute to the problem.
Early treatment with some form of oral lubricant such as mineral oil, etc. can often help to breakdown some of this material and get the bird back to a normal diet. More commonly, surgical intervention is necessary to remove the impacted material. If diagnosed early, surgical intervention can be vary successful.
FOREIGN BODY INGESTION
Much like impactions, birds of all ages will often eat almost any type of object. In many of these cases, the objects are non-digestible and can sit in the proventriculus and impair normal food movement. Objects such as nails, plastic, knives, tools, etc. are eaten by curious birds. In most cases, as long as the object does not damage the intestine wall or puncture the proventriculus, the foreign object may be eventually digested and passed through the digestive tract. If it is too large and blocks the normal activity of the proventriculus, a chronic impaction may result.
Surgical intervention is usually successful in correcting this problem. Again, early diagnosis and surgery is essential.
Surgery generally requires a pre-anesthetic followed by gas anesthetics. After surgical preparation including clipping all feathers along the midline of the xiphoid (breast bone) cartilage, an incision is made along the midline starting at the xiphlid cartilage. The proventriculus, located on the left side, is pulled through the incision. The proventriculus in opened and the contents completely cleaned out. The contents of the ventriculus can also be removed by manual manipulation and pressure at this time. Care should be taken not to contaminate the abdominal cavity during the initial incision and the air sac during cleaning of the ventriculus and proventriculus.
Surgical gut (2 layers) are recommended to close the proventriculus and the abdominal wall while non-absorbable sutures are used on the skin.
Supportive treatment including oral fluids are helpful for the first several hours after surgery along with antibiotic therapy.
PROLAPSES
Young birds often develop prolapses of the rectum. This can be a serious problem and requires immediate attention. The condition often occurs in birds with diarrhea and results from straining during defecation. The prolapse can easily be replaced and sutured in place. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential but with them, good results can be anticipated.
Occasionally, older males will develop a prolapsed phallus. In this instance, the phallus will not be retracted into the cloaca and mechanical damage, exposure to cold, etc. can result.
Treatment usually consists of confinement, cleaning and lubrication of the phallus. Surgery is usually not required and may be contraindicated.