Backyard Poultry Primer

Backyard or hobby flocks consist of meat and game birds; or ornamental or show birds. This review article, co-authored by poultry veterinarian, Teresa Morishita, offers tips on the basic clinical approach to backyard poultry as well as differential diagnosis lists for common clinical problems. Conditions commonly encountered in backyard chickens and turkeys often include endoparasites, like Eimeria spp., pasteurellosis or fowl cholera, mycoplasmosis, staphylococcosis, and colibacillosis. Diseases important for public health concerns, such as avian influenza and Newcastle disease, are also discussed . . .


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Further reading

Absalón AE, Cortés-Espinosa DV, Lucio E, Miller PJ, Afonso CL. Epidemiology, control, and prevention of Newcastle disease in endemic regions: Latin America. Trop Anim Health Prod. 2019 Jun;51(5):1033-1048. doi: 10.1007/s11250-019-01843-z. Epub 2019 Mar 15. PMID: 30877525; PMCID: PMC6520322.

Amarasinghe GK, Ayllón MA, Bào Y, et al. Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2019. Arch Virol. 2019 Jul;164(7):1967-1980. doi: 10.1007/s00705-019-04247-4. PMID: 31089958; PMCID: PMC6641539

Assen AM, Walkden-Brown SW, Stillman M, Alfirevich S, Gerber PF. Comparison of tracheal and choanal cleft swabs and poultry dust samples for detection of Newcastle disease virus and infectious bronchitis virus genome in vaccinated meat chicken flocks. PLoS One. 2021 Apr 16;16(4):e0247729. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247729. PMID: 33861761; PMCID: PMC8051787.

Ayala AJ, Yabsley MJ, Hernandez SM. A review of pathogen transmission at the backyard chicken-wild bird interface. Front Vet Sci. 2020 Sep 24;7:539925. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.539925. PMID: 33195512; PMCID: PMC7541960.

Bavinck V, Bourna A, van Boven M, et al. The role of backyard poultry flocks in the epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H7N7) in the Netherlands in 2003. Prev Vet Med. 2009 Apr 1;88(4):247-54. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2008.10.007. PMID: 19178969.Prev Vet Med 88(4):247-254, 2009.

Bello MB, Yusoff K, Ideris A, et al. Diagnostic and vaccination approaches for Newcastle disease virus in poultry: The current and emerging perspectives. Biomed Res Int. 2018 Aug 5;2018:7278459. doi: 10.1155/2018/7278459. PMID: 30175140; PMCID: PMC6098882.

Bertzbach LD, Conradie AM, You Y, Kaufer BB. Latest insights into Marek’s disease virus pathogenesis and tumorigenesis. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Mar 10;12(3):647. doi: 10.3390/cancers12030647. PMID: 32164311; PMCID: PMC7139298.

Bethonico Terra MT, Pacheco WJ, Harrison M, McCrea BA, Hauck R. A survey of coccidia and nematodes in pastured poultry in the state of Georgia. Avian Dis. 2021 Mar 1. doi: 10.1637/aviandiseases-D-20-00120. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33647964.

Blake DP, Marugan-Hernandez V, Tomley FM. Spotlight on avian pathology: Eimeria and the disease coccidiosis. Avian Pathol. 2021 Apr 20:1-5. doi: 10.1080/03079457.2021.1912288. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33823695.

Carrisosa M, Jin S, McCrea BA, et al. Prevalence of select intestinal parasites in Alabama backyard poultry flocks. Animals (Basel). 2021 Mar 26;11(4):939. doi: 10.3390/ani11040939. PMID: 33810349; PMCID: PMC8066009.

Correia-Gomes C, Henry MK, Reeves A, Sparks N. Management and biosecurity practices by small to medium egg producers in Scotland. Br Poult Sci. 2021 Aug;62(4):499-508. doi: 10.1080/00071668.2021.1894635. Epub 2021 Mar 17. PMID: 33611987.

Cox GJ, Griffith B, Reed M, et al. A vaccine to prevent egg layer peritonitis in chickens. Avian Dis. 2020 Oct 30. doi: 10.1637/aviandiseases-D-20-00093. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33125038.

Delabouglise A, Thanh NTL, Xuyen HTA, et al. Poultry farmer response to disease outbreaks in smallholder farming systems in southern Vietnam. Elife. 2020 Aug 25;9:e59212. doi: 10.7554/eLife.59212. PMID: 32840482; PMCID: PMC7505654.

Dimitrov KM, Bolotin V, Muzyka D, et al. Repeated isolation of virulent Newcastle disease viruses of sub-genotype VIId from backyard chickens in Bulgaria and Ukraine between 2002 and 2013. Arch Virol. 2016 Dec;161(12):3345-3353. doi: 10.1007/s00705-016-3033-2. Epub 2016 Aug 31. PMID: 27581808.

Garber TL, Hill G, Rodriguez J, et al. Non-commercial poultry industries: surveys of backyard and gamefowl breeder flocks in the United States. Prev Vet Med. 2007 Jul 16;80(2-3):120-8. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2007.01.012. Epub 2007 Mar 6. PMID: 17337307.

Gonzales Viera OA, Crossley B, Carvallo-Chaigneau F, et al. Infectious bronchitis virus prevalence, characterization and strain identification in California backyard chickens. Avian Dis. 2021 Jan 5. doi: 10.1637/aviandiseases-D-20-00113. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33400768.

Hardy MC, Robertson SA, Sidge J, et al. Notes from the field: Environmental investigation of a multistate salmonellosis outbreak linked to live backyard poultry from a mail-order hatchery – Michigan, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019 Jan 4;67(5152):1430-1431. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm675152a5. PMID: 30605449; PMCID: PMC6334824.

Jhung MA, Nelson DI; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Outbreaks of avian influenza A (H5N2), (H5N8), and (H5N1) among birds–United States, December 2014-January 2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 Feb 6;64(4):111. PMID: 25654614; PMCID: PMC4584850. Available at cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6404a9.htm. Accessed August 7, 2021.

Lee DH, Torchetti MK, Killian ML, Berhane Y, Swayne DE. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, Tennessee, USA, March 2017. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Nov;23(11):1860–3. doi: 10.3201/eid2311.171013. Epub 2017 Nov 17. PMID: 28880836; PMCID: PMC5652434.

Lister SA. Opportunities and challenges in backyard poultry health and management. Vet Rec. 2021 Apr;188(7):262-264. doi: 10.1002/vetr.371. PMID: 33835555.

Morishita TY. Common infectious diseases in backyard chickens and turkeys (from a private practice perspective). J Avian Med Surg 10(1):2-11, 1996.

Susta L, Segovia D, Olivier TL, et al. Newcastle disease virus infection in quail. Vet Pathol. 2018 Sep;55(5):682-692. doi: 10.1177/0300985818767996. Epub 2018 Apr 16. PMID: 29661124.

Zorman Rojs O, Dovč A, Krapež U, et al. Detection of laryngotracheitis virus in poultry flocks with respiratory disorders in Slovenia. Viruses. 2021 Apr 19;13(4):707. doi: 10.3390/v13040707. PMID: 33921858; PMCID: PMC8072874.

 

To cite this page:

Pollock CG, Morishita TY. Backyard poultry primer. Aug 7, 2021. LafeberVet web site. Available at https://lafeber.com/vet/backyard-poultry-primer-2/