Megabacteria

The canary breeding season is near and for some fanciers they have hens with eggs already. I have a breeding facility with Fife & Gloster Canaries. In early July a young Fife hen started to carry feathers etc, and consequently laid a number of eggs in the corner of the cabinet. Most breeders advise not to breed canaries until later in the year, but due to time and the hens willingness to nest again, I placed a cock with her. The hen built and lined her nest with ostrich feathers. Four eggs were laid and I marked the hatch date in a diary, on the eighth day I noticed the hen tucking her head under her wing while on the nest, this is not usual behavior so it alerted me to possible problems. Physical examination of the hen revealed some swelling of the abdomen. A wet slide was made of a dropping sample to check for endo-parasites (worms) but this proved negative. The hens eggs were placed in an incubator and the hen put into a hospital cage for further examination the next day. The next morning the hen unfortunately died - a post mortem examination by Dr Tony Gestier revealed the hen died of Megabacteria. On questioning Dr Gestier on how and why this happened the following information was provided; WHAT IS MEGABACTERIA? Megabacteria, as the name suggests, is a very large bacteria. Actually the scientists are not completely sure that it is a bacteria, but until we are told otherwise we will continue to think so! When stained on a glass slide and examined under the microscope at 1000 x magnification, Megabacteria looks like a big blue rod, it is exceptional in it's size compared to other bacteria. WHERE DOES IT LIVE? The megabacteria organism lives in the intestines, mostly in the Proventriculus (the glandular stomach before the gizzard). In some cases megabacteria can be found in a crop wash. Examination of the droppings will find the organism in about 80% of cases, but this leaves 20% of birds that cannot be positively diagnosed as having Megabacteria. In birds presented for necropsy to avian veterinarians, it is found by examining a scraping of the gut lining, this is the most accurate way of diagnosing the disease and in fact is sometimes the only way to diagnose it. WHAT BIRDS ARE AFFECTED? Most aviary birds have been found to suffer from megabacteria. The Budgie is well known as being affected by Megabacteria, but experience at the Vetafarm Research Facility is that canaries are equally affected. This was certainly the case with my Fife hen. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF MEGABACTERIA? Dr Gestier said, this is a commonly asked question that does not have an easy answer. Affected birds will fluff up (like all sick birds), they begin to lose body weight although appear to be eating. Often the colour and consistency of the droppings will change, a dark green to black dropping that is slimy should alert the birdkeeper to a potential problem. Canaries may develop swelling of the abdomen as the intestines are invaded by the organism. Affected birds will die unless treated early. HOW IS IT SPREAD? We do not know! Experiments to spread the disease artificially have failed but in the aviary spread can be rapid. The stress of breeding can be a trigger and as the canary season is about to start be on the alert for this disease. HOW DO I CONTROL MEGABACTERIA? Until recently treatment was limited to twice daily administration of drugs via a crop needle. Obviously this was not a practical answer for numbers of birds. Vetafarm has developed an in water medication that is proving exceptional in its ease of administration and effectiveness. Field work has shown complete eradication of the megabacteria from known infected birds. The treatment will be known as MEGABAC-S. WHAT ELSE IS NECESSARY? Vetafarm promotes the use of a sound quarantine system with stress reduction from common causes and continuing preventative health programs.

I pondered, a number of reasons for my particular hen developing the problem. Was it caused by; 1. Stress due to breeding 2. Stress due to removing the cock to pair with another hen 3. Stress due to the breeding cage too near a thoroughfare The course of action I am taking is to treat the whole flock with Megabac-S and monitor droppings. I will repeat the Megabac-S treatment in 2 months time. If any other fanciers get sick or dead birds similar to my experience don't just discard the experience, but take the bird to a veterinarian or make a slide and send it to Vetafarm at Wagga Wagga. This inexpensive exercise might just save a breeding season.