Ask the Expert: Peafowl Health

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Peafowl Health Question

Ten percent of our young peafowl come down with a respiratory disease, where they are opening their mouths and acting like they can’t breathe adequately and often have swelling below their eye behind their beak. They make gurgling coughing sounds or what I might call honking coughs or sneezes.

I have attempted treating them with an injection of penicillin. To no avail. What might you suggest? What is it?

Richard Joens, Iowa

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Hi Richard,

There are a number of things that can cause respiratory disease in poultry.  That makes it difficult to know what to do, because some can be treated and some can’t.

Since you mentioned the swollen areas, which are likely swollen sinuses, that may narrow it down a bit.  Often, swollen sinuses are a sign of chronic respiratory disease, caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG).  This is a bacterial disease, but it is usually resistant to penicillins.  If you could get a tetracycline product, that might be more helpful.

MG can be passed through the eggs from hens to their chicks, so this could explain the young chicks getting it.  Because of this, it can be difficult to eliminate.

Chronic fowl cholera can also cause swollen sinuses.  It can also be difficult to eliminate in a flock.  There are also some viral diseases that can cause respiratory disease, and they would not respond to antibiotics.

For a firm diagnosis, it would be best to contact an avian veterinarian or submit samples to your state veterinary diagnostic lab.  There is a blood test that can determine if they have MG, so you wouldn’t have to sacrifice any birds for that.

You have a good extension poultry veterinarian in Iowa, too.  Her name is Dr. Sato.  If you contact your local extension office, they can probably put you in contact with her.

Good luck with them!

Ron Kean

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