Health guide
Trichomoniasis
A protozoal infection, often called canker, that mainly affects the mouth, throat, oesophagus and crop. Severe lesions can obstruct swallowing or breathing.
How to recognise it
- Creamy-yellow plaques or masses in the mouth or throat; do not pull them off because attached tissue can bleed.
- Difficulty swallowing, repeated gulping, saliva at the beak, regurgitation or a slow crop.
- Weight loss, weakness or breathing difficulty in advanced disease.
Usual treatment approach
- Confirm with a fresh throat/crop sample when possible; similar plaques can be caused by pox, yeast (candida overgrowth), vitamin-A deficiency and other disease.
- Imidazoles like metronidazole, ronidazole, carnidazole & to be safe also an nystatin as some of the plaques can mix or be confused with candida overgrowth. Always check with a specialised vet if possible.
- Isolate the bird and clean shared drinkers because saliva and crop milk spread the organism.
Sources and further reading