Western
Meeting of Poultry
Clinicians and Pathologists
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Clinicians and Pathologists
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Inflammation of the Bronchi in Broiler Chickens, Associated with Barn Dust and Influenced by Barn Temperature C. Riddell Western College of Veterinary Medicine University of Saskatchewan
Yellow caseous nodules and plugs are commonly found in the bronchi of turkeys kept in enclosed houses in Saskatchewan. These lesions on microscopic examination consist of inflammatory debris and cells. Foreign material has been recognized in some of these lesions. In experimental trials with turkeys reducing air borne dust levels by increasing ventilation and oiling litter reduced the number of turkeys with these gross lung lesions (1,2,3). Similar, but less severe lesions in the bronchi have been recognized on microscopic examination of the lungs of broiler chickens kept in enclosed barns. It has been postulated by the author that many of mouth breathing, which is common when temperatures in confinement barn are too high. In a recent experiment, different groups of broiler chickens were kept at temperatures of 27oC and 16oC from 28-37 days of age. At the high temperature mouth breathing was recorded, but was absent at the low temperature. Number of dust particles in the air of rooms at the higher temperature average 7814 particles/litre and at the lower temperature 5919 particles/litre. Greater than 50 percent of broilers in warm rooms had microscopic lesions in the bronchi of their lungs, while less than 5 percent of broilers in cold rooms had such lesions. The increased incidence of lung lesions at the warm temperature could be due to the higher level of dust at the warm temperature. It is also probable that mouth breathing may have contributed to the lung lesions, as there were still high levels of dust at the low temperature. |
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