All classes of domestic poultry are to a great extent subject to the same diseases that affect the common fowl. The symptoms of such diseases are for the most part similar to those noticed when fowls are affected, and treatment must be on the same lines. In the management of turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowls and pigeons, the strictest sanitary measures must be enforced, as in the rearing of fowls.
Owing to its importance, blackhead of turkeys is dealt with separately. It is one of the most serious of poultry diseases and causes heavy losses to turkey rearers. Careful study should be made of the reports of the recent investigations at the Rhode Island Experiment Station.
Severe epidemics of diarrhea or cholera occur among all classes of poultry. Geese are subject to a form of cholera that appears to be different from any kind that attacks fowls. Water fowl are not commonly infested with external parasites. Pigeons, on the other hand, are worried by fleas and ticks as well as mites. Smallpox of pigeons is similar to chicken pox of fowls, but pustular swellings may be found on the rump and the cloaca of the pigeon as well as on the head. The scaly leg mite attacks turkeys and the gape worm is sometimes a serious pest of poults. Below is given a list of some of the diseases of turkeys, ducks, geese, guinea fowls and pigeons:
TURKEYS
DUCKS
GEESE
GUINEA FOWLS
PIGEONS