Chicken Ear Diseases

Bird sicknesses can be dangerous to a whole bird assembly, and prevent commercial growers from making a living. Signs of ear infections in domestic animals may include circling of head, walking in an off balance manner and stumbling while walking.

Features

• Disturbances of the balance system in the inner ear may be caused by either infection, an encounter with environmental toxins or food deficiency. Paramyxo virus may cause ear infection in chickens and other birds, and may also cause the chicken to turn its head in an abnormal manner. Newcastle Disease, also caused by paramyxo virus, is said to cause abnormal head movements and these are sometimes attributed to the central nervous system. Although antibiotics cannot cure the virus, antibiotics may be given to treat concurrent illnesses in birds with viral infections.

Types

• Otitis externa, or outer ear infection, may be marked by a chicken moving its head across woody plants and outcroppings, with a visible fluid coming from the ear. Infections with this type of draining ear has been known to be caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Middle ear infection, with symptoms of abnormal movement of the head, has been reported to be caused by Pasteurella multocida. The American Poultry Association recommends sulfa drugs to treat Pastuerella infections.

Significance

• Giving antibiotics to poultry and other livestock has engendered an important debate in the medical community. Physicians are concerned that overmedication of livestock in order to keep them healthy for commercial slaughter, has given rise to the evolution of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, which can then pose as severe health risk to humans.

Warning

• Infections that may not be treatable in the the chicken may also be contagious to humans, such as the bird flu, which has also been reported to have the symptoms of abnormal twisting of the neck or torticollis. It has been suggested that chickens kept outside in yards may pose disease risks to wild birds that frequent local areas. If your chickens have an untreated illness, they may pose a risk to wild bird flocks, as well as humans, in the area.

Potential

• Surprisingly, the chicken inner ear provides a model for the study of human ear disorders. Humans cannot replace cells in the functioning part of the ear, whereas birds can.The utricle is the area in the inner ear where the body maintains its sense of balance. The cochlea is the area in the inner ear where noise is transmitted into sound in the brain. The chicken replaces cells in these parts of the ear, whereas humans do not, so this is an area of study where scientists hope that they can learn to replace failing sensory cells of human ears.