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  Discussion on Birds and bird DrOppings in barns
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 28, 2002 - 10:49 am:

Looked for information on this topic.
I have an older barn (tall hay loft) that the barn sparrows LOVE. The horse manure in the fields, in the stalls and in the manure spreader (not spread on horse pastures) seem to be their feeders. The sparrows have DrOppings in the stall areas -is this a possible disease problem. I clean the DrOppings 1-2X/year, keep water buckets upside down when not in use and all grain is in garabage cans.

Posted on Friday, Mar 1, 2002 - 6:07 am:

Soiling the water and feed buckets is a undesirable as it may expose horses to intestinal pathogens like salmonella and E. coli. Also there has been a case where horses contracted botulism poisoning by exposure to bird DrOppings:

J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000 Aug 1;217(3):365-8, 340
An outbreak of type C botulism in 12 horses and a mule.

Schoenbaum MA, Hall SM, Glock RD, Grant K, Jenny AL, Schiefer TJ, Sciglibaglio P, Whitlock RH.

USDA-Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA.

A USDA Early Response Team investigated deaths of several horses and a mule in northern Arizona at the request of local animal health officials. Thirteen animals (12 horses and 1 mule) housed at 5 facilities in a 7.4 square mile area died between August 1998 and January 1999. Clinical signs consisted of muscular weakness that rapidly progressed to lateral recumbency. Ten animals had paresis of the tongue, throat, or lips. Affected animals appeared alert and were interested in eating and drinking, even while recumbent. All 13 animals were euthanatized. Clostridium botulinum type C was isolated from feces or intestinal contents from 3 affected horses. Preformed toxin was detected in samples of soil and bird DrOppings collected from a nearby horse burial site. It was hypothesized that the outbreak was a result of birds, presumably ravens, feeding at the burial site and at horse facilities in the area that transferred toxin to the affected animals.
DrO
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