Pearl White Leghorn Chicken Diseases

Looney Tunes made the Pearl White Leghorn famous.chicken image by Anne Staub from Fotolia.com

Pearl White Leghorns are among the most disease-resistance breeds of chickens in the world. Living conditions of the breed can greatly dictate the degree of this resistance as most infections stem from bacteria found in poorly maintained farms and facilities. Proper preventative care is necessary in order to maintain the health of this and any breed of chicken.

Fowl Cholera

This disease primarily affects chickens, water fowl and turkeys and is caused by bacteria. It is the most common disease found in such poultry as the Pearl White Leghorn. According to avianweb.com, symptoms are characterized by green tinged diarrhea, high fever, loss of appetite, coughing, discharge from the eyes and nose, inability to walk and sudden death. Many medications exist to treat fowl cholera, though the best method to halt the disease is through improved environmental factors. Clean cages and living environments go a long way to improving Leghorn resistance to this bacteria.

Also known as infectious bronchitis, this disease affects the respiratory tract of even the hardiest Leghorn chickens resulting in respiratory distress, rattling of the lungs, sneezing and lesions inside the throat. Hens will show a drop in egg production and/or produce deformed eggs. Mortality rates with infectious bronchitis can be as high as 100 percent among chickens. The only means of treating the illness in flocks of Leghorns is through preventative vaccination, reports avianweb.com.

Moniliasis is actually a fungus or yeastlike infection that is found in almost every poultry population throughout the world, according to avianweb.com. Pearl White Leghorn are highly susceptible to infection from this organism. Symptoms vary by age of the Leghorn with young birds becoming lethargic and pale, caged hens developing anemia and obesity, and others experiencing white encrustations on the feathers and inflammation of the intestines. Antibiotics will control the infection in flocks, though use of broad-spectrum antibiotics has been known to worsen the infection so caretakers should first isolate the strain of the organism and control the infection before beginning treatment.