E-ISSN 2218-6050 | ISSN 2226-4485
 

Case Report


Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata)

Lana Fox, Alexis Moreno, Gregory Bradley.


Cited By:2

Abstract
Crested screamers, a unique, mainly terrestrial avian species native to South America, are known to have a markedly high chick mortality rate in captivity, ranging from 61-94% (Dislich and Barros, 2014; Klass and Lynch, 2017); however, there is very limited information on this species’ natural history within the literature, and even less about common diseases that affect them. Four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata) at a U.S. zoological institution died acutely from different causes over the course of two and a half months. Although a hands-off approach was initially taken, each chick became acutely weak on exhibit and medical intervention was deemed necessary, but proved unsuccessful in all cases. Necropsy results of the chicks revealed various causes of death, including acute E. coli colitis, aspiration pneumonia complicated by concurrent gastrointestinal Candidiasis, severe dehydration and emaciation, and acute amoebic gastroenteritis. No direct associations were found between these deaths and diet or husbandry; however, the limited literature on this topic suspects inadequate husbandry and immunosuppression to be the greatest cause of chick mortality in this species. The cases presented here are consistent with this hypothesis, but further exemplify the limited knowledge of this species and how to optimize their survivability and proliferation in captivity.

Key words: Amoebic gastroenteritis, Candidiasis, Chauna torquata, chick mortality, crested screamer


 
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How to Cite this Article
Pubmed Style

Fox L, Moreno A, Bradley G. Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). Open Vet J. 2019; 9(2): 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5


Web Style

Fox L, Moreno A, Bradley G. Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). https://www.openveterinaryjournal.com/?mno=1897 [Access: October 31, 2024]. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5


AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Fox L, Moreno A, Bradley G. Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). Open Vet J. 2019; 9(2): 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5



Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Fox L, Moreno A, Bradley G. Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). Open Vet J. (2019), [cited October 31, 2024]; 9(2): 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5



Harvard Style

Fox, L., Moreno, . A. & Bradley, . G. (2019) Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). Open Vet J, 9 (2), 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5



Turabian Style

Fox, Lana, Alexis Moreno, and Gregory Bradley. 2019. Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). Open Veterinary Journal, 9 (2), 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5



Chicago Style

Fox, Lana, Alexis Moreno, and Gregory Bradley. "Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata)." Open Veterinary Journal 9 (2019), 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5



MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Fox, Lana, Alexis Moreno, and Gregory Bradley. "Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata)." Open Veterinary Journal 9.2 (2019), 120-125. Print. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5



APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Fox, L., Moreno, . A. & Bradley, . G. (2019) Mortality of four captive-born crested screamer chicks (Chauna torquata). Open Veterinary Journal, 9 (2), 120-125. doi:10.4314/ovj.v9i2.5