Snakebites in poultry

Eight cases of snakebite involving 5 flocks were seen in chickens, ducks and turkeys in the Avian Ambulatory Clinic of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Zaria, between July 1983 and August 1990. Most of the clients resided in areas with large canopies of trees and bushes. There was a large gully just behind the residential areas. Twenty-one birds were bitten; chickens constituted 85.7%, turkeys 12% and ducks 4.8% of this number. Hens incubating eggs were most vulnerable. Cocks were usually bitten when they attacked the snakes. Clinical signs were similar to those reported in other animal species. Gross lesions included congestion of visceral organs and hemorrhage in the viscera, around the bite sites and in the sc tissues. There was also im edema around bite sites. The fatality rate was 87.5%.