On the aetiology of intestinal intussusception in the fowl

Three out of 12,974 fowl in 13 floor pen tests spanning 7 years developed intestinal intussusceptions. Multiple (two separate) intussusceptions in the same bird and a single intussusception with prolapsed colon are conditions both reported for the second time only. One of the three birds had coccidiosis and two had coccidiasis. It is suggested on the basis of these and previously published data that the coccidiosis or coccidiasis sometimes associated with intussusceptions might develop secondarily following reduction of intake of food and, therefore, of anticoccidial agent, caused by the latter condition. Intussusception is probably not caused by starvation per se, since it is rarely associated with poultry diseases which cause primary anorexia. The morphology of the fowl's intestine probably makes invagination physically difficult and induction of an intussusception probably stems from an area of induration, exacerbated by any of several inconsistent predisposing factors. Probably no single cause of intestinal intussusception is identifiable.