- Apr 8, 2013
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Quote:
Hi
Just want to clarify my understanding, cloacal drinking is NOT the act of a bird drinking via the beak from the cloca, which is how it first sounded to me. But I now understand it is rather the bird placing its vent on the ground and "drinking" other birds fecal matter through the cloca and thus backwards into the gut, the aim been to avoid stomach acids that would kill the target useful bacteria - yes? (unfortunately sometimes providing an easy access for blackhead parasite )
I know the studies done have proved it importance in transmission of Blackhead in young turkeys however they roost on the floor with their vents in contact with fecal material, so it has me wondering what the importance this route of transmission would have on adult peafowl that rarely place their vent in contact with fecal matter and roost off the ground, does anyone know of any studies that looked into this in adult birds. You would think in adult birds the risk factors of bringing new bacteria into the gut had changed as you would expect them to have a healthy gut flora, compered to that of newly hatched/growing poults with a developing gut flora.
Hi
Just want to clarify my understanding, cloacal drinking is NOT the act of a bird drinking via the beak from the cloca, which is how it first sounded to me. But I now understand it is rather the bird placing its vent on the ground and "drinking" other birds fecal matter through the cloca and thus backwards into the gut, the aim been to avoid stomach acids that would kill the target useful bacteria - yes? (unfortunately sometimes providing an easy access for blackhead parasite )
I know the studies done have proved it importance in transmission of Blackhead in young turkeys however they roost on the floor with their vents in contact with fecal material, so it has me wondering what the importance this route of transmission would have on adult peafowl that rarely place their vent in contact with fecal matter and roost off the ground, does anyone know of any studies that looked into this in adult birds. You would think in adult birds the risk factors of bringing new bacteria into the gut had changed as you would expect them to have a healthy gut flora, compered to that of newly hatched/growing poults with a developing gut flora.
.
