http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/Extension/Vet/PDF_Files/Poultry_Recom2000.pdf
http://nabc.ksu.edu/content/factsheets/category/Botulism
"In animals, botulism is classified into two forms: foodborne and toxicoinfectious. The foodborne form occurs when animals ingest preformed toxins in food or C. botulinum spores germinate in anaerobic tissues and produce toxins as they grow.
The main sources include decaying vegetable matter, such as grass, hay, grain, spoiled silage, etc. and contaminated meat. Birds can ingest the toxins in maggots that have fed on contaminated carcasses or in dead invertebrates from water with decaying vegetation. The toxicoinfectious form, which corresponds to the wound form in humans, occurs when the bacteria grow in necrotic areas in the liver and GI tract, abcesses in the navel and lungs, or anaerobic wounds in the skin and muscle and appears to be responsible for shaker foal syndrome in horses. In humans, botulism is classified into three forms: foodborne, wound, and infant botulism. Foodborne botulism is the most common form and occurs when humans ingest toxins in various foods. Foods associated with botulism are characteristically associated with inadequately processed, home-canned foods or inappropriate handling and cooking of meat products, canned vegetables, and seafood products."
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PS044
Botulism
Synonyms: limberneck, bulbar paralysis, western duck sickness, alkali disease
Species affected:
All fowl of any age, humans, and other animals are highly susceptible.
The turkey vulture is the only animal host known to be resistant to the disease.
Clinical signs:
Botulism is a poisoning causing by eating spoiled food containing a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum . Paralysis, the most common clinical sign, occurs within a few hours after poisoned food is eaten. Pheasants with botulism remain alert, but paralyzed. Legs and wings become paralyzed, then the neck becomes limp. Neck feathers become loose in the follicle and can be pulled easily (see Table 3 ).
If the amount eaten is lethal, prostration and death follow in 12 to 24 hours. Death is a result of paralysis of respiratory muscles. Fowl affected by sublethal doses become dull and sleepy.
Transmission: Botulism is common in wild ducks and is a frequent killer of waterfowl because the organisms multiply in dead fish and decaying vegetation along shorelines.
Decaying bird carcasses on poultry ranges, wet litter or other organic matter, and fly maggots from decaying substances may harbor botulism. There is no spread from bird to bird.
Treatment: Remove spoiled feed or decaying matter. Flush the flock with Epsom salts (1 lb/1000 hens) in water or in wet mash. It has been reported that potassium permanganate (1:3000) in the drinking water is helpful. Affected birds can be treated with botulism antitoxin injections.
Prevention: Incinerate or bury dead birds promptly. Do not feed spoiled canned vegetables. Control flies. Replace suspected feed.
