I don't know why people always suggest using antibiotics without knowing for certain what the illness is. This is very dangerous for everyone involved.
As long as I've been at this some thirty years I've heard people say to use this antibiotic and that one but having spent some time working in animal health, and very specifically with birds, I can assure you that we generally are doing so much more harm than good, it's just not worth it. I don't want to come off like one of these jackalopes that rides roughshod on one opinion either.
Prevention is the best medicine. If that fails, do cut out the infected sinus pocket but what I might do differently is to irrigate the site with three in one saline solution for contact lenses. It's really important to gain an understanding of the source of the infection and just how and where it starts and you'll understand why a shot of antibiotic is only going to knock some symptoms until the bird's immune responses are overwhelmed again.
Pelleted food that disintegrates in ambient moisture-mashes and crumbles- this is one half of the source of your biggest trouble.
If you raise birds you probably are probably already familiar with the
avian respiratory system . Some of the i
nformation out there can be intimidating but if you give it a chance and a few careful read throughs- you'll be relieved how much information is out there.
At any rate, here are some issues worth thinking through. Peafowl tend to be fed in captivity like domestic turkeys or worse yet chickens. They are unlike either of these species obligatory predators of both invertebrates and small animals. They cannot digest vegetable protein with the same efficiency as these domestic species.
This often results in nutritional deficiencies during critical periods within their life cycles. Immune functions are disabled when the birds lack certain key amino acids and micronutrients.
Getting back to the pellets and crumbles. When chicks are very small they are fed mashes so fine that they are easily inhaled. Naturally, a good deal of this ends up in the bird's respiratory tract. What is more, feather dander and fecal material tend to mix with the dust created from these feeds to generate a bacteria rich grime termed poultry smut. The birds generally ingest this and get it in their eyes and nares through preening as it covers everything.
Regardless, the chicks inhaled feed particulates as chicks and this when they got into trouble as feed particulates are lodged throughout their nasal passages and even in their air sacs. Eventually, this will lead to infection. Many birds will be able to shrug it off but those with nutritional deficiencies or under duress, or those that are in reproductive mode will not.
Feeders need to be located as far off the ground as possible- on a table with a vinyl tablecloth for example. Never let the birds fecal material come anywhere near their food. Sanitizing roosts is very important as well because the birds will track their own manure onto the perches and then end up preening their plumage- thereby ingesting fecal material.
So here are a few solutions.
1. switch away from pellets and mashes. Look for an extruded kibble. You'll feed half as much feed and save money over time. There is no waste involved and no dust.
The birds digest their food more efficiently, even the vegetable proteins because it has been cooked entirely. MAZURI makes an exotic pheasant extruded kibble in several different formulations. This could be a very good maintenance diet for them but Peafowl are not pheasants and actually require a higher percentage of animal protein than the pheasants that the feed is formulated for. During the period leading up to the breeding season it will be important to supplement the peafowl with animal fat, for example, bird suet, not much- just a bit every other day for a few weeks just before breeding commences. About the same time, supplement the kibble with good old fashioned cat food. When the birds are about to moult it will be important to put them on a diet that is as high in animal nutrition as possible. Some people raise guppies just for that purpose. There is a product called Ultrakibble that is by far the best product for peafowl on the market. It's 40% protein and that is almost entirely digestible protein in an extruded kibble versus a dusty pellet formulated for the largely vegetarian turkey and ring neck pheasant. You've never heard of a turkey or ring neck pheasant eat snakes or lizards have you? But its common knowledge that peafowl are excellent reptile hunters. This is just one example of why peafowl tend to suffer badly in close confinement- its largely the diet. Many zoos use Ultrakibble as the maintenance feed for rare birds like Congo Peafowl and Argus. They used to use cat food until the product came onto the market. So you have three choices, cat food, mazuri pheasant kibble and ultrakibble- but whatver you do get off the pellets and mashes until you own a power washer and can sterilize your enclosures on a regular basis.
2. provide a fantastic dust bath- grab a wading pool and fill it with DE, powdered lime and wood ashes from the fireplace, some playground sand lots of cinnamon powder, black pepper, curry powder, cumin etc. These spices can be purchased at a dollar store for loose change. Why spices? They're natural antibacterials, anti inflammatories and send parasites a running. They can be inhaled to some degree and unlike feed particulates, they bind on to mucus so the offending material can be expunged.
3. Cover the ground with leaf litter and or pine needles to help the birds avoid coming into contact with manure.
4. Sterilize the water containers every few days- would you drink out of it? If so do so. If it passes your taste/slime test you're good to go.
