Ag Info
Digestive Disorder
By Mikayla Baxter, Ph.D.
Base your flock’s diet on age, sex and intended use of your birds.
SHAHIN MAMMADOV/
STOCK.ADOBE.COM Health is defined as the absence of illness or injury. Things that effect our birds’ health include bacterial or viral infections, scraps and wounds, heat stress, nutritional imbalances, etc. The primary system within the body that works to maintain health is the immune system, although the digestive system, and microbes that live within it, play a key role.
A couple of physiological indicators show how important the digestive system is to our birds’ health. The first is the dynamic nature of the intestinal cells. The primary role of the digestive tract is to digest and absorb nutrients necessary to keep our birds alive and thriving. The secondary, yet still mandatory role, is for the intestinal cells to maintain a barrier so feed and other items ingested don’t enter the body and create illness.