“Wing Rap” by Dr.Teresa Morishita
Question: What is the crop? I heard that there can be fungus that cause
diseases in the crop.
Answer: The crop, shown in this picture with arrows is an outpocketing
of the esophagus. Its main function is food storage. Not all birds have
a crop. Grain-eating (granivorous) birds, like chickens and turkeys,
have a crop.
Two main diseases associated with the crop are capillariasis and crop
mycosis. Capillariasis, caused by the worm Capillaria can invade the
mucosa (inner surface) of the crop to cause a roughened surface.
Crop mycosis is caused by the fungus Candida albicans. Candida allbicans
can invade the mucosal layer of the crop and can cause a roughened crop
surface to develop. Candida albicans can occur in birds that have been
treated with antibiotics for a prolonged period of time, have on-going
diseases, are immunosuppressed, or are living under poor management
conditions.
Candida allbicans is normally present in low numbers in the crop but can
proliferate and cause disease if one of the above conditions occur.
Teresa Y. Morishita, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACPV is a Professor and Extension
Poultry Veterinarian in the Department of Veterinary Preventive
Medicine. She is a board-certified poultry veterinarian and is also the
Director of the Avian Disease Investigation Laboratory at The Ohio State
University. She welcomes your questions and invites you to contact her
at the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State
University, 1920 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210 or contact her through
this website at www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/poultry/
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