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While many horse owners enjoy the benefits of sharing their farm with chickens and other fowl, some bird species can cause serious health problems for horses.

“A multitude of potential diseases can be spread from birds to horses, although few are directly transmitted,” noted Laura Petroski, B.V.M.S, a veterinarian for Kentucky Equine Research.

Mosquito-borne diseases such as the Eastern, Western, and Venezuelan encephalomyelitis and West Nile virus serve as examples. With West Nile, birds act as reservoirs for the virus. Once a mosquito feeds on an infected bird and subsequently feeds on a horse, the horse will become infected.

Many horse owners cite sanitation as a primary concern. Bird droppings can cause problems in horses, including:

  • Botulism;
  • Salmonellosis;
  • Formation of blue-green algae in natural water sources;
  • Fungal infections such as candidiasis and histoplasmosis; and
  • More unusual conditions such as avian tuberculosis, streptococcal infections, and yersinosis, a bacterial disease.

“Completely avoiding comingling of horses and wild birds likely cannot be achieved, even with the use of commercial bird guards or bird deterrents,” Petroski said. “Because of this, consider alternate strategies to avoid the most important bird-related equine diseases.” This list provides a jumping-off point:

  • Clean water and feed buckets daily to remove bird droppings;
  • Monitor natural water sources for blue-green algae;
  • Remove dead birds from the fields and institute appropriate mosquito-control strategies;
  • Vaccinate horses against mosquito-borne diseases that can be spread from birds; and
  • Avoid fertilizing horse pastures with poultry litter. In addition to being unpalatable, horses are at an increased risk of salmonellosis.

That said, chickens could actually serve a purpose in horse pastures by spreading manure while seeking food. This behavior helps disperse infective internal parasite eggs, such as roundworms, to expose them to the sun and other environmental conditions that expedite death, protecting horses from ingesting infective eggs.

Finally, pigeons, which are not the cause of pigeon fever, also contribute to health problems in horses. Despite their recent use in trash-removal programs and traffic control, consider pigeons and their droppings as detrimental to horses as any other type of bird.

P.S. We’re not kidding about the pigeons and traffic control.

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