Examining bird faeces for presence of disease-associated bacteria, yeasts, other fungi, "Megabacteria", Coccidia, Trichomonads, Giardia, Cochlosoma, Roundworms, Capillaria, Gape worms, Gizzard worms, Spiruroid Worms, Acuaria, Tapeworms, Trematodes and more!
Have you spent many years "surfing through bird poops" using a microscope instead of goggle and snorkel? Your Gold Coast Bird Vet Specialist Dr Ross Perry has!
Here is a section of the the first part of the chapter on faecal microscopy in Dr Ross Perry's book "Caring for Birds with Love and Gratitude"
For vets and the great majority of people helping sick birds microscopy is an essential procedure in day to day practice. It is a huge topic that should start with the selection, care, maintenance and various uses of light microscopes. I advise dividends will be generated for many years in clinical practice by spending the extra dollars needed to buy a tri-ocular microscope with achromatic objective lens and high quality oil-immersion lens, mechanical stage and internal light source.
This article is written as an introduction to interpreting a few of the objects that are sometimes seen in wet and Gram stained smears of bird faeces, crop washes etc. It omits a major application, the examination of blood and tissue smears.
Why do you prefer to examine wet smears of bird crop and faecal specimens than dry smears?
My time is valuable and I can usually see a lot more detail when I examine wet smears with coverslip applied than when I examine dry smears.
What are important points when preparing wet smears?
As far as is possible standardise your techniques to that you become more familiar discerning abnormal from normal. You will see more detail by making thin watery smears than thick smears, similarly for Gram stained smears. Use coverslips. One coverslip can be applied over a thin faecal smear at the end of the slide and a second coverslip can be applied over a fresh crop wash sample between the first and where you hold the slide with thumb and finger. After these have been examined the coverslips can be slide off together with excess fluid so that the smears are of approximately equal thickness when dried with a hair dryer. More on this later.
How do you use a microscope for examining wet smears?
When using a microscope for examination of wet smears use a coverslip and start with the condenser dropped to maximum, the lowest magnification objective, and adjust the lighting to give maximum contrast. At this magnification look for undigested food particles and identify as many different aspects as you can, look for ingested synthetic and paper fibres, chips of plastic, hairs, insect lice and mite body parts, feather barbules, egg yolk fat globules, crystals, pollen grains, oocysts, nematode, trematode and cestode eggs, motile protozoa, megabacteria and branching fungal hyphae,
You can learn a lot more about this by getting Holistic Vet and Bird Specialist Dr Ross Perry's book "Caring for Birds with Love and Gratitude" and even more from his DVD on the subject. Click here!
Here is a section of the the first part of the chapter on faecal microscopy in Dr Ross Perry's book "Caring for Birds with Love and Gratitude"
For vets and the great majority of people helping sick birds microscopy is an essential procedure in day to day practice. It is a huge topic that should start with the selection, care, maintenance and various uses of light microscopes. I advise dividends will be generated for many years in clinical practice by spending the extra dollars needed to buy a tri-ocular microscope with achromatic objective lens and high quality oil-immersion lens, mechanical stage and internal light source.
This article is written as an introduction to interpreting a few of the objects that are sometimes seen in wet and Gram stained smears of bird faeces, crop washes etc. It omits a major application, the examination of blood and tissue smears.
Why do you prefer to examine wet smears of bird crop and faecal specimens than dry smears?
My time is valuable and I can usually see a lot more detail when I examine wet smears with coverslip applied than when I examine dry smears.
What are important points when preparing wet smears?
As far as is possible standardise your techniques to that you become more familiar discerning abnormal from normal. You will see more detail by making thin watery smears than thick smears, similarly for Gram stained smears. Use coverslips. One coverslip can be applied over a thin faecal smear at the end of the slide and a second coverslip can be applied over a fresh crop wash sample between the first and where you hold the slide with thumb and finger. After these have been examined the coverslips can be slide off together with excess fluid so that the smears are of approximately equal thickness when dried with a hair dryer. More on this later.
How do you use a microscope for examining wet smears?
When using a microscope for examination of wet smears use a coverslip and start with the condenser dropped to maximum, the lowest magnification objective, and adjust the lighting to give maximum contrast. At this magnification look for undigested food particles and identify as many different aspects as you can, look for ingested synthetic and paper fibres, chips of plastic, hairs, insect lice and mite body parts, feather barbules, egg yolk fat globules, crystals, pollen grains, oocysts, nematode, trematode and cestode eggs, motile protozoa, megabacteria and branching fungal hyphae,
You can learn a lot more about this by getting Holistic Vet and Bird Specialist Dr Ross Perry's book "Caring for Birds with Love and Gratitude" and even more from his DVD on the subject. Click here!
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If you are worried about your bird being sick, ring Gold Coast Bird Vet Specialist Dr Ross Perry for your appointment now. To make appointment please ring 0419693279. Similarly long distance phone or Skype (DoctorRossPerry) or iChat (DoctorRossPerry) consultations.
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