An investigation of urolithiasis in two flocks of laying fowls

Abstract

Urolithiasis and kidney disease as causes of significant mortality in fowls were investigated in two flocks of commercial laying birds on farms where outbreaks had occurred previously. The investigation, covering the first 10–11 months of egg production, included macroscopic and histological examination of individual cases of the disease, biochemical studies on blood samples collected at regular intervals from marked birds and the analysis of feed samples taken at the same time. The aetiology and pathogenesis of the condition was not established and the various investigations carried out did not reveal any consistent features. The possibility of an association between infectious bronchitis virus and the pathological entity described in the paper is discussed. © 1980, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.