Esophageal trichomoniasis in chickens.

Esophageal trichomoniasis has been rarely reported in chickens. At the California Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System-Turlock Branch, this disease was recently diagnosed in two cases submitted from backyard chicken flocks. The esophageal lesions observed were similar to those seen in several other important diseases of chickens. The causative trichomonad organisms were readily demonstrated on wet smears and by histologic studies. In both cases, the investigated flocks were afflicted with several concurrent diseases. California has experienced an increase in the number of small nontraditional chicken production operations. These facilities are sometimes in close proximity to commercial poultry operations and biosecurity barriers occasionally fail. The poor husbandry practices often used in these small flocks make them a potential reservoir for rare diseases such as trichomoniasis and also for disease organisms that are devastating to commercial poultry.