Salgen Vaccine – The Smart Way to Control Salmonella/Paratyphoid in Pigeons

Salmonella (also known as Paratyphoid) remains one of the most damaging and persistent diseases affecting racing and breeding pigeons worldwide. Despite modern hygiene, nutrition, and loft management, the disease continues to surface year after year – often when fanciers least expect it.

Veterinary field experience and laboratory data consistently show that over 40% of pigeons are natural carriers of Salmonella, frequently without obvious symptoms. These healthy‑looking birds are the silent source of repeated infections within lofts.

Because Salmonella cannot realistically be removed from the pigeon environment, long‑term control depends on vaccination – not just treatment.

Extreme care should be taken when introducing new birds into your loft, as Salmonella is highly contagious and can have a devastating impact on the health and performance of your birds. It is a naturally occurring disease, and studies show that up to 40% of birds can be carriers without showing obvious symptoms.

How Salmonella Affects Pigeons

Salmonella is a bacterial infection that primarily targets the digestive system but can spread to the liver, joints, reproductive organs, and bloodstream.

It is often triggered by:

• Racing stress

• Breeding pressure

• Transport

• Moulting

• Overcrowding

• Poor immunity

Once active, it spreads rapidly through droppings, contaminated drinkers, feeders, baskets, and direct contact between birds.

Droppings – The First Visible Warning Sign

One of the earliest and most reliable indicators of Salmonella infection is a change in droppings.

Healthy pigeon droppings should be:

• Firm

• Well‑formed

• Brown with a white urate cap

When Salmonella becomes active, droppings often change colour and consistency:

Typical Salmonella Dropping Colours

🟢 Green droppings

• Very common

• Indicates liver involvement and systemic infection

🟡 Yellow‑green or mustard coloured droppings

• Suggests bile disturbance and intestinal inflammation

💧 Watery droppings

• Sign of gut infection and dehydration

🟤 Pale brown or foamy droppings

• Poor digestion and bacterial imbalance

⚪ Excess white urates

• Kidney stress and toxin involvement

These changes are often accompanied by:

• Weight loss

• Ruffled feathers

• Reduced appetite

• Wing or joint swelling ("boils")

• Poor breeding results

• Dead‑in‑shell eggs

• Young bird mortality

• Decline in racing performance

Importantly, many carrier birds may show no visible signs at all, while still infecting the rest of the loft.

Why Antibiotics Alone Are Not Enough

Antibiotics can be useful during acute outbreaks, but they do not solve the problem long‑term:

• They may suppress symptoms temporarily

• They do not prevent reinfection

• They do not stop carrier birds from spreading bacteria later

• Repeated use increases resistance

Many lofts fall into a cycle of:

Outbreak → Antibiotics → Temporary improvement → New outbreak

This cycle only ends with proper vaccination.

What Is Salgen Live Vaccine?

Salgen is a live attenuated (weakened) Salmonella vaccine developed specifically for pigeons.

It contains a real Salmonella strain that has been carefully weakened in the laboratory so that:

• It cannot cause disease

• It cannot invade organs normally

• It cannot multiply aggressively

• But it still trains the immune system exactly as a natural infection would

This creates strong and long‑lasting protection in both:

• The bloodstream (systemic immunity)

• The digestive tract (intestinal immunity – where Salmonella lives)

Key Benefits of Salgen Live Vaccine

• Strong, broad immune response

• Major reduction in bacterial shedding in droppings

• Lower infection pressure in the loft

• Protection against clinical disease

• Control of silent carrier birds

• Improved breeding success

• Improved race performance

• Long‑lasting protection with booster programs

Is a Live Vaccine Safe?

Yes – when used correctly.

Salgen is produced by:

1. Selecting a pigeon‑specific Salmonella strain

2. Weakening it through attenuation

3. Freeze‑drying it under sterile conditions

4. Storing and transporting under cold‑chain control

Vaccinated birds may shed tiny amounts of the weakened strain for a few days, but:

• It is non‑virulent

• It cannot cause outbreaks

• It does not create carriers

• It is rapidly cleared by the immune system

In commercial poultry farming, similar live Salmonella vaccines have been used for decades, routinely vaccinating flocks of 25,000 chicks or more with outstanding safety and disease-control success.

These large-scale vaccination programs have been in place for many years and have proven hugely successful. Without live vaccination, Salmonella outbreaks in poultry production would be widespread, persistent, and extremely difficult to control.

25,000 chicks or more with outstanding safety and disease‑control success. Without these programs, Salmonella outbreaks would be widespread and economically devastating.

The same science applies to pigeons.

Safe Use Guidelines

To ensure maximum safety and effectiveness:

• Vaccinate only healthy birds

• Do not vaccinate during antibiotic treatment

• Wait at least 10 days after finishing antibiotics

• Avoid vaccinating sick, stressed, or very young birds

• Maintain normal loft hygiene

The Professional Veterinary View

Senior veterinary and medical advisers with decades of experience in:

• Immunology

• Microbiology

• Virology

• Pathology

• Poultry and avian medicine

consistently agree that vaccination is the cornerstone of Salmonella control.

Treatment manages outbreaks.

Vaccination prevents the next one.

Final Thoughts

If you regularly see:

• Green droppings

• Yellow or watery droppings

• Poor condition

• Joint problems

• Breeding failures

• Or unexplained performance drops

Salmonella should be high on your list of suspects.

Testing confirms the problem.

Treatment controls the immediate damage.

But only vaccination – especially with a proven live vaccine like Salgen – delivers lasting protection for your birds and your loft.

With over 40% of pigeons naturally carrying Salmonella, vaccination is no longer optional.

It is simply part of responsible, modern pigeon management.