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.

ABSTRACT. A spoilage problem affecting hung pheasants is described in which carcasses showed rapid greening and deterioration during hanging. No micro‐organisms were detected in samples of muscle tissue taken from abnormal carcasses but clostridia and often coli‐aerogenes bacteria were unusually abundant in the duodenum and in the remainder of the small intestine. The clostridia were mainly Clostridium bifermentans/sordellii or strains resembling Cl. welchii and these organisms outgrew all other bacteria in the duodenum under suitable hanging conditions. When grown at low temperatures strains of clostridia and Escherichia coli from pheasants produced large amounts of H2S which is concerned in the greening process. Some other properties of the clostridia are described and the significance of the spoilage problem is discussed.