Numb Fowl Disease

"Chicken are usually dumb", said Kara, laughing, "but these ones are exceptional."
I looked around the backyard: a bunch of chickens were walking around , clearly not aware of their surroundings. Some of them were eating their own feathers. I had seen things much worst before that, but that case intrigued me.
"They come back to normal after some days," she continued, "but it's always a mess when it happens. Could you help us, doctor?"

— Reports about Animal Diseases, vol. 2, chapter 5.

The Lombish disease, commonly known as Numb Fowl disease, is a temporary neurological condition that only affects fowl. It occurs more commonly in temperate areas, where the population of redcap mushrooms is big.

Transmission & Vectors

The Lombish disease is caused by spores that are carried by the air and enter the respiratory system of the bird.

Causes

Specifically, the spores are released by a mutation of the common redcap mushroom. This variation was discovered by Dolon Lombish and are carry its name. Lombish redcaps seem to randomly appear between regular redcaps, in a proportion of 1 to 12,000.
After entering the bird's organism, the spore migrates to the neural system and multiplies, affecting the bird behavior.

Symptoms

The affected fowl will have a change in behavior, entering a state of numbness and complete alienation about their surroundings. That causes many of the individuals to stop eating, drinking water and taking care of their offspring, and the animals also turn very prone to accidents, specially in places with large water bodies.
Many times, the chickens try to eat their own feathers, what may hurt the animal's skin and expose it to more serious infections.

Treatment

The disease is temporary, usually taking from two to three weeks to disappear. There are no known ways to accelerate the cure.
The main actions to be taken are putting the animal in a safe place, where there will be no accidents and assure that the animal will eat and drink water, preventing its dehydration and sub nourishment. It's also important to verify the bruises caused by feather-eating and treat them when necessary.

Prevention

The only way to mitigate the occurrence of the Lombish disease is by removing the Lombish redcaps from nearby areas. Since they are hard to be found, usually every redcap is removed.

Cultural Reception

Lombish disease is specially hated by poultry farmers, since the chicken may get injured or even dead. It also is a big problem for little chicks, more vulnerable to malnutrition and injuries.
In some places of the Central Kingdoms, there are specialized services of redcap hunt and removal.

Type

Neurological

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare