I WAS interested to read the recent report by Barnett and others ( VR , October 22, 2011, vol 169, pp 449–450) describing hindlimb paresis in pheasant poults due to spinal aspergillosis. I investigated a similar outbreak in September 1993 where approximately 8 per cent of 250 poults aged 14 weeks old went off their legs over a period of four days. The birds were in outdoor pens and one week before the onset of clinical signs a layer of wheat straw had been spread on the ground because of heavy rainfall. Five birds were submitted for examination, four alive and one …