Puffed up slightly lethargic turkey poult.

My turkey poult was just fine yesterday, but when I went to check on him and the chicks he's growing up with (he was a packing peanut), I noticed he was puffed up and walking around slowly/lethargically. He's about 7 weeks old now and has been eating non-medicated chick starter, since I can't feed him separately from the chicks. His crop is full right now but doesn't seem impacted. I'm giving him electrolyte water right now, as that is all I have, and I have him in the house, away from everyone else. He's walking around more, but that could be because he's trying to find his buddies.

And he just pooped, so his poop is a dark brown and really watery. I'll add a pic of that in a minute, since this cell phone only adds one pic at a time to posts.

None of the chicks have any symptoms. He seems very interested in drinking the electrolyte water when he remembers it's there, and it has been pretty hot here (him and the chicks are separated off inside the coop, where it's cooler and in the shade), so I'm hoping he's just a little dehydrated, since I can fix that.

Coccidiosis or necrotis enteritis are two diseases that can affect young turkeys. Are his poops always that dark? Coccidiosis is treated best with Corid (amprollium). Symptoms are standing puffed up (just like he is doing,) diarrhea, poor appetite, and lethargy. Dosage is 1.5 tsp of the powder or 2 tsp of the liquid for 5-7 days. Turkeys and chickens get different strains so, it would not be contagious to the chickens. Enteritis is another intestinal infection that is treated with antibiotics such as Aureomycin, Penicillin, Gallimycin, Bacitracin and others. The links I read said to treat cocccidiosis first if suspecting enteritis.

His poops are not always that dark, just today. And he does not have a poor appetite. He wants to eat more food, but his crop is completely full, so I have it out of his reach for the moment. He seems to have perked up a bit, is it possible it is just dehydration?

Meds are not available anywhere near here, closest place that might have anything is a 2+ hour drive, and I have no vehicle, so I would have to find someone already going. I can order online, but they wouldn't get here until next week.

Any neighbors with cattle might have some Corid, Di-Methox, or Sulmet, if that is a possibility. If he starts to get lethargic or not eat, or you see blood in his poop, I would get the meds. With cocci, the symptoms can worsen over a few days. Buttermilk or a little plain yogurt will coat the intestines to slow down the disease. I hope it is just dehydration as well.

There are plenty of people with cattle here. It would just be a matter of getting ahold of them.

Is it possible he's not getting enough food or enough nutrition from the chick starter? I'm wondering because of his fixation on the food I provided him a little bit ago, even though his crop is full. He's in with 10 banties and 3 standard chicks, and they've been eating from a trough (just got another hanging feeder and switched to that, which was when I noticed him not looking good). Perhaps the other chicks didn't let him eat as much? They've only been outside for a week and a half, so I haven't been able to see if he's been eating enough.

He doesn't feel skinny/boney, but he's not filled out, either.

That dark runny poop looks like cecal poop that might have a little blood in it. Coccidiosis is always a concern, but with a poult, so is blackhead.

The yellow water in the picture, is that what he's drinking? If so, it looks way too yellow to me, like it has too much of the electrolyte powder in it.

Next time he poops like that, place it on a white paper towel. If there is blood in you will be able to tell after letting it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Do you have any human or dog, horse, cat drugs on hand? If so, which ones?

-Kathy

It's actually orange electrolyte powder, and it's a lot less orange in person. I diluted it more after the pic, too. I was setting up the kitchen for him at the time.

I actually don't have any paper towels, but I have some white rags I can use.

My animals don't get sick often (very rarely) so I only have cat dewormer at the moment. Any human meds we might have are long since expired and I would have no idea where to look for them, other than my prescription pain meds and muscle relaxers.

Are there any large or small animal vets in your area? Either one could look at the poop microscopically and set you up with the proper drugs. Won't be cheap, 'cause you'd have to pay for the call fee or office visit and the scope work, but it is a way to get the drugs you need.

If you have friends with horses, call them and ask if the have any SMZ/TMP around, that would treat both coccidiosis and many bacteria. For blackhead you need metronidazole, which is something many pigeon breeders would have.

-Kathy

Closest vet is 20 miles away, and I don't think they're open on the weekends. As far as I know they don't treat fowl either.

How do I tell if there's blood in his poop after leaving it sitting? Or how do I tell if he has blackhead? The wireless isn't working very well right now, so I can't use the computer to look anything up, but I will try to use this phone.

I also can't upload any more pics from this phone for some reason, but a couple of his poops are just water with some white cap and a couple slightly dark solid pieces.

I don't know too many of the people with horses around here, but most of them don't treat their horses themselves, they call the vet, so I'm not sure they would have any meds.

I'll see what I can do about asking around for the meds though.