Blackhead, turkeys and cayenne!!!

[1 true Phoenix]

Does anybody know if it's ok to use cayenne pepper for baby turkeys? I have two baby turks that are about 2 weeks old and their mama might have blackhead.

 

[Yuli]

Metronidazole can be purchased for much less if you know where to look.

-Kathy

**this is my personal experience with an outbreak of blackhead in my turkey flock. If your turkeys are showing signs and not eating, this method may not work for you and prescription medication may be warranted.

Also take care in reading labels and warnings if your turkeys are a meat stock or if you plan to sell the eggs, some medications are banned for human consumption of meat/eggs**

I have been raising large flocks of turkeys for two years. We also have 200+ chickens. Our turkeys got blackhead this spring and we lost two with 6 others very lethargic, yellow frothy poo, wings low to the ground and just plain sick looking. Blackhead does not necessarily turn their heads black. What it can do late in the disease is make breathing difficult which turns their heads a darker color due to lack of oxygen. Blackhead will destroy a turkey's liver, which is why the yellow frothy poo is a good indication of blackhead. We did a necropsy on one of the turkeys that died, we found the liver and our fears were confirmed with the bullseye sores shown on the liver (see pics on google or bing). With such a large flock (50 turkeys) I couldn't afford the medicinal treatments-- we're talking hundreds of dollars! I am a member of the American Pastured Poultry Producers and found multiple articles in the APPPA newsletters and by ATTRA. We needed something that was economical and natural. We don't use antibiotics in our flocks. Although this method has not been studied in documented research, pastured poultry producers have had great success with cayenne and we had to do something and quick. So we started socking the cayenne pepper to them immediately after reading the article. Turkeys and chickens cannot taste the hot of the pepper, so no worries there. Within two days of using the cayenne -- heavily applied to their feed, they all started acting more normal, and their poo started to turn back to brown, with a hint of black from the cayenne. We haven't lost a turkey since. When we butchered 20 of our turkeys two weeks ago, almost all of them had pock marks on their livers. But they were thriving! Most of them were over 20lbs each. What you have to remember is that blackhead stays in your soil for up to three years, treating them with fish zole, flagyl or other medicines will only treat that incident, it will come back. Adding ground cayenne, which we now buy by the 5 pound bucket, will keep your turkeys healthy -- but they may still carry or have the blackhead parasite. We feed the cayenne to the chickens and the turkeys daily. Cayenne will keep your eggs a nice orange color too! A bonus in the winter when snow covers our land for 6+ months and fresh grass and bugs are nonexistent! Cayenne has also been used to ward off cocci and other worms, but there are less articles using this method. All in all, if you want to keep turkeys with chickens, I suggest stocking up on cayenne. It has definitely worked for us and many other pastured poultry producers.

We listen to a live teleconference question and answer session offered monthly to paid members of APPPA and we asked about blackhead and cayenne. One of the producers that has flocks of 1,000 or more uses cayenne regularly. He told us to keep using it and we shouldn't lose anymore, although as stated, they may carry it.

I hope you find this article useful, it was a life (and money) saver for us and flocks.

How much c-pepper would you say you use in the feed? I think I may have possible blackhead issue. I lost 2 young turkeys to it. I noticed the yellow poop when it was too late. We have 2 more that have frothy dark green poop. Which I think my be developing into yellow. I separated the 2 but want to start everyone on the pepper ASAP.

 

[Yuli]

Metronidazole can be purchased for much less if you know where to look.

-Kathy

Do you kow much of the metronidazole would I have to use for a 3 month old turkey?

 

[casportpony]

Do you kow much of the metronidazole would I have to use for a 3 month old turkey?

How much does the turkey weigh?

 

[Molpet]

How much c-pepper would you say you use in the feed? I think I may have possible blackhead issue. I lost 2 young turkeys to it. I noticed the yellow poop when it was too late. We have 2 more that have frothy dark green poop. Which I think my be developing into yellow. I separated the 2 but want to start everyone on the pepper ASAP.

I use a heaping 1/4 cup to a gallon of feed.
I have never had black head but as far as I know it's not in my area.

 

[Yuli]

I use a heaping 1/4 cup to a gallon of feed.
I have never had black head but as far as I know it's not in my area.

Thanks, I've had adults turkeys before but never young turkeys. I hope I can save at least Thanksgiving (that's his name )

 

[Yuli]

How much does the turkey weigh?

Maybe 5lbs

 

[casportpony]

Maybe 5lbs

.
to the a safe and effective dose you need an accurate weight.

 

[Yuli]

.
to the a safe and effective dose you need an accurate weight.

Ok I'll bring the scale out with me tonight. Now I'll be forced to know my actually weight

 

[casportpony]

Ok I'll bring the scale out with me tonight. Now I'll be forced to know my actually weight

I feel you pain. I set my scale to kg, that way it's not as obvious how heavy I am.