Blackhead?

[psychoroo]

I went out to check on my turkeys the other day and one was on the roost with his head hanging toward the ground. I thought he was dead. When I got close he raised his head and the top of his head and back of his neck was black. He was lethargic and staying away from the rest of the flock. Now the black is literally peeling off (about an eighth of an inch thick) with new skin underneath. The lethargy is gone and he is hanging with the flock again. Any ideas?

 

[Ameraucanas]

When he had the thing on his neck, was he eating as much as the others?

 

[psychoroo]

He went through a day where it seemed like his appetite was off but it was only for a day. It almost looks like all the skin on the top and back of his head was burned.

 

[psychoroo]

Here are some pictures taken today. You can see that the rest is starting to peel off, almost like a scab.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's really weird, never seen nothing like that, maybe an injury, as long as it's looking okay let it just keep healing. Poor turkey.

 

[casportpony]

Here are some pictures taken today. You can see that the rest is starting to peel off, almost like a scab.

It's not blackhead. I wonder, could it be a sunburn?

-Kathy

 

[ivan3]

Spider or snakebite? Area of sloughing of tissue well demarcated.

 

[psychoroo]

It has completely healed now and his head is a lot smoother than it was. I also had a hen come down with the same thing and she died within 12 hours. I don't see any scarring or marking so I don't think it was a bite of some kind. Googling it has been useless. Could it be some kind of pox?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It's not pox, that is individual pox marks, it appears to be some sort of injury that I have never seen.

 

[ivan3]

It has completely healed now and his head is a lot smoother than it was. I also had a hen come down with the same thing and she died within 12 hours. I don't see any scarring or marking so I don't think it was a bite of some kind. Googling it has been useless. Could it be some kind of pox?

So then hen acted "puny" and fell over dead? Guess performing an immediate gross necroscopy (on the off chance of observing some obvious pathological change in appearance of organs/GI/reproductive tract) would have helped - if only to rule out something different that did in hen).

I don't know, but from the shots of the tom's head, I'd probably be using a high powered spot and a snake stick/rake to remove and clear any piles of leaves/other clutter/bedding/heavy weeds from the area(s) used by the turkeys. Also, if they spend time inside a structure - check for Black Widows.