Any turkey owners who have experienced blackhead?

[Nckyturkma]

Hello! Any turkey owners out there that have dealt with blackhead? I am wondering if I could ask you about your experience. My main question is this: I have heard it mostly said that turkeys can easily get reinfected with blackhead even once they had it since they will continue coming into contact with the protozoa/cecal worm, then others have told me that once you treat with metronidazole the turkey will often not get blackhead again. I am so confused! My turkey got sick last week and was treated for blackhead and recovered (given safeguard, metronidazole, and Baytril). She is still quarantined inside while we clean out/sterilize the coop and worm the chickens. If I put her back outside will she just get sick again from our chickens? Is regular deworming the key?

Lastly, for those that treated for this disease and had recovery, how long did their poop take to get fully normal? Our turkey only had yellow poop the first day, but she had green diarrhea all week that got better each day. Now, two days after finishing treatment it is mostly normal (most solid and light sandy brown), but she still has greenish watery poops (assuming they are cecal poops- which is where blackhead attacks). I just hope it fully resolves soon. Would love to know your experience. Thank you!

 

[DotToDot]

I know next to nothing about turkeys, so all I can do is say good luck, and reply to to this thread so others can see it. I really hope your bird gets better.

 

[Nckyturkma]

I know next to nothing about turkeys, so all I can do is say good luck, and reply to to this thread so others can see it. I really hope your bird gets better.

Thank you so much! I appreciate that

 

[kfelton0002]

I am currently dealing with blackhead off and on in my juvenile turkeys. I am medicating a 12 week old jake now again for the second time, about 3 weeks apart or so. I'm assuming he didn't have it bad the first time as he never stopped eating and didn't build up much of a resistance. He is my biggest turkey approximately 10 pounds and was fine on Monday, good appetite and appeared normal. Tuesday he was withdrawn and droopy, with very watery droppings (no sulfur colored droppings on tuesday), and did not eat. I just know the signs and I knew it was blackhead again. I started him on metronidazole Tuesday and he was marginally better yesterday but still off his feed and weak/droopy acting with sulfur colored droppings. His sister stays by his side and comforts him, they are very close. Considering he was still alive yesterday gives him a better prognosis for survival.

Deworming every 3 months is what has been recommended to me to keep cecal worms in check but that alone wont prevent blackhead if it is in the soil of your property. Cayenne pepper mixed in their feed has been said to help prevent blackhead. However it didn't not work for me mixed in their water at a concentration of 3-4 tsp per gallon. I've been told it may work better mixed in their feed as cayenne pepper powder is not water soluble.

I have friends that have had turkeys that have gotten blackhead once and never got it again, some of the birds that was penned with the birds never got it and developed a resistance to it on their own. Some birds are naturally more robust to it than others. Keep meds on hand and treat as symptoms develop. That is what I'm going to do and just deal with it as it comes.

 

[Nckyturkma]

I am currently dealing with blackhead off and on in my juvenile turkeys. I am medicating a 12 week old jake now again for the second time, about 3 weeks apart or so. I'm assuming he didn't have it bad the first time as he never stopped eating and didn't build up much of a resistance. He is my biggest turkey approximately 10 pounds and was fine on Monday, good appetite and appeared normal. Tuesday he was withdrawn and droopy, with very watery droppings (no sulfur colored droppings on tuesday), and did not eat. I just know the signs and I knew it was blackhead again. I started him on metronidazole Tuesday and he was marginally better yesterday but still off his feed and weak/droopy acting with sulfur colored droppings. His sister stays by his side and comforts him, they are very close. Considering he was still alive yesterday gives him a better prognosis for survival.

Deworming every 3 months is what has been recommended to me to keep cecal worms in check but that alone wont prevent blackhead if it is in the soil of your property. Cayenne pepper mixed in their feed has been said to help prevent blackhead. However it didn't not work for me mixed in their water at a concentration of 3-4 tsp per gallon. I've been told it may work better mixed in their feed as cayenne pepper powder is not water soluble.

I have friends that have had turkeys that have gotten blackhead once and never got it again, some of the birds that was penned with the birds never got it and developed a resistance to it on their own. Some birds are naturally more robust to it than others. Keep meds on hand and treat as symptoms develop. That is what I'm going to do and just deal with it as it comes.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me! I hope your jake gets well soon. I have an avian vet that is in my area and she told me she never heard of them getting blackhead more than once, but I don't see how that could be true given the nature of it. I can't believe what a bummer blackhead is. I only have the one turkey. She is back outside and has been healthy. Every day when I feed her I thank my stars when she is ravenous and happy to see me. I just worry about her all the time. It has only been two weeks since she went back outside. I have all the meds on standby, but it causes me so much stress always worrying about her. I have grown very attached to her. Right now I am worrying about her foot. She seems to have sprained it. It's not bumblefoot, just swollen on the top of the foot and between toes. This happened when she was younger and it healed on it's own. She limps but seems okay. I just worry about her since she is a bbb and weighs 17 lbs! I put arnica on it daily. I haven't been able to soak it in warm water and epsoms because I am worried she will slip in the kiddy pool and make it worse. She flies around sometimes and is so clumsy, I feel like she constantly reinjures it. Thank-you again for the info and may your turkeys be healthy!

 

[kfelton0002]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me! I hope your jake gets well soon. I have an avian vet that is in my area and she told me she never heard of them getting blackhead more than once, but I don't see how that could be true given the nature of it. I can't believe what a bummer blackhead is. I only have the one turkey. She is back outside and has been healthy. Every day when I feed her I thank my stars when she is ravenous and happy to see me. I just worry about her all the time. It has only been two weeks since she went back outside. I have all the meds on standby, but it causes me so much stress always worrying about her. I have grown very attached to her. Right now I am worrying about her foot. She seems to have sprained it. It's not bumblefoot, just swollen on the top of the foot and between toes. This happened when she was younger and it healed on it's own. She limps but seems okay. I just worry about her since she is a bbb and weighs 17 lbs! I put arnica on it daily. I haven't been able to soak it in warm water and epsoms because I am worried she will slip in the kiddy pool and make it worse. She flies around sometimes and is so clumsy, I feel like she constantly reinjures it. Thank-you again for the info and may your turkeys be healthy!

Thank you! And you're welcome! My jake seems on the mend. He is on day 3 of medicine and he ate a few pellets today and is grazing with the others.

BBB are prone to joint and feet issues due to their size. Keep her on a limited feed ration, lower protein like 12% or so and don't free feed. Free range or encourage as much activity as possible. Their massive bodies outgrow their skeletal system otherwise and they can become lame. Their lifespan is shorter than a heritage turkey but with appropriate care and putting her on a "diet" she can have good quality of life.

Best of luck to you with your turkeys. I will update back on my original post about blackhead periodically as my turkeys mature. I'm hoping most of the ones that have already had blackhead won't get it again. And I have begun supplementing their diet with cayenne. I have a 5 pound container of the stuff, what can it hurt? Hopefully it helps!

 

[Nckyturkma]

Thank you! And you're welcome! My jake seems on the mend. He is on day 3 of medicine and he ate a few pellets today and is grazing with the others.

BBB are prone to joint and feet issues due to their size. Keep her on a limited feed ration, lower protein like 12% or so and don't free feed. Free range or encourage as much activity as possible. Their massive bodies outgrow their skeletal system otherwise and they can become lame. Their lifespan is shorter than a heritage turkey but with appropriate care and putting her on a "diet" she can have good quality of life.

Best of luck to you with your turkeys. I will update back on my original post about blackhead periodically as my turkeys mature. I'm hoping most of the ones that have already had blackhead won't get it again. And I have begun supplementing their diet with cayenne. I have a 5 pound container of the stuff, what can it hurt? Hopefully it helps!

Glad to hear he is on the mend! Literally yesterday, my bbb started acting off. The first sign was being uninterested in food. Then I noticed the diarrhea. I immediately began treatment last night. She is not as bad as last time, she still has energy, but she still this morning is not interested in food, even grapes, which she loves. I feel so bad. I don't want her to just keep getting sick. I had been putting paprika in her food, but not every day. I am just so sad that blackhead is such a prevalent and terrible thing. I spend hours with the birds every day, monitoring their feeding, behavior, and their poops. I feel like if I ever went out of town, which we never do anymore, I could easily miss subtle signs and it would be too late. I guess this is the issue with being so attached to your birds, but I don't know any other way.

Do you know how often you can safely administer metronidazole and baytril? I just treated her initially 2 or 3 weeks ago.

 

[kfelton0002]

Glad to hear he is on the mend! Literally yesterday, my bbb started acting off. The first sign was being uninterested in food. Then I noticed the diarrhea. I immediately began treatment last night. She is not as bad as last time, she still has energy, but she still this morning is not interested in food, even grapes, which she loves. I feel so bad. I don't want her to just keep getting sick. I had been putting paprika in her food, but not every day. I am just so sad that blackhead is such a prevalent and terrible thing. I spend hours with the birds every day, monitoring their feeding, behavior, and their poops. I feel like if I ever went out of town, which we never do anymore, I could easily miss subtle signs and it would be too late. I guess this is the issue with being so attached to your birds, but I don't know any other way.

Do you know how often you can safely administer metronidazole and baytril? I just treated her initially 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Metronidazole has a large margin of safety and I literally gave some of mine Flagyl for 3 weeks straight because after I got them through the initial illness I kept them on a lower maintainence dose in their water because they were still young and I wanted them to have time to build up a good strong immunity to it, which all but one of them appeared to do. If you don't medicate her the blackhead will ravage her liver and digestive system and she will die. Give her Flagyl for 5 days, coupled with baytril. Based on her weight of 17 pounds she needs 386mg of flagyl daily. To make dosing easier you can split a 500mg tab into 2 pieces (2 250mg pieces.) Then split one 250mg piece into 2 (2 125mg pieces). Then administer 1 250mg piece and a 125mg piece to equal 375mg which is close enough. I find it easier to administer to bigger birds this way instead of liquefied in a syringe. I just put the tablet in their throat away from their airway and push it down.

 

[Nckyturkma]

Metronidazole has a large margin of safety and I literally gave some of mine Flagyl for 3 weeks straight because after I got them through the initial illness I kept them on a lower maintainence dose in their water because they were still young and I wanted them to have time to build up a good strong immunity to it, which all but one of them appeared to do. If you don't medicate her the blackhead will ravage her liver and digestive system and she will die. Give her Flagyl for 5 days, coupled with baytril. Based on her weight of 17 pounds she needs 386mg of flagyl daily. To make dosing easier you can split a 500mg tab into 2 pieces (2 250mg pieces.) Then split one 250mg piece into 2 (2 125mg pieces). Then administer 1 250mg piece and a 125mg piece to equal 375mg which is close enough. I find it easier to administer to bigger birds this way instead of liquefied in a syringe. I just put the tablet in their throat away from their airway and push it down.

Ok good to know. During initial treatment 2 weeks ago when she got sick the first time, I treated with Metronidazole for 5 days ( i have the 20% powder so i used 1/2 tsp or about 380 mg once a day) and baytril for 5 days (1.06 ml twice a day). I also gave her corrid for 3 days (1 cc direct dose twice a day) because I didn't know 100% what it was (but she had all the symptoms of blackhead) and I wormed her with Safeguard, along with the chickens. This time, I am just treating with Metronidazole and Baytril (same dose) for 5 days. What maintenance dose did you use ? Thank you so much. I don't want to just keep having her get sick. I love her more than my chickens, but I do regret bringing her home.

 

[kfelton0002]

Ok good to know. During initial treatment 2 weeks ago when she got sick the first time, I treated with Metronidazole for 5 days ( i have the 20% powder so i used 1/2 tsp or about 380 mg once a day) and baytril for 5 days (1.06 ml twice a day). I also gave her corrid for 3 days (1 cc direct dose twice a day) because I didn't know 100% what it was (but she had all the symptoms of blackhead) and I wormed her with Safeguard, along with the chickens. This time, I am just treating with Metronidazole and Baytril (same dose) for 5 days. What maintenance dose did you use ? Thank you so much. I don't want to just keep having her get sick. I love her more than my chickens, but I do regret bringing her home.

I used a maintainence dose because my birds were still under 3 months and that is when they are most vulnerable to blackhead. For the maintenance dose after the ill birds competed their full treatment, I used a 250mg tablet crushed in a gallon of water and it worked very well. All are doing great and the only one to get sick again was my Narragansett jake but after this second round of treatment he is doing so much better. I am hopeful after thus he has immunity to it and I don't have to worry about him anymore. He is my son's favorite. His name is Ruger.