BB White Turkey Stopped Eating

[beaglemaster]

I have a female BB Turkey that has stopped eating and I'm currently at my wits end on what to do. I do not feel any blockage in her crop. She was recently dewormed with the SafeGuard goat dewormer. She does not have sour crop. She drinks a lot of water, so much so that it collects in her crop and makes her crop extended. Everyday I tip her upside down to get rid of the excess water. She is able to pass water through her system. I have pulverized some feed but she is not interested in it. I have given here olive oil and doculax to help her incase there is a blockage further down. I have not tried to force feed her because I'm afraid that there may be a blockage further down due to the daily build up of water in her crop.

Any help/ideas would be very appreciative.

 

[Kiki]

First stop tipping her upside down...that alone can kill her.

 

[Kiki]

How much Safe-guard did you give her and how recently did you give it?

 

[KhandiKane]

I have the same situation, anything further on your hen?

 

[beaglemaster]

I have the same situation, anything further on your hen?

First, in regards to removing the water from her crop, I felt I had to because each time she brought her head down to the ground, water would come out of her mouth. I felt that it was the lesser of two evils. She was either going to drown by laying down and pushing water into her throat or I could try and help her.

Second, since she was so weak, I started to give her electrolyte solution and that did perk her up. In addition, I added apple cider vinegar to the water to hopefully take care of sour crop. After more than a week, if it was sour crop, apple cider vinegar in the water did not work.

I have another turkey that started to show the same signs. I asked my vet if I could bring in a stool sample to see if there was any infection. He stated that he would not analyze the stool without a physical. I made an appointment but was able to cancel because she is getting better.

Since she was not eating but passing water (not a blockage), I would withhold the water supply from her during the night so that the water in the crop would empty some so that I could give her some food in the morning with a syringe and tubing down the throat to her crop.

My other turkey was starting to show the same signs, so I decided that it was an infection. I gave both turkeys 500 mg of amoxicillin trihydrate (dosage was found on http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/amoxicillin) for 5 days. In addition, when I would feed her with the syringe and tubing, I would mix the 1/3 cup pulverized feed with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and the rest with the electrolyte solutions and some mineral oil.

I finished the amoxicillin on 5 November and on 6 November she started eating again and her stool is looking a lot better. Both turkeys are receiving probiotics in the drinking water to assist getting the gut back in good form since being on the amoxicillin.

I'm not saying she is cured, but she is better and I will keep a close watch on her. My other turkey is back to normal.

So was it the high concentration of ACV in the 1/3 cup of feed to knock out a bad case of sour crop or was it an intestinal infection and the amoxicillin was able to correct the infection? I still don't think it was sour crop because I never got a smell from her or from the water that was removed.

 

[beaglemaster]

Just to clarify why I think it was an intestinal infection, both turkeys were showing the same signs. I was only feeding the first turkey with the syringe and the ACV. Both turkeys got the amoxicillin and both turkeys are doing good.

The problem was going on for about a month and I am happy that I may see the end to this problem.

I hope you can find a solution that works for your turkey.

 

[KhandiKane]

First, in regards to removing the water from her crop, I felt I had to because each time she brought her head down to the ground, water would come out of her mouth. I felt that it was the lesser of two evils. She was either going to drown by laying down and pushing water into her throat or I could try and help her.

Second, since she was so weak, I started to give her electrolyte solution and that did perk her up. In addition, I added apple cider vinegar to the water to hopefully take care of sour crop. After more than a week, if it was sour crop, apple cider vinegar in the water did not work.

I have another turkey that started to show the same signs. I asked my vet if I could bring in a stool sample to see if there was any infection. He stated that he would not analyze the stool without a physical. I made an appointment but was able to cancel because she is getting better.

Since she was not eating but passing water (not a blockage), I would withhold the water supply from her during the night so that the water in the crop would empty some so that I could give her some food in the morning with a syringe and tubing down the throat to her crop.

My other turkey was starting to show the same signs, so I decided that it was an infection. I gave both turkeys 500 mg of amoxicillin trihydrate (dosage was found on http://www.poultrydvm.com/drugs/amoxicillin) for 5 days. In addition, when I would feed her with the syringe and tubing, I would mix the 1/3 cup pulverized feed with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and the rest with the electrolyte solutions and some mineral oil.

I finished the amoxicillin on 5 November and on 6 November she started eating again and her stool is looking a lot better. Both turkeys are receiving probiotics in the drinking water to assist getting the gut back in good form since being on the amoxicillin.

I'm not saying she is cured, but she is better and I will keep a close watch on her. My other turkey is back to normal.

So was it the high concentration of ACV in the 1/3 cup of feed to knock out a bad case of sour crop or was it an intestinal infection and the amoxicillin was able to correct the infection? I still don't think it was sour crop because I never got a smell from her or from the water that was removed.

I am so glad to hear she seems better. After a lot of searching and reading whatever I could, I decided to give her the dewormer that goes on the skin in between the wings. Now she is eating normally, and her poops are normal. Thank you for sharing your experiences, it is much appreciated.