Black Face on Turkeys

[bshorts]

I have a pair of Royal Palm turkeys. They seem to be happy and healthy with the exception of one thing. They both have black lumps all over their faces. It started out as just a black discoloration, like they had been rubbing their faces in some dark soil, but has progressed to raised puffy lesions. The only thing I could find on the internet talked about blackhead, but these look nothing like the pictures I've seen on the internet and they have none of the other symptoms of blackhead.

 

[Pine Roost]

They have been fighting and those are the scabs forming over the wounds. I have a few that look just like that....and it is because they have been pecking each other in the head. I separated them for a while, and the scabs healed everything up just fine.

 

[ivan3]

Some shots of Dry Pox/Sparring injuries (in a useful thread about Blackhead) for comparison: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/134230/hope-this-saves-a-turkey-from-blackhead/80

If you could take some sharper shots and post up, it would be helpful (toms & hens affected?). How long has it been since you first noticed this/how quickly did it develop/any changes in droppings/activity level/appetite/unusually cold and damp (run/coop/shed), Any changes in behavior/feed/etc. around the time you first noticed this/any new poultry acquired, recently?
Probably sparring, but hens shouldn't be banged up to that degree.

 

[bshorts]

These are my first turkeys. One acts like male with the strutting around and he is much bigger though they are both the same age. The other is smaller and doesn't strut around so much. Neither one has any signs of spurs so I don't know if they are two hens or if one is male and just haven't developed spurs yet. They will be a year old this spring. It came about quickly. One day the was nothing and the next day they both had dark faces, but not big puffy scabs. I thought they were just rooting around in the dirt at first. It's been about a week since I first noticed and now you can see the scabs, if that's what they are, are bigger and puffier. There's been no change in activity, the droppings have not changed consistency or color and their appetite is the same as always. Also, there have been no new additions to the flock. The turkeys free range all the time and the chickens only free range a few hours of the day.

I'm not keeping the turkeys as they have become very aggressive toward my 3 year old grandson, but I don't want to give away a diseased bird to an unsuspecting person. Hopefully these pictures are a little more clear than the previous ones were. Thanks for the help.

 

[ivan3]

Thanks for posting the shots. Take a warm, very wet, washcloth and rub along black area of beak and up onto cheek. If it is dried blood, the beak should start to be exposed after a few passes of the cloth (and cloth should get a bit rust colored from blood if these are just from sparring). If the black material comes off like eye shadow (like damp, dust) and adheres to beak, it could be fungal/bacterial secondary to sparring.

Mix some plain neosporin up with a bit of miconazole (OTC antifungal) and apply lightly on affected areas. Separate the turks (one in a temp. run - one out - no opportunity for sparring). Give them a week or so and see if this doesn't start to clear up. The visible nare in the first shot seems to be too large (injury/infection) when you clean it up see if there is any damage to top portion of beak.

I

 

[bshorts]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, work has been crazy this week. You were absolutely right about the black spots being from fighting. I never knew that scabs could be so black.

Anyhow, they healed up nicely and are now with a new home that greatly appreciates them. Maybe I'll try turkeys again when my grandson is a bit bigger and not so afraid of aggressive birds.

Thanks for your help.

 

[ivan3]

Glad to hear it. Thanks, again, for posting the shots - will probably help some other member down the road.