Blackhead recovery

[kgrs2001]

Hi everyone! I recently lost all but one of my turkeys to blackhead disease. My last turkey, Meatball, started showing signs a week ago. I’m on day five of treatment which is metronidazole twice a day for five days. I also made him garlic/oregano infused water. He has made a huge improvement with this treatment plan. He went from being sickly to alert, energetic, talkative, and you wouldn’t know anything was ever wrong with him if it wasn’t for his occasional yellow poop. Sometimes his poop looks almost normal. With that being said, should I keep treating him until there’s no more yellow poop? Thank you!


Also, he’s by himself and the question of getting him a friend is constantly on our mind. Now that we’ve found a successful treatment process, would getting him another turkey be a good or bad idea?

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. @R2elk can you advise?

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC. So sorry for your losses. I've treated many for blackhead (histomonias), and when I do, I give them metronidazole, enrofloxacin, and fenbendazole. I think as long as you have all three medications, and you start treating the minute they look off, you can stay ahead of it.

So to answer your question, I'd say yes, but I would make sure I had metronidazole, enrofloxacin, and fenbendazole on hand.

 

[R2elk]

I also made him garlic/oregano infused water.

Stop the garlic immediately. Garlic is an allium. Alliums are known to be toxic to poultry.

 

[fat brown hen]

Stop the garlic immediately. Garlic is an allium. Alliums are known to be toxic to poultry.

I tried to track down the source for this claim, but could not find any studies that demonstrate toxicity. I did find this excerpt in Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook:

 

[R2elk]

I tried to track down the source for this claim, but could not find any studies that demonstrate toxicity. I did find this excerpt in Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook:
View attachment 4236669
View attachment 4236671

If you check any of the veterinary sites you will clearly find alliums listed as toxic to poultry.

Thrre are lots of statistically invalid studies by college students claiming garlic is helpful.

None of those studies were done for a long enough period of time or on a large enough quantity of poultry to be statistically valid.

Just because it is good for people does not mean it is good for poultry.

 

[fat brown hen]

If you check any of the veterinary sites you will clearly find alliums listed as toxic to poultry.

I have an inquisitive nature. I want to understand why alliums are listed as toxic, before taking the label at face value. Do you consider poultrydvm to be a veterinary site? https://poultrydvm.com/supplement/garlic

Thrre are lots of statistically invalid studies by college students claiming garlic is helpful.

Some of the claims do seem bogus, but they are apparently based on peer-reviewed research:

 

[Debbie292d]

I have an inquisitive nature. I want to understand why alliums are listed as toxic, before taking the label at face value. Do you consider poultrydvm to be a veterinary site? https://poultrydvm.com/supplement/garlic

View attachment 4236717

Some of the claims do seem bogus, but they are apparently based on peer-reviewed research:
View attachment 4236718

Garlic is only toxic, like other things are, when given in huge quantities. Like most everything, give it in moderation, then it's not, as you've found out. I also see some places say a couple times a week, so not a daily thing, perhaps.

I don't use it but that's probably because I boost their feed with 1/4 dose of rooster booster granules so I guarantee no vitamin deficiencies (silkies) and although I occassionally have an ill chicken, it's always kept to just one single chick/chicken out of sometimes 60 birds.

Here's another place it's listed as helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/top-50-herbs-for-your-chickens.77443/

Everyone has their own way of doing things and whilst I may not like someones, I won't argue about it, but just suggest a better way is all.

 

[R2elk]

Some of the claims do seem bogus, but they are apparently based on peer-reviewed research:

Their "peers" are other college students.

 

[R2elk]

https://chickendvm.com/poisonous/onion

"Allium spp
Garlic, Shallot, Leek

Onions (Allium spp) are toxic to poultry. If they are ingested in large enough quantities (more than 0.5% of the bird's body weight), onions can damage red blood cells and cause heinz body anemia."

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/toxicology/food-hazards/allium-spp-toxicosis-in-animals

"Allium spp include garlic, onions, chives, and leeks, although garlic and onions are the most commonly associated with toxicosis. Garlic is 3–5 times more toxic than onion."

0.5% of body weight is not very much. All of the studies that I reviewed used less than the known toxic level.

None of the studies I reviewed checked the birds for anemia which is the primary result from allium toxicity.