Help!

[DylanNall]

Hi!! So here is the picture of our turkey. We started the entire flock on Oxytetracycline on Wednesday and we don't know if that has helped. The turkey is the only signs with the swollen face. Our other duck, and chickens, and guinea fowl seem fine, but we have the entire flock the medicine just in case he spread whatever he had to them.

Is there anything else we can give the turkey for his face? Does anyone know what is wrong with him?

 

[Eggcessive]

With the swollen eyes, he could have mycoplasma or MG, a contagious respiratory disease. Oxytetracycline can treat it. I would only treat birds who were showing signs of sickness--nasal or eye drainage, sneezing, or wheezing. Make sure the sick turkey is drinking well. I'm not familiar with turkeys, so can you tell me if the things around the upper neck is normal?

 

[DylanNall]

Yea it is normal. I just asked my husband. I thought it looked weird too. But I guess it is normal. What about tylan 50? Is that something that could help? What can I do for MG, how long until he is normal

 

[Eggcessive]

Tylan 50 or 200, which is 4 times as strong, would be good for MG. Dosage of Tylan 50 can be given orally or as an injection, 0.2 ml per pound of weight twice daily for 5 days. The dosage is basically 10 mg per pound. Tylan 200 is 200mg per ml while Tylan 50 is 50 mg per pound if that helps. Do you have any idea how much the turkey weighs? You could get a rough idea is you weighed yourself holding the turkey, then subtracted your weight. A postal or kitchen scale might work. Here is a link about MG:

Mycoplasma gallisepticum

Synonyms: MG, chronic respiratory disease (CRD), infectious sinusitis, mycoplasmosis
Species affected: chickens, turkeys, pigeons, ducks, peafowl, and passerine birds.
Clinical signs: Clinical symptoms vary slightly between species. Infected adult chickens may show no outward signs if infection is uncomplicated. However, sticky, serous exudate from nostrils, foamy exudate in eyes, and swollen sinuses can occur, especially in broilers. The air sacs may become infected. Infected birds can develop respiratory rales and sneeze. Affected birds are often stunted and unthrifty (see Table 1).
There are two forms of this disease in the turkey. With the "upper form" the birds have watery eyes and nostrils, the infraorbitals (just below the eye) become swollen, and the exudate becomes caseous and firm. The birds have respiratory rales and show unthriftiness.
With the "lower form", infected turkeys develop airsacculitis. As with chickens, birds can show no outward signs if the infection is uncomplicated. Thus, the condition may go unnoticed until the birds are slaughtered and the typical legions are seen. Birds with airsacculitis are condemned.
MG in chicken embryos can cause dwarfing, airsacculitis, and death.
Transmission: MG can be spread to offspring through the egg. Most commercial breeding flocks, however, are MG-free. Introduction of infected replacement birds can introduce the disease to MG-negative flocks. MG can also be spread by using MG-contaminated equipment.
Treatment: Outbreaks of MG can be controlled with the use of antibiotics. Erythromycin, tylosin, spectinomycin, and lincomycin all exhibit anti-mycoplasma activity and have given good results. Administration of most of these antibiotics can be by feed, water or injection. These are effective in reducing clinical disease. However, birds remain carriers for life.
Prevention: Eradication is the best control of mycoplasma disease. The National Poultry Improvement Plan monitors all participating chicken and turkey breeder flocks.