Several months ago my pen-raised wild turkey came down with the dreaded blackhead back when she was 4 months old. I caught it within the 1st 24 hours and doused the feed and water with Cayenne pepper. I'm talking a jar in a matter of 3 days. It worked right away, the 1st 24 hours the hen had stopped the sulfur colored loose droppings. Everything I found on the internet was grim news, but I came across an old-timers remedy using cayenne. My turkey runs with a banty and buff orpington. They all seemed to like the cayenne. I also hear it's good for parasites.
Hope This Saves A Turkey From Blackhead
- Thread starter melanie
- Start date
pre-seasoned cajun turkey anyone?
Wouldn't it make the chicken eggs taste weird?
Or could we market Tabasco flavored eggs?
Wouldn't it make the chicken eggs taste weird?
Or could we market Tabasco flavored eggs?
crtrlovr
Still chillin' with my peeps
what wonderful news! (I don't have any turkeys or peafowl, but I am glad you were able to save the turkey, and I'm sure there are many turkey/peafowl owners who will be grateful to you for this post!)
- Mar 5, 2011
- 11
- 4
- 24
Melanie, THANK YOU so much for sharing your experience with cayenne and Blackhead! It DID, indeed, save my lovely hen from death, I believe.
My Turkey Girl started acting differently a few days before I moved her back to my place after wintering at a friend's farm. I had no idea what the problem was, she just seemed drugged and droopy-eyed, with no real energy to eat or forage or anything. I didn't know how serious it was or could be, so I was slow to respond (and I feel terrible it took me so long). It was about 5+ days in when I was able to sit down and do some research. I found this post and a few others, and immediately realized she must have Blackhead (she had been kept with lots of chickens at the winter spot). I instantly went out and put cayenne in their water, and also began force-feeding her. I can't remember which post recommended this, but I read to cook up some eggs and force-feed them to the affected bird. I dumped a good bit of cayenne in the egg as it cooked, and began a routine of force-feeding her cayenne egg twice a day. I also mixed in some spinach with the egg so she was getting fresh greens, and I mixed up small cups of electrolytes (Emergen-C) and force-fed her a few tablespoons of that about once a day. By now her little system was SO depleted and she was practically down to feather and bone.
I also found information on the drug Metronidazole. It's an anti-protozoal that's often found in the fish section of pet stores. I live in a smallish town, though, and NO one had any on their shelves. I was afraid that if I ordered any online, she'd be dead by the time it arrived. By this time she'd been suffering the full symptoms of Blackhead for over a week (tough little girl, thank god!) I scoured the area, as far as an hour away, but still No one had any Metronidazole or Fish Zole (as it's often labeled). I wasn't seeing any improvement in her condition with just the cayenne, so I ordered some Zole just to be safe ($10 on eBay for 100 pills), and continued the feeding and cayenne routine. I continued to put lots of cayenne in the water, too, so that her mate would be getting a good dose. He never ended up showing any symptoms, thankfully!
By the time the Metronidazole arrived in the mail, she had been in the thick of the Blackhead for 10+ days, but was still hanging on. The force-feeding and cayenne are surely what kept her alive that long. And the love...She got plenty of that! She's always enjoyed being petted and will doze off on your lap if petted rhythmically and gently. I then began the Zole regimen - (1) 250mg pill at night, and a half pill in the morn, because by now she only weighed a few pounds and I was afraid the full pill twice a day would be too much. The common dosage for the Zole (I believe) is 50mg per kg of bird, twice a day for 5-7 days. I did this for 6 days. It took awhile before I started seeing any improvement in her condition, but now she appears to be feeling almost normal again (3 weeks after I initially noticed her symptoms). She still won't eat any grain-feed, all I've seen her eat are bugs from the yard (they have a 1/4 acre to themselves now), which may explain why she became ill and her Boy did not - She ONLY eats bugs/worms, and he ONLY eats grain-feed from their feeder, as far as I can tell. This habit must've developed over the winter, where she was living with chickens and was probably eating worms containing the protozoa eggs.
Anyway, I wanted to say that, Yes! This thread/post DID save a turkey from Blackhead! Thank you SO much! Now my beautiful, sweet, smart little Turkey Girl is still with us.
My Turkey Girl started acting differently a few days before I moved her back to my place after wintering at a friend's farm. I had no idea what the problem was, she just seemed drugged and droopy-eyed, with no real energy to eat or forage or anything. I didn't know how serious it was or could be, so I was slow to respond (and I feel terrible it took me so long). It was about 5+ days in when I was able to sit down and do some research. I found this post and a few others, and immediately realized she must have Blackhead (she had been kept with lots of chickens at the winter spot). I instantly went out and put cayenne in their water, and also began force-feeding her. I can't remember which post recommended this, but I read to cook up some eggs and force-feed them to the affected bird. I dumped a good bit of cayenne in the egg as it cooked, and began a routine of force-feeding her cayenne egg twice a day. I also mixed in some spinach with the egg so she was getting fresh greens, and I mixed up small cups of electrolytes (Emergen-C) and force-fed her a few tablespoons of that about once a day. By now her little system was SO depleted and she was practically down to feather and bone.
I also found information on the drug Metronidazole. It's an anti-protozoal that's often found in the fish section of pet stores. I live in a smallish town, though, and NO one had any on their shelves. I was afraid that if I ordered any online, she'd be dead by the time it arrived. By this time she'd been suffering the full symptoms of Blackhead for over a week (tough little girl, thank god!) I scoured the area, as far as an hour away, but still No one had any Metronidazole or Fish Zole (as it's often labeled). I wasn't seeing any improvement in her condition with just the cayenne, so I ordered some Zole just to be safe ($10 on eBay for 100 pills), and continued the feeding and cayenne routine. I continued to put lots of cayenne in the water, too, so that her mate would be getting a good dose. He never ended up showing any symptoms, thankfully!
By the time the Metronidazole arrived in the mail, she had been in the thick of the Blackhead for 10+ days, but was still hanging on. The force-feeding and cayenne are surely what kept her alive that long. And the love...She got plenty of that! She's always enjoyed being petted and will doze off on your lap if petted rhythmically and gently. I then began the Zole regimen - (1) 250mg pill at night, and a half pill in the morn, because by now she only weighed a few pounds and I was afraid the full pill twice a day would be too much. The common dosage for the Zole (I believe) is 50mg per kg of bird, twice a day for 5-7 days. I did this for 6 days. It took awhile before I started seeing any improvement in her condition, but now she appears to be feeling almost normal again (3 weeks after I initially noticed her symptoms). She still won't eat any grain-feed, all I've seen her eat are bugs from the yard (they have a 1/4 acre to themselves now), which may explain why she became ill and her Boy did not - She ONLY eats bugs/worms, and he ONLY eats grain-feed from their feeder, as far as I can tell. This habit must've developed over the winter, where she was living with chickens and was probably eating worms containing the protozoa eggs.
Anyway, I wanted to say that, Yes! This thread/post DID save a turkey from Blackhead! Thank you SO much! Now my beautiful, sweet, smart little Turkey Girl is still with us.
I thought I would add a couple of things to this thread. I have found an enormous amount of awesome information here, although I will admit that I did not read all 16 pages. I called my vet friend because I'm afraid we are starting on this journey with one of our turkeys. Besides what she was able to tell me below , she said animals fed high protein, high carbohydrate diets showed no ill effects of cayenne or capsicum toxicity, and it actually influenced gut retention times. She went on to say that earthworms also carry histomonosis.
I did find a good article on the net about this disease, but it is lengthy.
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/85/6/1008.full.pdf
This next article talks about Tiamulin as an alternative medication that has been found to decrease mortality of turkeys. It says that high levels of the medication were found concentrated in the liver where it was primarily metabolized.
http://www.octagon-services.co.uk/articles/poultry/histomonosis.pdf
This website states that these drugs are FDA approved for blackhead: Carosep, Acidified Copper Sulfate, and Histostat-50. http://www.poultrysupplies.com/index_files/Page1190.htm
So first off Metronidazole or Fish Zole that everyone has been talking about is also known as Flagyl in human pharmacological terms. It is the antibiotic doctors prescribe first for Colostridium Difficile due to the increase of VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci). Metronidazole is only effective against anaerobic (non-oxygen) bacterial infections in humans because the presence of oxygen will inhibit the nitrogen-reduction process that is crucial to the drug's mechanism of action. In animals after the drug enters the body and finds a susceptible organism, it enters the pathogens cell. The cell is first reduced and then the Metronidazole binds to the pathogens DNA, causing loss of the helical structure (replication), strand breakage (transcription), and impairment of DNA function (repair process). Only susceptible organisms (bacteria and protozoa) appear to be capable of metabolizing the drug.
Birds do not detect capsaicin the constituent in peppers and in this case cayenne pepper. Although birds possess the TRVP1 receptor in their nerve cells, it is not activated by capsaicin as it is in mammals (this is what we humans recognize as "this pepper is STINKING HOT"). Liver activity has been shown to be responsible for conversion of capsaicin to the reactive phenoxy radical, which in turn can bind thereby inactivating certain enzymes in the Histomonas meleagridis DNA structure . This mechanism may be responsible for the inhibition of further activation, and the reported protective activity of capsaicin against some chemical, biological carcinogens and mutagens are currently being looked at.
Hope this helps someone. Have a great day everyone!
I did find a good article on the net about this disease, but it is lengthy.
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/85/6/1008.full.pdf
This next article talks about Tiamulin as an alternative medication that has been found to decrease mortality of turkeys. It says that high levels of the medication were found concentrated in the liver where it was primarily metabolized.
http://www.octagon-services.co.uk/articles/poultry/histomonosis.pdf
This website states that these drugs are FDA approved for blackhead: Carosep, Acidified Copper Sulfate, and Histostat-50. http://www.poultrysupplies.com/index_files/Page1190.htm
So first off Metronidazole or Fish Zole that everyone has been talking about is also known as Flagyl in human pharmacological terms. It is the antibiotic doctors prescribe first for Colostridium Difficile due to the increase of VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci). Metronidazole is only effective against anaerobic (non-oxygen) bacterial infections in humans because the presence of oxygen will inhibit the nitrogen-reduction process that is crucial to the drug's mechanism of action. In animals after the drug enters the body and finds a susceptible organism, it enters the pathogens cell. The cell is first reduced and then the Metronidazole binds to the pathogens DNA, causing loss of the helical structure (replication), strand breakage (transcription), and impairment of DNA function (repair process). Only susceptible organisms (bacteria and protozoa) appear to be capable of metabolizing the drug.
Birds do not detect capsaicin the constituent in peppers and in this case cayenne pepper. Although birds possess the TRVP1 receptor in their nerve cells, it is not activated by capsaicin as it is in mammals (this is what we humans recognize as "this pepper is STINKING HOT"). Liver activity has been shown to be responsible for conversion of capsaicin to the reactive phenoxy radical, which in turn can bind thereby inactivating certain enzymes in the Histomonas meleagridis DNA structure . This mechanism may be responsible for the inhibition of further activation, and the reported protective activity of capsaicin against some chemical, biological carcinogens and mutagens are currently being looked at.
Hope this helps someone. Have a great day everyone!
- Thread starter
- #7
I don't have the link, I saw it on a forum. In fact 1-2 people jumped the lady for being irresponsible about posting something like that. I thought they were fools for jumping on her since there is no cure for blackhead. I just did the same thing that worked for her and that was a heavy dose of cayenne. Her turkey got over it too.
Here's an article:
HOT NEWS FOR TURKEYS
By Larry Ross, RR # 3, Clifford, N0G 1M0
Soon after I started keeping turkeys (from the second year on) blackhead has been a problem for me. For those not familiar with blackhead, this is a disease caused by protozoans. It can kill a flock of turkeys in less than a month. Protozoans are single-celled, microscopic animal life. (The Ministry of Agriculture's factsheets have good descriptions of all types of poultry diseases.)
I have tried several natural remedies to kill the protozoans responsible. I started looking for something else after my trails with garlic powder proved only partially effective. Although I've only tried it one year, I've had excellent results with cayenne powder. I use it at a rate of 1 rounded tablespoon per 20 litres of chopped feed. Cayenne isn't water soluble, but it still works in the drinking water. I use the same rate, allowing the cayenne to soak and then stirring the mixture well. The water method is essential for the sicker birds who won't eat. During the outbreak of 1993, I used cayenne in both the feed and water at first. Later on, I put it in the feed only.
Cayenne does more than just prevent and cure blackhead in turkeys. It is also seems effective in preventing and treating coccidiosis in chickens and turkeys.
With range birds it is often difficult to ensure all the birds are consuming the cayenne-treated feed and water. If the birds are penned up at night, giving them their treated feed before letting them out for the day is one answer.
Cayenne has several advantages. The flavour of the meat was not affected. (I kept the birds off cayenne for three days before slaughter.) Being a food substance (for humans), cayenne bypasses
registration as a drug, a lengthy and expensive process. This makes it relatively cheap - often for as little as $5/lb. through a meat processor. This is a real bargain compared to Emtryl at $30 - 40.00 per 500 mg!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOT NEWS FOR TURKEYS
By Larry Ross, RR # 3, Clifford, N0G 1M0
Soon after I started keeping turkeys (from the second year on) blackhead has been a problem for me. For those not familiar with blackhead, this is a disease caused by protozoans. It can kill a flock of turkeys in less than a month. Protozoans are single-celled, microscopic animal life. (The Ministry of Agriculture's factsheets have good descriptions of all types of poultry diseases.)
I have tried several natural remedies to kill the protozoans responsible. I started looking for something else after my trails with garlic powder proved only partially effective. Although I've only tried it one year, I've had excellent results with cayenne powder. I use it at a rate of 1 rounded tablespoon per 20 litres of chopped feed. Cayenne isn't water soluble, but it still works in the drinking water. I use the same rate, allowing the cayenne to soak and then stirring the mixture well. The water method is essential for the sicker birds who won't eat. During the outbreak of 1993, I used cayenne in both the feed and water at first. Later on, I put it in the feed only.
Cayenne does more than just prevent and cure blackhead in turkeys. It is also seems effective in preventing and treating coccidiosis in chickens and turkeys.
With range birds it is often difficult to ensure all the birds are consuming the cayenne-treated feed and water. If the birds are penned up at night, giving them their treated feed before letting them out for the day is one answer.
Cayenne has several advantages. The flavour of the meat was not affected. (I kept the birds off cayenne for three days before slaughter.) Being a food substance (for humans), cayenne bypasses
registration as a drug, a lengthy and expensive process. This makes it relatively cheap - often for as little as $5/lb. through a meat processor. This is a real bargain compared to Emtryl at $30 - 40.00 per 500 mg!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another turkey saved by cayenne!
We have raised turkeys with chickens and ducks for three years with no illnesses or deaths or any problems. We use organic apple cider vinegar in all their waterers and organic feed that contains live earth humate, kelp meal, and DE. We believe the ACV and the kelp and DE in the feed keep our birds in great health! But 3 weeks ago, we allowed our 5 week old meat chickens to mingle with the turkey flock for some additional pasture time.
A week after the flocks started co-mingling, one of our 11 week old Golden Narragansett jakes started spending his days in the nest box with his mother (who is broody again). When I took him out, he seemed unable to stand or unable to balance himself. I would place him in the yard where he would sit and eat the grass around him and then struggle to stand and eventually make his way back into the nest box with his mother. He didn't have diarrhea, but the normally white streak in the stool was a sulfur yellow color.
After checking BYC I figured out that it was blackhead and made plans to cull him and watch the rest of my flock get sick and die as well. I was completely heartbroken since my turkeys are my favorite birds. I can't imagine not raising them now that I've had them for 3 years and have been able to parent hatch 4 clutches so far this year! Our breeding turkeys were our greatest success this year and I thought we were going to lose them all.
Treatment day 1:
I found this thread about cayenne and decided to try it instead of culling the jake. The day we started treatment, I saw the first sulfur diarrhea from him. We dosed the turkey feed with about 1/4 cup of all natural cayenne to 10 lbs. of feed. We also mixed a teaspoon of cayenne into a cup of water and gave each turkey poult a large dropper full (about a tablespoon) every 3 days. So we were dosing the feed and giving them cayenne straight down the gullet. We also dosed the feed of the meat chickens to try and stop the blackhead at the source. And of course, the flocks are no longer co-mingling (although the turkeys still range with our egg flock of 8 chickens).
Treatment day 2:
A second poult started to become lethargic and spent the day in the nest box with momma and sick jake. We sprinkled extra cayenne in the feed.
Treatment day 3:
The second poult was no longer lethargic and the original sick jake no longer had diarrhea. We gave a second dose of liquid cayenne to all the turkey poults.
Every day we saw more and more improvement in the sick jake, and it was fast improvement! No other poults became sick but we continued the liquid cayenne every three days for 3 weeks. Now there is no sign of sickness in any of the poults!
Thank you Melanie, you saved my turkeys!! I had to share this success story in the hopes that others will try it too instead of culling. There is hope!!
We have raised turkeys with chickens and ducks for three years with no illnesses or deaths or any problems. We use organic apple cider vinegar in all their waterers and organic feed that contains live earth humate, kelp meal, and DE. We believe the ACV and the kelp and DE in the feed keep our birds in great health! But 3 weeks ago, we allowed our 5 week old meat chickens to mingle with the turkey flock for some additional pasture time.
A week after the flocks started co-mingling, one of our 11 week old Golden Narragansett jakes started spending his days in the nest box with his mother (who is broody again). When I took him out, he seemed unable to stand or unable to balance himself. I would place him in the yard where he would sit and eat the grass around him and then struggle to stand and eventually make his way back into the nest box with his mother. He didn't have diarrhea, but the normally white streak in the stool was a sulfur yellow color.
After checking BYC I figured out that it was blackhead and made plans to cull him and watch the rest of my flock get sick and die as well. I was completely heartbroken since my turkeys are my favorite birds. I can't imagine not raising them now that I've had them for 3 years and have been able to parent hatch 4 clutches so far this year! Our breeding turkeys were our greatest success this year and I thought we were going to lose them all.
Treatment day 1:
I found this thread about cayenne and decided to try it instead of culling the jake. The day we started treatment, I saw the first sulfur diarrhea from him. We dosed the turkey feed with about 1/4 cup of all natural cayenne to 10 lbs. of feed. We also mixed a teaspoon of cayenne into a cup of water and gave each turkey poult a large dropper full (about a tablespoon) every 3 days. So we were dosing the feed and giving them cayenne straight down the gullet. We also dosed the feed of the meat chickens to try and stop the blackhead at the source. And of course, the flocks are no longer co-mingling (although the turkeys still range with our egg flock of 8 chickens).
Treatment day 2:
A second poult started to become lethargic and spent the day in the nest box with momma and sick jake. We sprinkled extra cayenne in the feed.
Treatment day 3:
The second poult was no longer lethargic and the original sick jake no longer had diarrhea. We gave a second dose of liquid cayenne to all the turkey poults.
Every day we saw more and more improvement in the sick jake, and it was fast improvement! No other poults became sick but we continued the liquid cayenne every three days for 3 weeks. Now there is no sign of sickness in any of the poults!
Thank you Melanie, you saved my turkeys!! I had to share this success story in the hopes that others will try it too instead of culling. There is hope!!
- Apr 8, 2011
- 330
- 12
- 111
Just any update for anyone interested. My turkeys all recovered beautifully from the dreaded blackhead. I dosed them twice a day on 100mg (they were only just over 1kg but I figured it was best to be safe than sorry) of metronidazole, after a week of cayenne pepper. I didn't really know how to dose them as I had 400mg tablets and no way of cutting them resulted in a clean cut so I decided to grind them down and mix them with 20ml of water. I then fed 5ml to each bird (four birds). They started showing such huge improvement after just two days and by the end of the week, the colour had returned to them, they were acting normally and their stools were no longer sulphur tinged. I am continuing to add a generous quantity of cayenne to their feed and this has thus far been successful at preventing a further outbreak.
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed on this thread. It's saved my turkeys lives!
Jo x
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who contributed on this thread. It's saved my turkeys lives!
Jo x
I wonder if we should be mixing cayenne into their feed as a prophylactic?
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
Chick with red butt and pastey yellow discharge. Hyper ventilating
- Latest: Ruler of the Roost
-
-
Latest threads
-
-
-
-
-
Chick with red butt and pastey yellow discharge. Hyper ventilating
- Started by Ruler of the Roost
- Replies: 2
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
Checking-In On Peeps - Post Here To Say Hello!- Started by Nifty-Chicken
- Replies: 883
-
-
-
-
Can I get some help from someone with careless neighbours who own dogs.- Started by RiDaGeckoGuy
- Replies: 102
-
