Hope This Saves A Turkey From Blackhead

[nanawendy]

No... I'm not... But they have black splotches on their heads. What else could it be?????

 

[SAHMof2]

A while back I was concerned that mine were ill because of their beaks and feet turning black. Turns out its part of them maturing. Are they young or full grown? I have read on a few sites that the "black head" doesn't always occur until death which in my experience would be days/weeks after refusing to eat and barely being able to walk. Really though if they are acting fine and their poop is normal I'd wait and see but keep a close eye. Could you phone your vet and see if blackhead has ever been found in your region?

 

[nanawendy]

Good idea... Our vet loves chickens ...I'll call her tomorrow. They sure don't look sick, they just look mad that I won't let them out in the back yard.... that is their place to "free range".
The turkeys are just 5 (ish) months old. The toms are just starting to get that chest feathering...pokie outie thingy. They are eating well and poop is normal. They still are flying up to roost and refuse to go into their shelter...(dumb turkeys ! ) So I haven't read that about growing birds get blacken heads. would you send me a link if possible ?

 

[SAHMof2]

Post #19 shows the beak I was concerned about but is normal and the dark to pale color of the head if their mood is light there is nearly no red at all.

Does that look like yours at all?


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2498694

 

[SAHMof2]

Also a good article I think. First paragraph talks about the head ...

http://www.nwtf.org/conservation/bulletins/bulletin_25.pdf

 

[nanawendy]

OK now I feel like a idiot.... It's looking less like blackhead and more like maturing. The pic in the second link, the article on blackhead looks like my toms.

 

[SAHMof2]

Not at all. I've learned, and so have my toms, the hard way. I lost one and am on round two of fighting for anothers life. Consider yourself educated and lucky.

Beautiful birds aren't they! I love those darn turkeys. Seems I cannot raise them hear again though.

 

[stonecottagefarm]

I just wanted to share my own story briefly...

We initially raised our turkeys outside and let them roost on home-made roosting bars out in the field. But we became concerned when owls started taking our ducks and moved the turkeys into the same barn bay that the chickens are in. Within a week, we immediately started having problems with them getting sick, weak and dropping over dead. So while, raising them on the same field and pasture was fine - putting them together in the same housing is NOT.

We sent the two turkeys we lost into WADDL here in in Washington and had them examined. They tested positive for blackhead. Before we got the results back, we went ahead and added cayenne, tumeric and garlic powder to the wheat and barley we feed them. We also added probiotics to the feed and added apple cider vinegar to the water. We noticed a huge improvement in a lot of them right away. We had ordered the Fish Zole from amazon and you give them 55 mg per bird. It dissolves easily in water and could be put in the lip of the waterers. We did give the Fish Zole to one of the turkeys that was huddled up and weak and he/she recovered right away. Two days of treatment did the work, but it is recommended to do five days. We have not lost any since but it's only been two weeks so I will come back and update later.

We have since moved all the turkeys into their own barn with fresh hay covering the ground. We spread sevin and lime dust before laying down the hay and we will be adding a layer of pine shavings soon as well. We will continue to add cayenne pepper for as long as we own turkeys to both the turkey and chicken feed. Since the protozoans live in the soil for three or more years, it is safe to say our farm is infected with this permanently. We buy the cayenne pepper from the bulk section at Winco. You can also buy it by the pound from www.vitacost.com or amazon.

Keep in mind that when it comes to natural alternative treatments that there are not a lot of research or testing done on it. This is because there are no pharmacuetical companies that want to put money into researching something that they cannot patent, own or monopolize. But using cayenne pepper is actually an old farmer's method. We have also noticed that our turkeys LOVE fresh cayenne or hot peppers of any kind. We believe that they instinctively eat this for the high nutritional value as well as being able to naturally control parasites.

Good luck everyone!

http://www.stonecottagefarm.webs.com/

 

[angidee]

Just wanted to share that cayenne worked for my tureky as well!!! I plan to add it to their feed as well, to avoid the situation entirely in the future!
I currently already use tumeric and cinnamon to fight coccidiosis and that has worked wonders, so I was confident in the powers of herbs/spices!

 

[mdguffey]

how do you use the turmeric and Cinnamon, i like to try the natural way