Peachicks have Blackhead...What about my turkeys?

[racuda]

I had two peachicks die from Blackhead. I confirmed this by examining the liver of one. The graphic pics are on the peafowl thread. I was very careful (I thought) to not expose them to any of my chickens, yet they got sick anyway. I built them a new coop, with several inches of clean sand on the floor, covered in shavings. Apparently I tracked something in. I am treating them with Metronidazole and they are responding well.

I am wondering about my adult pair of Royal Palms. They look fine and I don't see any symptoms that they are sick. They don't look droopy or sleepy like peachicks did. There are no yellow droppings.

Should I treat them anyway, or should I just keep an eye on them? Could they possibly be immune?

 

[Frosty]

Like I told you in the peafowl thread, from what I understand it hits the youngsters harder than adults. I wouldn't treat the adults with metronidazole if they aren't showing symptoms, but I would put all of your poultry on a wormer and keep an eye on them. Guineas are on the list of birds that are susceptible, so make sure that you keep an eye on them too.

 

[racuda]

Interesting about the Guineas. I have almost 50, from 3 year olds to newly hatched keets. I have never had a sick one.

I was concerned about the turkeys because I thought Blackhead was a death sentence if untreated. I guess not?

 

[syble]

funny thing about black head that i've learned is that it is a stress indicator, or capitolizer, depends on how you look at it. I'm sure there are different strains, some attack harder then others. I've had guineas for years no problems, got turkeys they were fine for a few months then the first incidence happened to stress them out, i lost 2 to black head (necropsy to be sure) treated the rest every ones been fine, then i had a second incident of stress, and a couple of the younger ones got it, but i knew what to look for and caught them early enough to fix them.

Watch for stress and you'll be able to keep them healthy without drugs. Ideally you want them to work on their own resistance, so they aren't dependent on drugs. End result don't treat them if they don't have it