Please help - turkeys are dying!

[MissPrissy]

Turkey poults not hatched by a hen put in a pen with other hens and poults to raise them for you?

That's why they are dying. Seriously. Turkey poults are extremely fragile. They look for excuses to die -as old timers might say. They need to be kept off the ground and away from other birds to allow their own immune systems to develop. They have been overwhelmed by something they have been exposed to by other poults, hens and their poop and the natural occuring cocci, worms and other parasitic type organism and bacteria in their enviromnment.

No, they would not have died in the first week if they were cold or hungry or dehydrated. They could have been getting just a bare minimum and struggled along until now. Survival of the fittest type of thing where the weakest died off first until eventually the entire flock will be lost.

Poults need to be brooded on their own unless they were hatched by a hen where they would have had a more natural exposure to the common bacteria in their environment.

 

[BlueMoon]

If this is the way it is, is there anything I can do for the four survivors?

 

[MissPrissy]

Get them out of that pen, into a sheltered brooder off the ground. Keep them warm and dry. Water with 1 quart water and 1 tsp organic ACV. Feed should be a turkey starter or game bird starter with 22 to 24% protein. There is no promise they will pull through.

 

[Nordwest23]

The dude at Stromburg's - Eric Stromburg, in fact, had recently told me NOT to mix my turkeys with my chickens, due to the fact that the turkeys can have various disease given to them by chickens- (and I thought it'd be the OTHER way around!) He mentioned Blackhead is a bad one, but there are many more (diseases) - I dont HAVE a Merk's manual(wished I did) but anyhow, thats my 2 cents worth- and also the fact that my x boyfreind spent quite a chunck o' change paying the local avian vet to do a couple of autopsies for him, with NO difinitive results... mind you these birds were valued at about 5000$/pair- so he REALLY wanted to find out what was up- and DID NOT... waste o' money , it was-
ALSO- I could possibly get into my OLD OLD records for the number, and names of the folks down in San Francisco (at University of Davis) They have an Avian 'specialty' division and I have sent a bird or 2 down THERE for autopsy- but you cant freeze the thing, and that does pose a problem, as far as tranport's concerned... I cant remember EXACTLY what they had me do- but, upon contacting them, they will give you EXPLICIT instruction as to the storage, shipping and handling of the dead 'bodies' that you request to be autopsied.. there is a negligible charge for such a procedure, but its WORTH EVERY PENNY- those folks down there are the BOMB when it comes to anything Veterinary...and really not that expensive. And you get results, that's really the point of it anyhow...I get my Horses DNA'd there/ they do GOOD work!!
Good Luck God Bless, Kim Nord Flying <N> Farms Crescent City, CA (AKA Po-Dunk-By-The-Sea)

 

[BlueMoon]

Thanks for the input.

Just to clarify - The two broody jennies (or turkey hens) immediately adopted the McMurray poults I put in with them when the poults were about a week old and have been taking excellent care of them - showing them water, food, keeping them warm, as have the adolescents.

And to summarize;
We're down to two adolescents, of five, four adults and four McMurray (about) 5 week old poults. One of the poults has a cataract in one eye (apparently could be from AE, which McMurrays had an outbreak of in 2008). They have been on a 22% grower that we hatched out here since they arrived and have just been switched to a 28% grower with a coccidiostat. They have also spent a week taking SpecLinx-50, a lincomycin based antibiotic safe for week old chicks. Prior to that, when they started dying two by two at about week 3-4, they were given water with electrolytes as I thought the heat wave maybe dehydrating them.

None of my other birds - guineas, peafowl, chickens, ducks nor geese - have seemed to be affected by the heat and the turkeys continued to die off as the heat wave passed. The poults sole symptoms would be droopy wings, huddling and then sudden death. The heat does not appear to be the culprit.

Cocci - as no other birds are dropping dead, I doubt this is the cause.

Blackhead - I've had turkeys tested before and none came back positive for blackhead. This was about 9 months ago.

Pullorum - I agree with Mother Jean it is unlikely these birds came from McMurrays with the virus and as no other birds show symptoms, I will presume this is not the problem.

Necropsies - I've saved about a half dozen dead birds and will do, or ask my vet to do them with me this week.

I can remove the remaining little ones, place them back into the brooder and put the heat lamp back on them. I don't know what ACV is, but that should be added to their water.

 

[BlueMoon]

Lost another of the adolescent buffs over the night.