Poss ill turkey chick

[k625]

I picked up a very cute burbon red 1 week old baby today, and the place is very nice, but with the weather at 100 degrees and over in Fl everything seemed a bit hot.

I brought the little guy in, and offered water and food, seems to be just laying around quite a bit, and has not ate or drank in the last 3 hours. When I hold him up close to me I can hear a small crackle noise in nose. I work for a vet...is there anything I should get for it there?? Thanks so much guys for your help.

 

[threehorses]

We'll need more information. How cool is it inside? At one week of age, they need a certain temperature. It could be that he's chilled.

Is he eating and drinking? Have you actually seen him do it? What's his poop like? What are you feeding him and does it contain histostat? Or amprolium? Or bacitracin? (It shouldn't contain the latter.)

 

[threehorses]

By the way, no matter what else you do, if you give antibiotics you MUST give this baby probiotics. If you get antibiotics from your vet, ask them for a probiotic.

If you aren't useing a -mycin or -cycline drug, you can use plain yogurt as a probiotic at a rate of about 1/4th teaspoon per one week poullt. You increase that as he grows. I always use it the first week of having new babies, then weekly to monthly thereafter.

But if you medicate, it will kill his barely established good gut bacteria. You must replace it using probiotics (literally - pro-bacterial growth, but good bacteria meaning live bacteria) or you'll have a secondary bacterial infection happen. Birds are much more dependent on their bacteria in their gut than mammals, who are also dependent but to a lesser extent.

 

[k625]

threehorses...thanks so much he is insdie a brooder inside my house with my othe week old polish chicks...I know risky to do, but thats the only place he could go for right now,....I have a heat light/lamp in there and it is in the high 90's so the little polish chicks love it....

Where I got him from was outside in a ladys barn/shed...everything seemed so hot and tired. I have not seens him drink besides when i dipped his beak into the water to show him where it was...he has been sitting in the same spot breathing somewhat heavily. Have not seen him poop yet either...

 

[k625]

aww...noo..chicked just pooped...blood in stool..coccidia??!!! AHHH i have some sulmet, I guess i will add to water.

 

[threehorses]

OK, then first thing you need to do is get him to drink. Some people use red jello in the water to help that. He might just not have the energy. I'm assuming you haven't seen him eat either? His abdomen doesn't feel really full, like he's holding poop?

First, I'd check his vent. Use a warm wash cloth and place it gently against the vent - see if it's normal, see if it's clogged, etc. especially since there's a chance of dehydration. Well he IS dehydrated if he's not drinking.

Then, you'll want to give him a booster drink to increase his fuel so that he can drink. For most babies that age, I use a boiled egg yolk (freeze what you don't use for later use), a dab of plain yogurt (for the living bacteria therein), some water, pedialyte or a tiny bit of karo or honey or the jello, and some of their crumbles. Make that into a barely moist mash. I mix just a tiny batch - like a dixie-cup full - of this mixture.

Use some of that mixture and mix with more water, about a half dixie cup, til it's a little thicker than water. Then you can dip his beak into that or use a dropper on the *outside* of his beak on the side and see if he'll swallow it on his own. Do that as often as he needs to get him fueled back up. Then offer the drier mash to see if you can get him to eat.

Healthy baby poults are usually quite inquisative and curious creatures to a fault. If you poke your finger in something, they're usually right on it. He's weak, and needs fuel. Then hopefully you can use that curiosity to get him to eat.

Let's start there.

Oh yeah I have to give you the blackhead speech.

it was given to me, thankfully, and so I pass it on.

Baby turkeys ideally should be on a feed that contains histostat, a blackhead prevention medicine. I've done it without - but when they get older, there's no treatment medication for blackhead available and so you're stuck if they get it. Chickens carry, but are rarely effected by, blackhead. For this reason you're not really supposed to have them together. If you do, just know there's that risk.

I've always had turkeys without histostat with my chickens, but this year I'm wondering if that's wise. So learn from my mistakes and just know the risks.

Tada - speech over.

What kind of baby is he? We're raising two baby BBwhite poults at the moment, two just-adults, and have one two year old hen. Previously I raised bronzes.

And by the way, if he's a white turkey (likely BB white) you'll not want him to grow fast. That's why I actually didn't use turkey grower on my babies - because they are meant for slaughter and to grow very fast and be slaughtered before their legs give out. So you'll want a lot of space for exercise for the baby, not too much 'growing' food, slow growth if you intend him to be a pet.

 

[k625]

Thanks so so much, I gave a small amount of yogurt, its a burbon red about 1 week old.

I had him drink a little bit as well....but im thinking with the blood in the stool its the cocci, in addition to the dehyrdation that is bringing him down. Right now he is just on chick starter. I will add a little bit of sugar to the water for right now too

 

[threehorses]

Sounds like cocci. Definitely keep giving him the yogurt as sulmet is actually an antibiotic and will kill back the good bacteria. Sulmet will work with yogurt fed at the same time, so that's good.

Hopefully this is it and he gets better. I have a hard time not taking home all the turkey poults from the feedstore ; they're just too cute!

 

[k625]

threehorses, thank you so much for your help! The little guy is doing better today, up and walking around, more alert and seems to be feeling better. Still not at 100% but on then mend.

Thanks again!!!

 

[threehorses]

That's just awesome news!! Cheers to his continued mending under your good care.

Oh yeah - and be sure and take a picture of him while he's still little. I didn't with any of my poults and I sure wish I had!!