Hello all. Brief intro: my wife and I consult BYC very, very often, but have never had the need to overcome our chatroom shyness until now. Unfortunately, we just came home from a week on the road and discovered one very, very sad Bourbon Red turkey. His head is covered in blue/black leathery scabs. He is lethargic, somewhat dazed and his butt smelled extra fetid. We did not see any poop in the yard that looked abnormal. He doesn't seem to have any parasites. The sickness seems to have come on in the last 7 days as his head looked normal last weekend. Our initial googling suggests that the disease named "blackhead disease" is a bit of a misnomer, and it doesn't actually cause a black head. He is 4 1/2 months old. We have 8 turkeys total and none of the other birds are exhibiting any symptoms as of yet.
Does anyone have any answers to the following questions:
1. what is causing this?
2. is it treatable?
3. is it contagious, and, if so, is it too late to isolate him from the rest of the flock, or has he already exposed them to it?
Thank you all for your help (in advance). We will take the time to introduce ourselves more fully once we respond to this crisis.
Does anyone have any answers to the following questions:
1. what is causing this?
2. is it treatable?
3. is it contagious, and, if so, is it too late to isolate him from the rest of the flock, or has he already exposed them to it?
Thank you all for your help (in advance). We will take the time to introduce ourselves more fully once we respond to this crisis.
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