Tom Turkey Died/Need Advice

[chunky_ficken]

My Eastern Wild Tom turkey suddenly got sick and died. His feces had an emerald green color. I haven't been able to figure what disease could have caused this. He had swollen nodules above each eye that appeared to be full of liquid.

I have cleaned and disinfected the area he roosted in.....but am wondering if what he had is super contagious. The rest of the flock seem healthy, but I'm just concerned about their health.

Thanks for any help.


c_f

 

[ivan3]

Sorry about your guy.

Emerald green droppings could be anything from not eating to liver or kidney disease. Bilateral swelling on the head usually indicates some sort of sinus problem usually secondary to a systemic infection. Were there any other signs/symptoms and for how long did they persist before death?

Did the swelling look anything like this: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/203402.htm

The only way to know for sure is to have a necroscopy performed.

However, there are some very knowledgeable folks here and the more specific you can be the better able they can assist you.

As a precaution, I'd clean and disinfect everything and keep a very close eye on the rest of the flock.

Good Luck!

 

[chunky_ficken]

Hello Ivan and any others that know turkeys,

Thanks for getting back to me. In further talking to my wife who tends to the flock, he had become kind of listless after a prolonged Arctic weather event in our area. The temps had gotten down below the teens........but the hens endured this too. She noticed that he had a hard time hearing her........when she walked up on him it startled him. He had been eating and drinking up until the last day where my wife found him down and struggling to get up.

We put him in a large dog crate in the shop with a heat lamp, and he stayed down........he hung on over night, in the morning, he was still alive, but kind of gasping. We also had provided him with water and food (medicated the water with aureomycin), and he drank, but did not eat.

Later on that day, his breathing became more labored, and we elected to euthanize him. There was one liquid filled nodule above his right eye, and another nodule on the back of his head. That is as much additional info as I can think of......after reading the link you sent.....he did have similar symptoms. We have raked out his pen, and sprayed the area with a water/bleach solution (10:1) and the pen is off limits to the other birds.

Is there any other disinfectant that is better? How long should I keep the pen in quarantine? Should I treat the rest of my birds with an antibiotic and if so, what do you recommend? Anything else you can think of to help us through this is appreciated.

Thanks to all who have any ideas for me.

c_f

 

[ivan3]

Sorry I had to drop off-line in a hurry last night.

Sounds like you are doing what is possible to do. You might consider picking up some Oxine (somewhat safer than household bleach with a bit more `activity'). I'm supplying the following link because they provide a good description:

http://www.atozvetsupply.com/OXINE-p/40-oxine.htm

From your description of the tom's behavior (particularly the loss of hearing - swelling impinging on auditory nerve? and the nodule on the back of head I won't even venture a guess as to the causative agent - anything from a viral disease to a bacterial infection resulting from a scratch).

A few references that I've found handy to keep on hand (all are illustrated) :

Avian Medicine: Principles and Applications: http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa.html (click on the link `read in PDF format' and save the entire book - very good formulary)

The USGS Field Manual of Wildlife Disease (Avian): http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/publications/field_manual/ Plenty of color shots of diseases (along with just about everything else) also downoad in PDF.

Atlas of the Domestic Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo) Myology and Osteology: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?query_id=1&page=0&osti_id=4811958 (just anatomy, but very thorough I had it digitized for free distribution a while back) also downloadable PDF.

Was your Tom a Rescue, or did was he hatched? Was he, or the rest of the flock vaccinated? I'd not treat the rest of the flock prophylactically with antibiotics. If any of the other birds start to develop the listlessness, etc. I'd be tempted to sacrifice it for necroscopy. I'd not reintroduce birds to the pen for a month.

Wilds Of Pa, as well as some other members have WE's as well, maybe they've seen this sort of illness before.

Good luck!

ed: clarity

 

[pinkchick]

If I may add something.......

He had black leathery patches like scabs (not small scabs but as big or bigger than pencil erasers) all over the back of his head and down the back of his neck, along with the bump above his eye he also had a fluid filled lump on the corner of his beak. He did not have any sinus discharge or foul smells emanating. His eyes were bright and clear but he did have very labored breathing near the end.
I will add that the black leathery patches showed up recently and until now he had been a very healthy boy.

Sorry Tom didn't mean to butt in but thought that what I saw may help those who are reading your thread.


~Pink~

 

[hunter1hall]

Could the black leathery scabs have been frostbite?

 

[pinkchick]

I don't think so......but I only raise chickens and it was not like any frostbite that I have seen on a chicken. Totally different...at first that is what I thought...but upon closer inspection before he was put down.....I seriously lean towards not.
I just thought that I would mention that for C_F to see if it helps gather any more information.

 

[ivan3]

Thanks for posting that info.

Did the nodules look like those pics posted in this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=235273&p=1

And did signs/symptoms match those described here: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204801.htm ?

 

[pinkchick]

Nope, they didn't looked like either of those. I should have taken a photo before he was culled but I didn't think about it. The patches were flat and not raised in any way and bigger around than what is pictured in those links, the fluid filled lump on the corner of his beak was not darkened or black, nor was the lump above the eye, it was raised approx. 1/2" off the skin and approx. size was the diameter of a quarter. I did look in his mouth and down his throat all was clear.
I just feel horrible for my friends and hope to help them find some possible answers even though we will never be able to definitely conclude without having had a necropsy.

Thanks everyone for taking to time to share your knowledge and suggestions with my dearest friends...their turkeys are like members of the family. Each one with a different personality. Puffy was a special boy and very good natured.

*edited* because I can't type

 

[geebs]

Sounds like coryza...