Tom with swollen waddle

[sirrobyn0]

Well this is my second turkey issue this month! So this guy has a swollen waddle. As far as we can remember no one noticed anything with him this morning and he was definitely normal last night. He seemed to be getting around just fine this evening, but even still we separated him off into another coop where he is resting for the night. No obvious cuts or scratches on the waddle. Swelling is soft. He does not seem to be having any trouble breathing. He did not eat tonight, but he was put in the separate pen after picking him up and looking him over so I'm not reading to much into that just yet, might just have been from the stress of being looked at and moved. If he doesn't eat tomorrow then I'll be concerned. I've read some previous threads both on this forum and elsewhere, so I'm just going to say I do not believe that it is blackhead, certainly he has no symptoms, but I expect to see a poop in the morning under his roost, and will report if I see anything abnormal there.

Sorry about the blur in pic 1 but still gives you and idea of size.

Here's a few pics.

 

[R2elk]

Well this is my second turkey issue this month! So this guy has a swollen waddle. As far as we can remember no one noticed anything with him this morning and he was definitely normal last night. He seemed to be getting around just fine this evening, but even still we separated him off into another coop where he is resting for the night. No obvious cuts or scratches on the waddle. Swelling is soft. He does not seem to be having any trouble breathing. He did not eat tonight, but he was put in the separate pen after picking him up and looking him over so I'm not reading to much into that just yet, might just have been from the stress of being looked at and moved. If he doesn't eat tomorrow then I'll be concerned. I've read some previous threads both on this forum and elsewhere, so I'm just going to say I do not believe that it is blackhead, certainly he has no symptoms, but I expect to see a poop in the morning under his roost, and will report if I see anything abnormal there.

Sorry about the blur in pic 1 but still gives you and idea of size.

Here's a few pics.View attachment 3027326View attachment 3027328View attachment 3027327

He has an air sac leak., You need to lance it to let the air escape. It is better to make a small jagged cut than to use a needle. Making a puncture with a needle will allow the hole to close too quickly and the air will fill it again. It needs to stay deflated long enough that the air leak can heal.

Some people recommend giving an antibiotic along with lancing.

@Bantambird

 

[R2elk]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/swollen-snood.1351792/#post-22284949

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...hanging-is-tbis-normal.1388028/#post-22791054

 

[sirrobyn0]

it looks like an allergic reaction of some sort. What’s he been eating lately and has he been around any bugs that bite or sting?

Well he free ranges during the day, so a bite or sting is certainly a possibility. It is to cold right now for bees to be very likely.

 

[sirrobyn0]

He has an air sac leak., You need to lance it to let the air escape. It is better to make a small jagged cut than to use a needle. Making a puncture with a needle will allow the hole to close too quickly and the air will fill it again. It needs to stay deflated long enough that the air leak can heal.

Some people recommend giving an antibiotic along with lancing.

@Bantambird

Thanks for the info. Likely I'd start with a needle to confirm it is air, then cut if that is what is found. Not doubting you I've just never had this occur so would approach this carefully. Let me ask you this, would you consider this a medical emergency or is he likely to be ok until either late tomorrow night or Friday morning. Thursdays are the one day a week I'm normally away from the farm until late in the evening. Thanks.

Thanks for the links, though I think I've read them both I will check. More info is always good.

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for the info. Likely I'd start with a needle to confirm it is air, then cut if that is what is found. Not doubting you I've just never had this occur so would approach this carefully. Let me ask you this, would you consider this a medical emergency or is he likely to be ok until either late tomorrow night or Friday morning. Thursdays are the one day a week I'm normally away from the farm until late in the evening. Thanks.

Thanks for the links, though I think I've read them both I will check. More info is always good.

You will know instantly when you feel it that it is air. It has a different feel than actual swelling has.

It is somewhat rare but is not that hard for toms to rupture an air sac while fighting. If it was mine, I would attend to it right away. As swollen as he is, it can be interfering with his breathing and his ability to eat and drink.

 

[Bantambird]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-century-of-turkey-talk-2000-2100.966414/post-21229142
here are pictures of my airhead. What I did follows in the thread.

 

[Bantambird]

well, perhaps the thread at that point was rather busy. We did end up puncturing the air in two spots and deflating him with ragged scalpel cuts, and then gave him a round of Exceed, an injectable antibiotic that goes into the muscle and lasts 5 to 7 days, it is an off label use. Exceed is for horses or cows so the dose is very small. Your vet may reccomend something else for you. The jagged hole does prevent the air from building up again. The airhead did heal.

 

[sirrobyn0]

Thanks everybody, a couple of hours ago we deflated him. Just as you all had said it was most certainly air, procedure was simple. Since I don't remember anyone saying, where to cut, I'm going to say what I did. Not at all saying that it is best, just it's what I did. Not wanting to hit anything important in the neck I just pulled a bit of the center of the front inflated skin forward. I looked for where I did not see any veins, and made one incision. I did not do a jagged cut as most have suggested, but rather I did a small X. Just one. I reasoned that having not dealt with this before I'd rather have to make it larger or make a second, vs making an unnecessarily large cut, with would take longer to heal and potentially let contaminates in. He has not been given antibiotics at this time, though we do have something on hand if needed. I don't really like giving them antibiotics unless truly needed, and there are no outward signs of infection. His breathing was still just fine tonight, so will monitor and report back how he does.

 

[sirrobyn0]

Update. This evening he had blown up again, so this time we opened the first incision more and added a second in the neck. Yesterday we sort of noticed this and today we examined it more closely, his body. I know how a turkeys body feels normally and his thigh area was feeling much like his neck. So we very gingerly made a small incision on his right thigh, sure enough air there to, and seemed to relive it on the other side as well. Since no one has made mention of this I'm going to ask if anyone experienced air in the body like this. I'm guessing it was probably because the neck did not continue to release air.

So after that put him back in the recovery pen, he ate for a while and got up on the roost for the night.

He seemed to be breathing just fine though the work we did on him today before, during and after.

So we'll see how he is in the morning!