Turkey congested

[chickmommar]

Update on Mr. Turk. As of this morning, Turk is looking very good. He is not coughing and his breathing is sound-less. These are very good improvements as he did sound like he was drowning - breathing through liquid - before. He was eating and walking around this morning, even fluffing his feathers half-way up when I stopped to see him (he likes to strut for us). It's pretty amazing as we thought he would die prior to and when we began the treatments. For everyone's info, I include below exactly what we did. FYI, Turk became ill when we had an extreme cold snap last week with temps below zero which is pretty much unheard of here in central OK.

We put Turk in a small inner area of the coop with a heater. He had already been coughing for several days and his breathing had been very loud (congested) for a couple of days. On Sunday morning, we gave him an injection of Tylan 50 in the muscles at his shoulder. I had told my husband about potential muscle damage at the injection site and this is what he chose. Based on info from a rehabber, we gave 6 cc of the Tylan 50 at that time. Monday morning we tubed some water into him and also included 3 cc of Tylan 50. Tuesday morning we tubed some water, another 3 cc of Tylan 50, and a small amount of nutrition supplement (Nutri-cal) that I use for sick ducks. We have warmed up into the 60s and 70s now so he is walking around in the open air part of the coop today. He seems to be at 80% well or more. Sat, Sun, and Monday we thought he would die so this is an amazing recovery.

My husband, who loves Mr. Turk, wanted me to thank you all for your help and ideas. We think the Tylan and warmth did him a world of good. Thank you so much.

 

[kuntrygirl]

This is great news!!! I was pulling for Turk. I am so thrilled to hear that he is doing much better.

Good job!

ETA: chickmommar? How much does Mr. Turk weigh? You gave 6cc's and then 3cc's of Tylan, so I am curious to see if my Tom weighs about the same as Mr. Turk. I may be able to increases cc's in the future for my Tom.

chickmommar wrote:
Based on info from a rehabber, we gave 6 cc of the Tylan 50 at that time. Monday morning we tubed some water into him and also included 3 cc of Tylan 50. Tuesday morning we tubed some water, another 3 cc of Tylan 50,​

 

[chickmommar]

He weighs 35 pounds. He's a BIG boy!

 

[sherri63sc]

My turkey had the same congestion problem about 14 months ago. Recently (Monday) I came home and found my Tom face down in the back of the property. He looked dead. I walked over to him and called his name and he jumped up and tried to walk away. Well, he stumbled away instead. I had no idea what was wrong with him. After I caught him, I could tell that he had the same respiratory problem that he had 14 months ago. Because I had prior experience with this problem with him, I knew exactly what to do.


Below describes my 911 medical emergency plan that I have used on my tom before and I used it on him over the last 6 days:

Symptoms:
Congestion
Crusty eyes and nostrils
Wheezing
Chest rattling while breathing
Can't eat
Can't drink
Can barely stand and walk
Diarrhea - white/green poop
Crooked Neck - This is what my Tom looked like 14 months ago when he had his respiratory problem. See pic below.

Medication
Tylan 50 - 1.5 cc injection - 3 times a day for 5 days

Soft Diet Plan/Liquid Diet - *Because my Tom was not able to eat, I had to hand feed him the following:
Grits
Boiled egg or scrambled egg
Yogurt
Gatorade - Given with a 2 ml dropper into his mouth.
Pedialyte- Given with a 2 ml dropper into his mouth.
Water with a bit of sugar mixed in- Given with a 2 ml dropper into his mouth.


Additional Vitamins
Enfamil Poly-Vi-SolMultivitamin Supplement Drops - 2 ml - 3 times a day

Living Environment:
Remove turkey from other animals
I brought him in the house and let him live in the laundry room
His room was warm and quiet.
I placed puppy pads under him to catch the poop during the night.
I checked on him several times throughout the night

I let my turkey out of the house today into the yard. Once I put him down, he took off running. As of today, he is 95% better. I think in a few more days, he will be 100%. Last Monday he was faced down with 1 foot in the grave. Today when I let him out, he looks like this. PIC BELOW:

In my case, I know that medication alone DID NOT do it for my turkey. My turkey had to have additional vitamins, food and water to keep his strength up. If I would not have hand fed soft foods and put liquids in him, he would have died.

Each case will be different. You will know what your turkey needs based on how your turkey acts. Keep an eye on him and listen to what your turkey is telling you by his actions, eating habits, sleeping habits, poop, etc. If your turkey can still eat and drink, then that is great. If not, then get some food and water in him. Medication alone may not work.

Keep us posted.

 

[sherri63sc]

that is what my turkey is doing!! One day he was fine the next morning found him like that. he just dont have the crusty eyes and nostrils. My vet gave me tetracycline hydrochloride which I have been giving him through a syringe.. Is this ok or do I need to get the other ?