Turkey disease help please

[Haunted55]

it is NOT black head. It IS fowl pox. I have been raising birds for over 40yrs. and have seen it several times. Black head has no symptoms like the scabs your birds have. there is no treatment for fowl pox other than keeping them secure, well fed and watered and try to keep the flies and gnats away from them. Since they are already forming the scabs, you are pretty much through the worst part. Just keep an eye out for any infection setting in in any of the scabs.

The term blackhead comes from the infected birds sometimes developing an overall bluish tint or coloration of the head, not spots.

TV is absolutely right! I went back and did more looking and found the description/symptoms for the fowl pox. I am so sorry for giving you wrong information, that was never my intention.

 

[fishmilk]

Well I started this mess, sorry I havent been back on. I went with the metro-zole stuff, thinking it was blackhead at first. First, my birds NEVER even came close to being sluggish or losing an appetite- they will eat you alive trying to get to their feed. They are meat birds, so I have kept them on 24% chick feed,cracked corn, and crushed oyster shells ( once a week) since I bought them as chicks ...they are about 6 months old. I had some metro whatever zole, from a dog that had a bad case of the runs a while back, the vet gave it to me. I crushed it and placed it in oral syringes with water and gave each bird around 50mg a day for a week...they are clearing up. Now I see it may be fowl pox...Kinda made me chuckle, people get chicken pox, maybe my turkeys had people pox...LOL...either way they are doing better. Never did listen to lungs, as i said they acted fine, just got those spots. The spots Do not seem to be attracting gnats either. I guess I will quit the metro dosing, seeing as it is not black head. Thank you everyone for your help. I have been raising chickens and such for 5 years now, and just found this site...I love it!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Great news!!! I'm glad they are doing better. Thanks for the update.

 

[moonlitfarms]

I believe my turkeys have pox and its running its course now. After healing up from this are they safe to butcher and eat?

 

[Japser]

What types of feed is best what other kinds of things can they eat.

 

[Japser]

What is a good quality food to feed the turkeys and what else can they have beside grain

 

[LogCabinChicks]

I feed our flock game bird feed by nutrena. They need a higher protein than chickens. They love zucchini - the big ones sliced in half and with the cut side up. This is how I train them to coop at night. I get them used to it in early summer and then I start putting them in the coop (the zucchini ) at dusk. They also love black oil sunflower seeds. When the snow hits, I just use two long sticks on either side of them and walk slowly behind them. They will go wherever you want using this method. Been raising them for two years. Full of personality, very inquisitive a true delight to add to your flock. If you have chickens, use ground cayenne pepper in their feed (they can't taste hot) to avoid blavkhead. A parasite that chickens carry that will kill turkeys. Once we started doing this, we haven't lost a turkey. We learned this from APPPA. good luck!

 

[fairie]

We just got 3 new turkeys 3 weeks ago and they now have black head. We have chickens as well, they are seperated by a net but the chickens had free range of everywhere before the turkeys came. I am scared to let the turkeys out EVER.

Now handling them every day ( med's 1x a day) we noticed the tom (Samuel) has some black spots on his head. So assuming this is Dry Fowl Pox I am making some Burdock & Dandelion Apple Cider Vinegar to keep on hand. I just found this informaiton as well which makes sense

"By supporting the liver (often described as the seat of primitive emotions), burdock heals all skin blemishes; dandruff, eczema and psoriasis. Those conditions are signs that the liver is stressed. When I mentioned this point to a friend, she remarked that when her husband got (and stayed) sober, his severe dandruff gradually went away, although she did not connect the two events at the time."

Feels like me realizing they are having Blackhead which has stressed their livers and now Fowl Pox.