Turkey just died?

[Vince]

Got home this morning to find my 6mth old tom dead. Checked on the flock (chickens 6 hens 2 roos and Sam my BR tom) lastnight before going to work. All was normal plenty of feed and water, locked up in a sturdy coop. Opened the door this morning and there layed Sam dead as a doornail. No signs of wounds or anything out of the ordinary. I have had these guys for 6 mths and they all free range from time to time. Sam was the leader of the pack and there was normal behavior between the boys. I will lock them all up for a day or two from time to time. Every morning checking on them or letting them out for the day.

What is a normal cause of death like this? How could he be fine one night and dead the next morning? Could two roos have killed him? Even with no signs of harm. I mean I checked him out thourghly and saw no signs of harm. I just dont know what went wrong. Everybody else is doing fine. What could I have done wrong? Just dont understand, I really liked that guy too.

 

[ivan3]

Sorry about Sam (they are easy guys to like).

With everything being fine beforehand, and without a necroscopy, it is very hard to know what might have happened. Sudden death in an otherwise healthy jake: Cardiac (some lines are more prone to this than others), acute poisoning/toxin, pulmonary E.Coli (kills them quick with little sign), less likely an injury (but his body wasn't contorted and no sign of struggle - feathers all over?).

Hopefully, someone else might be able to offer some better guesses.

Take care,

John

 

[Vince]

Thanks John for your input. No signs of a struggle. No feather loss. No injurys. He was just laying by the feeder. He was stiff all over, except his neck. It was limp. I think he may have been horsing around and hit his head on the nesting boxes or rafters maybe. I have them in a house framed shed 8x12, with 8 ft walls 4 ft front door and a couple of 3 ft windows with hardware cloth over them.

 

[ivan3]

It's possible he was startled.

The only time we felt safe keeping a turk in with the chooks was when we were doctoring our spraddle legged BBB jake - he couldn't move too much, however.

Get a few more and best of luck!

 

[Vince]

Quote:
I understand John. But you know, these guys have been together from day one. They all got along great except for an occasional bicker over whos hen is whos. With Sam always comming out on top. He was bigger.

 

[ivan3]

The only way to know for sure, in these situations (and probably the safest bet - in case it is something infectious instead of mechanical or genetic) is to get a necroscopy done.

One of our Slate Toms was behaving in a perfectly normal manner at noon and was dead at midnight. I guessed dilated cardiac myopathy (he was a big guy), the necroscopy report: Pulmonary E.Coli.

 

[Vince]

That sounds expensive. Is it something I can do myself? If it does cost alot I will just have to keep quessing what the cause was. I have 8 healthy chickens and will just have to hope for the best. They just started to lay and I'm getting about 4 eggs a day. Pretty soon I will have more eggs than I know what to do with. Maybe next spring I will see about starting some new Turkeys. Live and learn and practice, practice.

 

[ivan3]

Call your state vet and see what the price is (here in mo. it is free - at the moment). It would probably be relatively easy to identify a broken neck/blood on/in brain obvious tumors/enlarged heart, etc. but the lab tests usually reveal the most.

Just keep a close eye on the chooks over the next few weeks.

 

[Vince]

Quote:
Ok John. I apreciate your intrest and advice.
Thank you, Mike

 

[pebblessix]

Turkeys are very vulnerable to illness from chickens. They will pick up chicken bacteria and disease easily. Bacteria, illness and parasites that cause very little harm to chickens will kill a turkey quickly with few symptoms and no warning. They cannot live together. We learned this the hard way.