Turkey lesions on face and head

[coffeebunny]

I live at my parents' farm and they have two white broad-breasted turkeys, a male and a female. The female had a seizure and died a few months back. The male is beginning to get lesions on his head and neck, as well as one on his foot. We've known about the face lesion for about two weeks, but it used to be significantly smaller - smaller than a penny.

Recently, it's gotten bigger, began to swell, and is starting to be joined by other lesions. He's a normal weight, very healthy and curious. He has been pecked a few times by our chickens when he was younger by a very broody hen and somewhat infrequently by the rooster when he pushes the hens out of the way to get to food. He's been separated from the other chickens and they don't bother him unless he finds his way into their side of the yard. He has been eating and drinking like normal. His poop has been a little wet in the last month or so. My mother recalls he has had a bump on his face where the lesion is since he was little, so we weren't sure if maybe he has turkey herpesvirus and it is flaring up because of the heat, but I've been struggling to find any information on symptoms.

We live in north-central Florida and it has been very hot recently. We do have a "cool zone" set up with a shady area and some fans, plus he'll occasionally get in the geese's kiddy pool when they're not around. Would it be advisable to call a country vet? Or does he have something we could potentially treat ourselves?

Any help would be very appreciated! We miss our female turkey dearly and would hate to lose the male as well. This is our first time having turkeys, so we're trying our best with the one we have left.

 

[nchls school]

Go with a vet if cost is not a factor. This I have not seen before. While reading your post, I thought fowl pox, but it doesn't look like it in the picture.

 

[R2elk]

I don't know what your turkey has but you might want to read this thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cure-for-herpes-virus-in-turkey’s.1405326/#post-23067015

 

[coffeebunny]

Thank you so much! We were thinking about researching some topical herpes creams that could be safe and help him. Just for future reference in case anyone happens upon this thread with a similar problem, we applied iodine daily to his sores starting about a week ago. He was, at the time, getting more sores including one that some small flies appeared to be entering (gross!) We applied vaseline to that area to avoid flystrike.

The sores began drying out and, starting today, have been scabbing and falling off. In case it is fowl pox, we've been keeping him separate and we're throwing away any scabs so no chickens pick it up from him. We have been noticing recently some small black dots on the chickens, so it's highly likely he may have had fowl pox but since he's had one of the sores since he was very young, we're still not entirely sure.

Iodine worked great though! He's looking a lot better and he hasn't had any symptoms other than the sores.