turkey question are they still safe to eat

[chathound]

i have a few question to ask yall turkey raisers

i have a few turkeys that has mycoplasma galliseticum infection i know that i can not sell these bird to anyone and i guess that the chickens and pheasants that i have has it too but none of them are showing any sigh of this stuff yet
i dont want to give them harsh meds that might would keep me from eating the eggs or birds
so with this infection in these turkeys is it safe for me and my family to eat them
this is the first time to raise turkeys and i have never ran into this mess before or do i need to kill all of them to start over

i have always raised and feed my very large family with the things i hunt and raise but if this infection will be passed from the birds to my family i dont need the extra burden i am not raising these birds to be pretty little yard pets well not all of them will be eaten
and can anyone tell me some home remedies that would clear the swelling
thank you for the help
Dave

 

[Frosty]

Have you had them tested to see if that is in fact what you are dealing with? Avian Influenza can cause a swollen sinus too, or it could just be a cold.

 

[chathound]

i was telling the vets around me about it they said its blackhead we dont have turkey vet arounf here just cats dog and cattle

like i said this is the first time i have seen it and i have been doing quails and chicken and pheasants for around 30 years
this is my first year on turkeys

 

[chathound]

wow bird flu i hope the heck not thats all i need
when i got these turkey i didnt have them in a draft free coop and with all the hot during the day cold at night and rain just about once a week
i hope its just a cold but i dont know for sure

 

[kuntrygirl]

i was telling the vets around me about it they said its blackhead we dont have turkey vet arounf here just cats dog and cattle

like i said this is the first time i have seen it and i have been doing quails and chicken and pheasants for around 30 years
this is my first year on turkeys

Blackhead? What makes them think that?

 

[chathound]

they think its blackhead because the turkeys head is swollen
like i said we don't have turkey vets around here that i know of anyway

i hope they will be safe to eat when the get grown i plan on growning them to adult hood and putting them in the freezer if its safe to eat them if its not safe to eat i will put them down but i just hate killin something and not eating it i was not raise like that


i kill for only 2 thing
to protect my family and the other is to feed my family
i dont kill for the sport of it
i dont get pleasure out of kill for fun or to see somthing suffer

 

[chathound]

i wish i know for sure if these turkey are safe to eat
can what every they have go into the meat and be passed to my family when we eat the meat

 

[kuntrygirl]

they think its blackhead because the turkeys head is swollen
like i said we don't have turkey vets around here that i know of anyway

i hope they will be safe to eat when the get grown i plan on growning them to adult hood and putting them in the freezer if its safe to eat them if its not safe to eat i will put them down but i just hate killin something and not eating it i was not raise like that


i kill for only 2 thing
to protect my family and the other is to feed my family
i dont kill for the sport of it
i dont get pleasure out of kill for fun or to see somthing suffer

Without them doing a necropsy on a dead body, they really don't know. A swollen head could be a bad respiratory problem or sinus infection. Have you processed them yet? If so, look at the liver. If the liver has bulleted spots on them, then it's most likely blackhead. But again, only a necropsy can determine final diagnosis. I wish that you could take a pic of the liver and post it. We could tell you better.

Frosty is right about the AI.

As far as eating the meat, I really can't say. If one of my sick birds died, I would not eat the meat but that's just me. I would be too afraid that I would become sick but then again, that's just me.

 

[chathound]

hey kuntrygirl

these turkeys are about 4 months old its only two of them with the water sacks under their eyes they are getting a little better
they dont rattle when they breath and they dont sneeze or cough

i took all of the little one that look like they may be sick and put them in a cage with a light on them
you and i think the same way if it is sick and dies i will not even think about eating it
i would be looking at it and say dang what ever it died from i dont need to feed it to my family

but if it lives till adult hood and its sickness does not kill it and im the one that turns the lights off for it and when you cook it and it kills the germs i see no harm in eating it
im just trying to make sure if it would be worth keeping it alive till adulthood but if this swollen head on these two turkey will pass the sickness to my family it would be better to pull the plug on them
but i want to do my best to keep them a live so i can put them in the freezer but i dont want to take it to the vets around because they dont know what to do and then charge me 85 bucks and then give me meds that would prevent me from eating the meat
with 85 bucks and the cost of meds i can buy 4 store turkeys but they just dont taste as good as the birds i raise

 

[kuntrygirl]

hey kuntrygirl

these turkeys are about 4 months old its only two of them with the water sacks under their eyes they are getting a little better
  they dont rattle when they breath and they dont sneeze or cough

i took all of the little one that look like they may be sick and put them in a cage with a light on them
 you and i think the same way if it is sick and dies i will not even think about eating it
i would be looking at it and say dang what ever it died from i dont need to feed it to my family

but if it lives till adult hood and its sickness does not kill it and im the one that turns the lights off for it  and when you cook it and it kills the germs i see no harm in eating it
im just trying to make sure if it would be worth keeping it alive till adulthood but if this swollen head on these two turkey will pass the sickness to my family it would be better to pull the plug on them
but i want to do my best to keep them a live so i can put them in the freezer but i dont want to take it to the vets around because they dont know what to do and then charge me 85 bucks and then give me meds that would prevent me from eating the meat 
with 85 bucks and the cost of meds i can buy 4 store turkeys but they just dont taste as good as the birds i raise

Yes, if it lives then it may be ok. There have been a few times when I returned from work and found a guinea or chicken had fallen between the fence and a piece of tin and just died there. It wasn't any sickness or anything. It just fought and fought and tried to get unstuck and it probably just had a heart attack. Well, I processed them and put them in the freezer and ate them with on problem at all. And I survived to type about it.

Sounds like the vets there are the same as the vets here. They don't know anything but they still want you to bring them in and charge you an arm and a leg.

How long have they been sick?