Turkey with Swollen Body. Possible Emergency?

[Angelique]

I've got two Turkeys, both have Avian pox. The Hen has the dry form and I'm not really sure what the Tom has. He has a sore on each of his wrists and one on his chest, as well as one on the side of his beak. I checked his mouth and didn't see any sores in there on Friday.

Today I go out, and he's waddling and very swollen. His body and neck are swollen. He literally feels like somebody pumped him up full of air. I checked his mouth and I could see some food still sitting there. He seemed to be having some slight trouble with swallowing, so I don't know if the food was stuck there or if he just hadn't swallowed it yet because he was still in the process of eating when I checked his mouth. His breathing doesn't seem to be labored. Is the swollen body and neck a symptom of the Avian pox, or something else? I only have powdered Agrimycin and liquid Penicillin on hand, I'm not sure if either would help in this case, but I put some Agrimycin in the water. Is there anything else I can do? I'm going to take him to a vet first thing in the morning.

 

[patyrdz]

Wow! How old are they? Has he been drinking to wash the food down? I wonder if his throat is swollen!!??!! I am so sorry I can't be more help! Good luck, and keep us posted!!!!

 

[Angelique]

Okay, so I took him to the Vet this morning. The vet says that a pustule from the pox probably got on an air sac and eroded a hole in it, so the air from the air sac went into the rest of his body. After the pox goes away, the hole may heal and he'll go back to normal, or it won't and he'll always look like a feathered balloon. He did give us some strong antibiotics to help get rid of this thing.