Turkey

[Tcbish]

Lost a turkey about 2 weeks ago and I noticed a yellow running poo. The other turkey now has the same poop and I’m wondering if it’s something to be concerned about. I attached a picture of the poop. Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Does your turkey lay eggs? Do you have a vet who might test the poop for cecal worms? Do you also have chickens? Blackhead disease might be a possibility, but I would wait for @casportpony and others to comment, since I am not familiar with turkeys. I think that blackhead may be treated with metronidazole (FishZole, Flagyl) which may be found online and treatment of cecal worms with SafeGard or Valbazen. Here is an article about blackhead:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/histomoniasis/histomoniasis-in-poultry

 

[casportpony]

Welcome to BYC, sorry your turkey is sick. If this turkey is a pet I strongly suggest that you get it to a vet ASAP and start treating for blackhead and E. Coli.

The treatment for blackhead in pet turkeys that my vets recommends is metronidazole for the blackhead and Baytril for the secondary E. Coli infection. They also recommend giving Safeguard to kill the cecal worm.

 

[Tcbish]

We were just raising them for thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m assuming then that you think it’s blackhead? We also have chickens and I’ll get the stuff you recommend. Thanks

 

[casportpony]

We were just raising them for thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m assuming then that you think it’s blackhead? We also have chickens and I’ll get the stuff you recommend. Thanks

I am assuming blackhead and E. Coli.
The drugs I mentioned are banned for use in poultry that are food animals, and they are not available at feed stores. The only way to get them is to order them, or get them from a vet. Some people have reported that using cayenne pepper treats blackhead, but I am skeptical.

Does the turkey look sick?

 

[Tcbish]

He usually follows the ducks around all day and today he slept most of the day. I just put him back in his coop and he started to eat. The other turkey was more or less the same and we found it dead one morning. I let all the birds(ducks,chickens)free range so they cross paths consistently. When we get more turkeys next year would keeping them isolated from the other birds prevent blackhead?

 

[casportpony]

The only way I have found to prevent it is to keep them off of the dirt, or on dirt that the chickens haven't been on. There is a chance that this is just a bacterial infection, and that the turkey will recover on its own, but if it does not survive I suggest that you have a necropsy done, or do your own necropsy. Blackhead is very easy to determine, just a quick look at the liver and the cecal pouches and you will know.