what to do after blackhead symptoms go away...

[MellowBird]

my turkeys have blackhead...I'm treating with metronidazle. After 2 doses they look considerably better, we'll see what happens next.

Will they continuously get this till slaughter? I can't sterilize the run and coop anymore than I am. I use a driveway torch and have no idea if it does anything but makes me feel better.

I look forward to any opinions or knowledge.

 

[TV]

How do you know they have blackhead, what are their symptoms?

 

[MellowBird]

The one I quarantined was eating but couldn't get up, I had to put a tray basically in front of him and the water on the side. He was going through a gallon an hour. I would definitely call it excessive.. Also, they were starting to huddle together and shake, ruffling feather a lot; they were all getting wobbly too when trying to get up. There normal poos were dark green/brownish with variation then started getting lighter to a rusty/orange color and very loose but no blood.

Since this post I've treated them with metronidizale 3 times and they are all walking around fine.

The one that died had spots on its liver.

 

[TV]

Do ou have another oen or area that hasn't been occupied by birds available to move them to? the problem with blackhead as I understand it is that once the ground becomes infested it needs to kept clear for up to several years. Earth worms can become carriers and if the turkeys have access to the worms, they can be re-infected. I'm sorry for your troubles and sure hope all turns out well.

 

[Jeanette56]

Several years ago I had a couple of turkeys that showed symptoms of blackhead. According to information I could find on the internet at the time Cayenne Pepper was recommended as a natural cure. So I would add a small of cooking oil to their feed so that the dry Cayenne Pepper would stick and fed it to them for a couple weeks (?-don't remember for sure). Their skin cleared up and they never did show symptoms again.
Here is a BYC thread about another person who tried the same thing - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/134230/hope-this-saves-a-turkey-from-blackhead

 

[TV]

If it was a skin problem it eas probably fowl pox and not blachead. Blackhead is a digestive tract protozoan infestation and does not affect the skin other than a possible lbluish coloration of the head. The dark black scabs so many call blackhead is actually fowl pox which is a viral infection for which there is no treatment other than time.