young turkey with large welts on head?

[shaft0463]

Due to some bad timing, I ended up with 11 meat chicks and 6 young turkeys at the same time I had an older bird come up with the flu and die. We lost all of the chicks and 5 of the 6 turkeys, as well as some older chickens and a couple other chicks we had. All of the birds who had the flu are now either totally recovered or dead.

But I have one young turkey, Black Spanish, about 2 months old, with some nasty-looking welts on her head. One eye is swollen shut and the other is close to it. My husband's grandfather used to raise chickens and turkeys, and from the description he said it was mosquito bites. Given the absurd mosquito population here right now, I figured he was right, so I started coating her little head in diaper rash cream as a barrier against the mosquitos.

She wasn't looking better after a couple days of that, so I brought her inside the house. Unfortunately she's alone, as she's the only turkey left.

After a day and a half in the bath tub, she doesn't look any better at all. She's still eating and drinking (or she was as of this morning, I don't watch her constantly). I keep having to open the one eye to drain it, but she has no snotty nose at all. Just the huge lumps on her head.

Is her issue really just the mosquitos? Or is something else wrong with her? I would hate to lose this one too, as hubby and I have become quite attached to her.

 

[Dogfish]

Have you tried adding tetracycline to the water? If it is viral, it won't help, but if it is bacterial, it should clear it up. Best of luck. Sorry about your losses.

 

[ivan3]

Sure hope this is just something like the Dry form of Fowl Pox, unrelated to the `flu'.

This is a good reference (scroll down to Fowl Pox - with photo): http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0756e/T0756E08.htm#ch7

If this is what it looks like, pretty much all you can do is paint the lesions with iodine and wait it out.

Sorry for your losses and good luck with the girl.

 

[uhuh555]

A picture would help.

 

[thaiturkey]

If the lesions are round, red, raised spots then it could be infection from mosquito bites. If it is you need to get some antibiotics pdq.

Mosquitoes are our worst enemy here where poults are concerned. We have them all inoculated against any likely infection in a course that starts one week after hatching. We do that after our first poults, bought at one month after hatching, had spots around the eyes. The vet gave them antibiotics and, when the scabs dried and fell of a couple of weeks later, nose drops against mozzie bite infection in the future. He gave them a 50% chnace of survival but they are all fit and healthy now.

Good luck.

 

[JohnConnor12]

some pictures or small introductory video would give better judgment.

 

[shaft0463]

I will get some pictures once my camera batteries have charged.

It is sounding like Fowl Pox, and the inside of her mouth looks fine. She's not been eating really recently as her crop is empty. I did put some iodine on her head, and the scab on one of the lumps came off when I was making sure her eye was draining.

Can wet pox and dry pox show up in the same closed flock, so maybe the others had wet pox and she has dry pox, but it's just by chance that she doesn't have wet pox? If that makes sense. She did have a snotty nose several weeks ago, but it has since cleared up. It was a bit after that cleared that the lumps started to appear.

Poor girl, I really hope she makes it. She just seems so depressed all alone in the bathtub. I wish I could put a buddy in with her, but I knwo that would just continue to spread whatever this is.

This has been a nightmare. No more bringing in grown chickens from other flocks.

 

[ivan3]

This might be totally unrelated to whatever it was that burnt through your flock (Wet Pox is apparently pretty obvious). A pic would be helpful.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

from the description, the poster on fowl pox is 100% right.
It's fowl pox, very often yes from mosquito bites on the first infections, others can now get it by picking the knots or scabs on it.
If they survive, they will build an immunity to the virus, kind of like us and chicken pox. There is a common vaccine for fowl pox.
There are 2 kinds, dry and wet,
Dry are on the skin and most birds can recover from it, BUT it does weaken their immune system during the infection. It usually runs 2-3 week to get over it. A good course of antibiotics will help fight off other possible problems during this time. It will do nothing for the pox, but helps keep them from succumbing from other problems.

On the other hand, wet pox is internal, usually gets in the throat and respiratory tract. In these cases, most is suffocate and die from it.
If they are wart like knots on the skin, eyes, etc, you have dry pox, so just watch them and you'll be fine in a few weeks.
If you have other birds, I would vaccinate them for it, even if they are in other pens, cause they will eventually get it now.
Mosquito bites an infected bird, then bites a new one, now they have it...

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Quote:
yes, both can have both forms of pox, all will die usually on the wet pox though...
This usually doesnt come from new birds, like I said above, just mosquitos that have it, they can get it from anywhere, domestic or wild birds, then bite your babies and they have it.
Mosquite bites, of pecking at the scabs and warts is the only way to transfer it.
Vaccinate all the others asap and they should be fine
go to
www.jeffers.com
they have the vaccine. It is a wing stab type, comes with a little 2 prong needle. Dip the needle in the vile, then poke in therw the wing webing. In 2-3 days, a small knot will be where you stabed the wing. If you see this, the vaccine was successful

Being in the swampy area of south Georgia that I am, I do all my birds for it just to be safe...
Good luck