TURKEY POULTS DYING - Lethargic, yellow poop, staggering, head twisting

[ekka]

Please help! Dying turkey poults....we live in SC, and have had chickens for years, but are new to turkeys. 2 weeks ago we got 5 mix breed turkey poults, all about 6 weeks old. They have a covered, enclosed 12x12 area with 2 large tree branches to roost, eat 20% crumble (non-medicated), get Electrolyte water and occasionally ACV water. 2 evenings ago I noticed "Angel" didn't roost. Yesterday morning she was lethargic, yellow poop, not eating, and on the ground. When she did get up, she staggered as if drunk & her wings dropped. I quarantined her, and gave her Electrolyte water and yogurt. After spending hours online I decided to try and treat her for Blackhead Disease & bought Metronidazole. That afternoon she starting doing this crazy head turning twisting thing, Angel could barely hold her head up. So, i gave the 1st dose of Metronidazole mixed with cayenne powder & yogurt (via syringe) and electrolyte water. By late evening Angel was VERY lethargic. I gave her another dose of Metronidazole and left a bowl of medicated 20% protein crumble for her. I didn't think she was going to live thru the night. Well she did, hense her name "Angel", but she didnt really look better, just stable. Gave her another round of electrolyte water this morning. Also this morning (Tues) I noticed another turkey poult "MIB" was down on the ground, head down, wings resting on the ground...but saw her at times eating & drinking too. Last night when i saw her sleeping on the roost she had clear liquid/mucus coming from her nostrils/beak. We thought we had a drooler . This afternoon I noticed her cheeks were very swollen. I also noticed the faces of the other 3 poults looked sunken in. Thinking bacterial infection now, we gave MIB & Angel amoxicillin in yogurt with cayenne powder, & of course Electrolyte water.

I am afraid I am gonna lose all my turkeys, and maybe my chicken flock if i can't figure out what is making them sick. Last weekend we sprayed the entire turkey & chicken areas with 10% Permethirin, dust bathed all of them with DE, and sprinkled DE on their food.

I have attached a picture of MIB. I have a short video of Angel I will try to upload.
I am at a loss, i think i have read & researched everything I can. I couldn't find much on turkeys. So please if you have any knowledge of what this is, or any suggestions, let me know asap.... thx

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Can you get the turkey to a vet???

it could be any number of things but if it is passing from turkey to turkey i am guessing coryza which is highly contagious and the flock will always be a carrier
let me see if i can dig up some more information for you

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/bordetellosis/overview-of-bordetellosis-in-poultry

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/157/turkey-coryza/

 

[ekka]

Note: I don't know the sexes of my poults yet, but I do refer to them as a she(s), wishful I guess. I also noticed a 3rd turkey poult ("Chocolate") looked a little thin through the face. No swelling though and she's one of the more active ones.

I do think "MIB" (poult with swollen sinus) has a respiratory infection/problem. She got a 2nd dose of Amox, ACV, Electrolytes, etc. She is still fairly active, roosted last night, and I have seen her eat and drink, swelling hadn't gone down any tho.

"Angel" (quarantined) is the poult I am really worried about. She is "stable" i guess. I gave her a 3rd dose of Metronidazole this morning, and she got Amoxicillin last night. She was up this morning doing circles with her head cocked sideways. Poop is still yellow/greenish liquid, wings drooping, etc.

If Angel has Blackhead, when did she contract it? Incubation period? Wouldn't all the others show same symptoms? Am I seeing a respiratory infection in MIB as secondary and Blackhead could be primary? If it is Blackhead, and they survive, will we ever be able to eat the eggs or the meat?

I am also concerned it may be Newcastle. Could one have Blackhead and the other Newcastle?

I do know something is going on, I just need to figure out what and how to fix it before it takes my entire flock.

 

[DwayneNLiz]

lol

i am not going to retype my response but i am going to post a ling to your other thread

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-lethargic-yellow-poop-head-twisting.1193510/

 

[DwayneNLiz]

@casportpony has more experience than i do with blackhead so i will tag her over here and see what she says

 

[casportpony]

How much do they weigh and how much metronidazole are you giving? High doses can cause neurological issues.

MIB has a sinus infection, and for that you could try Tylan. How much does MIB weigh?

 

[ekka]

I can get both of them to the vet tomorrow. Not many vets around here see/treat poultry.
Thankyou. I will stay here on this thread for TURKEYS ))

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I can get both of them to the vet tomorrow. Not many vets around here see/treat poultry.
Thankyou. I will stay here on this thread for TURKEYS ))

at least you know of one that does! good luck and keep us posted!!

 

[casportpony]

I can get both of them to the vet tomorrow. Not many vets around here see/treat poultry.
Thankyou. I will stay here on this thread for TURKEYS ))

That would be best, because your poults are young, and probably don't weigh very much, right? The most metronidazole they should get is 23 mg per pound. Almost all OTC metronidazole I know are 250 mg per pill.

 

[ekka]

Thank you for everyone helping me out....

The circling and crazy head twisting thing started before she got Metro. That was the sure tell sign something was wrong and I quarantined her (Monday morning). Moved other turkeys out, cleaned up around the area, found some fleas, sprayed Permith 10% and put DE down on ground. We examined Angel for wounds, ticks, fleas, mites, etc. (found none) and gave her Electrolyte water and 20% starter crumble. Tuesday late morning, she couldn't stand up without falling to the right. I gave her Metro; she is 3.5-4 lbs; I gave her approx 30mg of Metro, twice on Tuesday about 12 hours apart. Wednesday morning we gave her Electrolyte water and yogurt mix (cayanne & ACV). Wednesday evening (last night) I gave her Amox yogurt mix. When I got home from work she was standing with her head hanging down, eyes closed. I got her out to feed her. Surprisingly, every time I opened her beak she fought back, had more strength than I expected. After we fed her Electrolyte water and Amox yogurt, I put her back in and she started circling again.