- Jan 29, 2012
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I am a turkey newbie. I have 6 month old turkeys that look very healthy. 2 got bright yellow poop and died in 2 days. any ideas on what was wrong with them?
Yellow poop Whats up?
- Thread starter Bator Babies
- Start date
Most likely Blackhead. Yellow poop is one symptom of it, often starting only vaguely yellowish then progressing at varying rates to being bright yellow. Despite the name most strains of BH don't cause a black head.
Adding cayenne or chilli pepper to their feed is supposed to help break the cycle as it burns the oocysts that carry the disease.
I found one treatment that worked is to wait until the poop is runny, very yellow, and the bird's refusing to eat (it's usually lying down by that point and not far off death) and take one cup of raw cow's milk (not homogenized or pasteurized) which has been left to sit for an hour or so and had the cream scraped off the top; add a teaspoon of honey to it, and give it to the sick bird.
It will usually start drinking immediately, but you may need to dip its beak into it so it gets the taste test over with. This treatment saved about 99% of birds I gave it to. Gradually, over generations, they became immune to Blackhead.
Blackhead harms the liver so goat's milk, which is naturally homogenized, or any homogenized and pasteurized (cooked) milk would most likely kill the bird, as fats can be hard on the liver to process and coat the intestines, specifically if heat-treated. The fats need to be raw so they are easily processed and beneficial. If desperate you could experiment with skimmed milk but I reckon you'd stand a very high chance of losing the bird if you do that.
Giving normal cereal feeds like corn, red sorghum etc can cause further issues as they are hard on the liver when it's incapacitated or struggling, as it is when the animal has blackhead, so millet and oats are best for this time. Keep it on that diet until it's willing to start taking other grains and seeds, generally not before a week is up. If the bird won't voluntarily stop taking these cereals etc, stop giving them to it and restrict it from accessing them.
Fresh green grass, as much as it wants, is important to help the liver at this stage. The animal needs a period of time to heal its liver. Raw freshly grated potato or just its juice is a liver support that can keep hepatitis sufferers alive indefinitely, so if the turkey wants that, you could offer it. Chances are it wouldn't recognize it though.
Don't give the treatment before the stage I mentioned as it can merely prolong the disease; also, continuing it beyond two cups or so, maximum, can enable a relapse; fasting is necessary to treat many diseases like this and by the stage I mentioned the bird is naturally fasting itself. I haven't experimented with forcing them to fast before treating them in earlier stages but that might work.
Best wishes.
Adding cayenne or chilli pepper to their feed is supposed to help break the cycle as it burns the oocysts that carry the disease.
I found one treatment that worked is to wait until the poop is runny, very yellow, and the bird's refusing to eat (it's usually lying down by that point and not far off death) and take one cup of raw cow's milk (not homogenized or pasteurized) which has been left to sit for an hour or so and had the cream scraped off the top; add a teaspoon of honey to it, and give it to the sick bird.
It will usually start drinking immediately, but you may need to dip its beak into it so it gets the taste test over with. This treatment saved about 99% of birds I gave it to. Gradually, over generations, they became immune to Blackhead.
Blackhead harms the liver so goat's milk, which is naturally homogenized, or any homogenized and pasteurized (cooked) milk would most likely kill the bird, as fats can be hard on the liver to process and coat the intestines, specifically if heat-treated. The fats need to be raw so they are easily processed and beneficial. If desperate you could experiment with skimmed milk but I reckon you'd stand a very high chance of losing the bird if you do that.
Giving normal cereal feeds like corn, red sorghum etc can cause further issues as they are hard on the liver when it's incapacitated or struggling, as it is when the animal has blackhead, so millet and oats are best for this time. Keep it on that diet until it's willing to start taking other grains and seeds, generally not before a week is up. If the bird won't voluntarily stop taking these cereals etc, stop giving them to it and restrict it from accessing them.
Fresh green grass, as much as it wants, is important to help the liver at this stage. The animal needs a period of time to heal its liver. Raw freshly grated potato or just its juice is a liver support that can keep hepatitis sufferers alive indefinitely, so if the turkey wants that, you could offer it. Chances are it wouldn't recognize it though.
Don't give the treatment before the stage I mentioned as it can merely prolong the disease; also, continuing it beyond two cups or so, maximum, can enable a relapse; fasting is necessary to treat many diseases like this and by the stage I mentioned the bird is naturally fasting itself. I haven't experimented with forcing them to fast before treating them in earlier stages but that might work.
Best wishes.
Most likely blackhead (histomoniais). Treatment for blackhead is metronidazole (Fish-Zole, API General Cure, Meditrich, Flagyl) at no less than 30mg/kg by mouth for five days, but I have heard of some vets prescribing it at 60mg/kg twice a day for five days. You also need to worm them with something like Safeguard, Panacur or Valbazen. The Safeguard or Panacur dose my vet recommends is 50mg/kg (.5ml per 2.2 pounds) by mouth and repeat in ten days. The most effective Valbazen dose is 20mg/kg (~.2ml per 2.2 pounds) and repeat in ten days.
Often they will also have a secondary infection like e. Coli, so another antibiotic like Baytril may be necessary. If they aren't drinking and eating, tube feeding is required.
30mg/kg = 30mg per 2.2 pounds
60mg/kg = 60mg per 2.2 pounds
1ml = 1cc
Fish-Zole - 250mg metronidazole tablets
API General Cure - 250mg metronidazole powder & 75mg praziquantil (available at most pet stores)
Meditrich - 100mg metronidazole tablets
Flagyl - 200, 250, 400 & 500mg tablets
Safeguard and Panacur - 10% fenbendazole
Valbazen - 11.36% albendazole
Last edited:
More on blackhead:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/804570/coping-with-blackhead
Tube feeding threads and videos:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding
Blackhead necropsy thread - Warning, *very* graphic!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...s-probable-blackhead-five-miles-from-my-place
-Kathy
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/804570/coping-with-blackhead
Tube feeding threads and videos:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding
Blackhead necropsy thread - Warning, *very* graphic!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...s-probable-blackhead-five-miles-from-my-place
-Kathy
- Thread starter
- #5
- Jan 29, 2012
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thank you for all the info. It is a lot to digest. I wormed everyone with iveron. sprinkled DE all over the run. made hot mash containing DE and cayenne pepper. I removed the girl who had yellow poop and put her in her own pen(she really does not appreciate that). So far the healthy ones are fine. The sick one eats and drinks. she does not act sick at all.
her poop is not quite as bright yellow. anybody have any thoughts about how long she should be isolated from the others? It is getting pretty cold at night and I am concerned that she will be warm enough.
A week before she got sick another one had yellow poop for 2 days then it went away and he is fine.
her poop is not quite as bright yellow. anybody have any thoughts about how long she should be isolated from the others? It is getting pretty cold at night and I am concerned that she will be warm enough.
A week before she got sick another one had yellow poop for 2 days then it went away and he is fine.
What is iveron?
-Kathy
-Kathy
- Thread starter
- #7
- Jan 29, 2012
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it is a liquid that is put on the skin to worm internally and to kill lice and mites. The active ingredient is ivermectin. It works great. I have used it on my chicken for years.
Okay, I thought it might be. Did you know that ivermectin is not an effective poultry wormer? I would worm with Valbazen or Safeguard instead.
From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2816174
Ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic--trials with naturally infected domestic fowl.
Oksanen A, Nikander S.
Abstract
To evaluate the use of ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic, 29 White Leghorn hens naturally infected with Ascaridia spp., Heterakis spp. and Capillaria spp. were treated with 0.2, 2 or 6 mg/kg intramuscularly or 0.2 or 0.8 mg/kg orally. Faecal samples were collected before treatment and at autopsy, 2, 6, or 16 days after treatment, when the intestines were also examined for helminths. None of the treatments gave satisfactory anthelmintic results.
From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2816174
Ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic--trials with naturally infected domestic fowl.
Oksanen A, Nikander S.
Abstract
To evaluate the use of ivermectin as a bird anthelmintic, 29 White Leghorn hens naturally infected with Ascaridia spp., Heterakis spp. and Capillaria spp. were treated with 0.2, 2 or 6 mg/kg intramuscularly or 0.2 or 0.8 mg/kg orally. Faecal samples were collected before treatment and at autopsy, 2, 6, or 16 days after treatment, when the intestines were also examined for helminths. None of the treatments gave satisfactory anthelmintic results.
Quote: Sounds like either you have a weaker strain of blackhead, or stronger birds with some natural immunity, or, worst case scenario, you have a chronic long-lasting strain of blackhead. They can relapse indefinitely.
If they're getting less yellow poops all on their own, chances are they're naturally immune to some degree. They may handle it themselves. In my experience, direct siblings from the same upbringing can include some which die, some which never show symptoms, and some which get mildly sick then recover unaided. Individual strengths and weaknesses.
Isolating the bird is useless as a preventative for blackhead. They most common method of transmission is via soil contamination. The only reason to isolate her would be to make sure she receives her medication without the others taking it, but it seems this isn't going to be necessary in this case. Still, even if one seems sick and the rest seem healthy, they've all been exposed and you may run into a weak case or two in future. Might be best to cull those that are weak to it, judging by my experiences, since they can and do develop some kind of immunity against it, and it's fairly heritable.
I would lime all the soils around your place to help clean them of the contamination. Hydrated agricultural lime destroys many diseases, parasite eggs, and other issues.
Best wishes.
If they're getting less yellow poops all on their own, chances are they're naturally immune to some degree. They may handle it themselves. In my experience, direct siblings from the same upbringing can include some which die, some which never show symptoms, and some which get mildly sick then recover unaided. Individual strengths and weaknesses.
Isolating the bird is useless as a preventative for blackhead. They most common method of transmission is via soil contamination. The only reason to isolate her would be to make sure she receives her medication without the others taking it, but it seems this isn't going to be necessary in this case. Still, even if one seems sick and the rest seem healthy, they've all been exposed and you may run into a weak case or two in future. Might be best to cull those that are weak to it, judging by my experiences, since they can and do develop some kind of immunity against it, and it's fairly heritable.
I would lime all the soils around your place to help clean them of the contamination. Hydrated agricultural lime destroys many diseases, parasite eggs, and other issues.
Best wishes.
- Thread starter
- #10
- Jan 29, 2012
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this is great info to have. do you know if blackhead damages the intestines like cocci does in chickens? Today I saw some poop with blood that looked just like when chicks are healing from cocci. wondering if it came from the recovering male.
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