Is there something wrong with my Royal Palm Turkeys?

[chickenandabiscuit]

Hello all,
I have been looking at my turkeys for the last couple of weeks, but I'm not sure if what I am seeing is a problem. My Royal Palm Turkeys are approximately 6 months old and I thought this might be part of their development but now I am not so sure.
They have recently got "puffy cheeks" and some of their eyes seem a little watery. These are my first birds so I am not sure what I am looking at here. Is it normal? If not, what is it and whats the best medication for treating it?
All the Royal Palms are female, but I have 4 baby standard b ronzes that I do not want to put in danger(if there is one)
I hope somebody can shed some light on this, so I don't do the wrong thing here.
Thanks in advance
Rich

 

[DJF]

I am a beginner at this stuff so weigh my comments appropriately and followup with some further research.

We have nine turkey poults growing well and getting big and other than the normal caruncles that they are growing, they don't have any swolleness or puffy areas on their face or watery eyes.

I remember coming across some material about the sinus areas on poultry so I did a quick search here on this forum for sinus or sinuses which lead me to a page on INFECTIOUS CORYZA. (page link)

Now based on your description, this sounded like I was on the right track but this disease seems to be too extreme so I went to google to search a little more for poultry sinuses ('turkey' as a search term doesn't produce the best results for me.)

Google led me to a page on BACTERIAL POULTRY DISEASES . Scroll down a little till you get to the section, Mycoplasmosis (CRD, Air sac, Sinusitis). This section is pretty grim except for the part about the "upper" form of Infectious Sinusitis. Based on your description, it sounds as though this is what your turkeys have. If your turkeys do indeed have the upper form of I.S., then apparently you can treat it with any of these antibiotics:
"Tylosin, aureomycin, terramycin, gallimycin" (copied from the page. --page link here )

I believe Tylosin is another name for Tylan but I could be mistaken.

I found this discussion, Chicken with Severe Upper Respitory Problems which, while it isn't about turkeys, and sympton-wise is a little more severe than your description, talks about infections which makes me think that I am on the right track.

Many folks, I notice, don't treat with antibiotics without knowing exactly what they are dealing with first.

I hope others will chime in and correct any errors or concur with me so that you aren't wasting your time with the wrong diagnosis.

I hope everything turns out okay.

 

[DJF]

Hi again chickenandabiscuit,

chickenmonk has a picture of a chicken with symptoms like your description here. Her second post down.

The hen in her picture looks like it has puffy cheeks. The discussion talks about administering Tylan.

Are the symtons similar?

As noted on alot of the discussions about illness, remember to supplement your birds with vitamins and perhaps even electrolytes to help them get better.

 

[chickenandabiscuit]

Hi Deb.
I can't say how much I appeciate your guidance on this one. I ordered some soluble SULFADIMETHOXINE from Cutler Supply and I am going to treat with that for 10 days and see how that goes. It certainly does fit the description of infectious corzya to a tee. If I don't see any improvement then I will try the Tylan injectable. I would rather not give them a daily shot in the neck if I can avoid it. I am tempted to find my camera cable and upload some photos of what their eyes look like, so that this thread may help some others out. The pics in your second posting are nothing compared to what I am seeing with my turkeys. Some of their cheeks look like they are ready to explode. I just hope the medicine gets here in the next day or so. I am going to fence of a temporary quarantine and monitor that.
But thanks again. You definitely got me headed in the right direction. I hope it works.
Take care

 

[DJF]

How are you making out with your turkeys? Did your medication come in? Have you started treatment?

How are your little Bronze turkeys doing? Hope you have managed to keep the illness from spreading to them.

Posting pictures is a good idea because then people can see what is going on and offer better advise.

I think that folks have more experience with chickens so you see folks helping more with chickens.

There are so many diseases out there that I was totally unaware of--and totally unprepared for.

I wish I could give you better advise. I'm thinking of your situation and I hope your efforts turn the tide for your turkeys.

 

[wilds of pa]

Hi, I thinks LS-50 may also work..
Click on the product and it will tell you what they work for..
Here is a link
http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/store/index.php?cPath=21_29



Charlie

 

[chickenandabiscuit]

I am glad to report that my turkeys are getting better. The swelling has subsided in two of my Turkeys and the other two are getting better each day.
I tried the Sulfamethodoxine (spelling) soluble powder and that did nothing. I researched some more on the forum and someone had recommended to somebody else to try Tylan 50.
I have never given shots before, but performed some honky style math on it and gave each 1.5ml each just under the skin on the back of the neck for the last two days. They weigh around 20lbs. I think I will continue it until they look normal again.
I appreciate the help from everybody, but Tylan 50 seemed like the answer to this one. Now I am so excited that I can give injectables to treat illnesses! No problem butchering birds, but something of a phobia about needles.