Greetings, all. I had 50 four week old Bourbon Red and Bronze turkey poults, purchased at day old. They are with a few Cochin/EE cross chicks that hatched from my eggs and are now 8 weeks old.
I've been raising both chickens and turkeys here for 17 years, the older birds are indoor/outdoor but all the chicks and poults are indoors only as it's been a very wet spring. Blackhead has never been an issue here but I realize there is always a first time.
Over the past several days, I've been losing my poults. One day they are bright eyed, eating and drinking, roosting and chasing. The next day they stand quite upright, feathers ruffled, head pulled back to the shoulders. For the first 12-18 hours, they will run when you approach, but after that they just remain still, then die and collapse. No gasping, no wheezing, no eye, mouth, or nasal mucus, no head shaking, no staggering, no lying down.
The dead birds are exceptionally, abnormally light in weight and show just a hint of white diarrhea dried on the feathers under the vent. The bedding is light and dry, so it's not a large volume of wet mess. Poop on the floor for the most part is the normal starter crumble diet appearance, greenish brown with white streaks. I've seen one or two yellowish messes, and cocci have been an issue here.
I suspected histomoniasis because of the rapid decline and risk factor with chickens mixed in, so I sanitized the waterer and dosed with oxytetracycline per label and metronidazole at .05% in the drinking water. I added Vi-tal to make the brew more attractive, and they drank 3 quarts in approximately 6 hours.
I had another dead when I went out for bed check and to refresh the water. I did a necropsy...
Liver: very dark and clean, no lesions.
Intestine: varied content, soft and pliable except for ceca, which were rather firm and felt quite full.
No signs of peritonitis or lesions on the intestine.
No sign of infection at all.
I believe the poult died of dehydration, but why? I snatched a couple more that looked droopy and dipped their beaks, but they showed no interest in drinking.
The smallest poults succumbed first, now my bigger poults are showing signs.
Can anyone please help with diagnosis? Thanks in advance.
Clean, dark liver, no lesions
No sign of peritonitis or lesions, no bad odor
Ceca firm, full of material
Not sure what to make of the appearance of the intestine in this photo
Small amount of chalky white diarrhea
I've been raising both chickens and turkeys here for 17 years, the older birds are indoor/outdoor but all the chicks and poults are indoors only as it's been a very wet spring. Blackhead has never been an issue here but I realize there is always a first time.
Over the past several days, I've been losing my poults. One day they are bright eyed, eating and drinking, roosting and chasing. The next day they stand quite upright, feathers ruffled, head pulled back to the shoulders. For the first 12-18 hours, they will run when you approach, but after that they just remain still, then die and collapse. No gasping, no wheezing, no eye, mouth, or nasal mucus, no head shaking, no staggering, no lying down.
The dead birds are exceptionally, abnormally light in weight and show just a hint of white diarrhea dried on the feathers under the vent. The bedding is light and dry, so it's not a large volume of wet mess. Poop on the floor for the most part is the normal starter crumble diet appearance, greenish brown with white streaks. I've seen one or two yellowish messes, and cocci have been an issue here.
I suspected histomoniasis because of the rapid decline and risk factor with chickens mixed in, so I sanitized the waterer and dosed with oxytetracycline per label and metronidazole at .05% in the drinking water. I added Vi-tal to make the brew more attractive, and they drank 3 quarts in approximately 6 hours.
I had another dead when I went out for bed check and to refresh the water. I did a necropsy...
Liver: very dark and clean, no lesions.
Intestine: varied content, soft and pliable except for ceca, which were rather firm and felt quite full.
No signs of peritonitis or lesions on the intestine.
No sign of infection at all.
I believe the poult died of dehydration, but why? I snatched a couple more that looked droopy and dipped their beaks, but they showed no interest in drinking.
The smallest poults succumbed first, now my bigger poults are showing signs.
Can anyone please help with diagnosis? Thanks in advance.
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