I want some info on blackhead for turkeys.

[Myah1011]

Before I start I just wanted to say anything no my turkeys are not sick I just want some general information, before getting turkeys I tried to search about blackhead disease in my area but didn’t get a whole lot of information so I was wondering if anyone had experience in Auburn California and if blackhead seems to be prevalent in that area, I tried to do my own research but it didn’t get anything about my area, I want to know if my turkeys are in any time of danger in this area, does anyone know anything about this?

 

[R2elk]

@casportpony

Call the state vet and check with local feed stores.

 

[KF0002]

My biggest advice is keep turkeys away from chickens and coops or ground that has had chickens within the last several years. Chickens are a major vector for blackhead and while they can be infected they are less likely to suffer mortality from it. Turkeys, however, are extremely susceptible and vulnerable to blackhead and have no immunity to it like chickens so once it gets in your flock it can spread through them and it kills younger birds and juveniles pretty swiftly. If you already have chickens with your flock of turkeys and have never noticed any symptoms or losses from blackhead, you may not have the organism that causes blackhead in the soil where you live. If that's the case, consider yourself blessed. Another tidbit of advice, don't introduce chickens or turkeys from an outside source without fully quarantining and deworming the bird(s). Chickens don't naturally carry blackhead, its an organism that is spread via the soil and earthworms, cecal worms, and other insects. If chickens never encounter blackhead, they don't carry or spread it. I hope that makes sense.

Poultry should ideally be kept to their own kind, and another benefit of keeping them separate is to help prevent any accidental breeding attempts of chickens by toms turkeys, which can be fatal to the chicken because of the size of the turkey. I am one of the unlucky ones that has to deal with blackhead as long as I decide to keep turkeys. I have gotten my prevention and treatment down pretty well and I haven't lost any birds since my birds were around 2 months old or so, so it can be done. You just have to be hypervigilant in watching for the subtle early symptoms of it which from my experience, before the turkey starts having the ominous sulfur-colored droppings that usually indicates blackhead, there will be earlier signs that the bird is infected.

Early symptom number 1 from my experience is the bird will go off feed. Turkeys live to eat, so when one of mine goes off feed that is a big red flag. I don't always begin treatment that day, but I keep a close eye on them if I don't and isolate the bird so I can monitor droppings. I tend to watch older birds 5+ months or older a day or so before I begin treatment as they don't typically die as fast as juveniles do. At the first suspicion of blackhead in my juveniles, I begin treatment as you don't have a moment to lose.

Early symptom #2 is loose watery diarrhea. More often than not, a day up to a few days before the bird starts having sulfur-colored droppings (which is a late symptom from my experience), they will have loose watery diarrhea, often green in color. This starts right around the same time the bird goes off feed. Other symptoms include lethargy and sleepiness, lack of normal vigor and brightness, the males will stop strutting, and lack of coordination and stumbling. Very late in the illness, the bird will become abnormally indifferent to being handled and won't put up much fuss, and they often droop up with their wings hanging down to their sides in a "droopy" appearance.

Keep Metronidazole and Baytril on hand and begin treatment ASAP. I use the metronidazole tablets for older juveniles and adults, and use the water soluble powder for younger birds. I also use water-soluble bayril in powder form. Ebay and Jedds Pigeon Supply online is where I order the meds. @casportpony can fill in anything I may have left out.

 

[Myah1011]

I do have my Turkeys with my chickens so there's that and I know we have a bunch of earthworms up here so hopefully nothing happens, luckily both of my Turkeys are female so I don't have to worry much about them breeding with my hens and I will try to get the medicine you said so I have it on hand! I did recently deworm all of my chickens a few months ago so they shouldn't have worms at the moment and I heard that pepper flakes can be used to keep worms at bay as well. Overall since I've had them with my chickens for about 3-4 months now and haven't had any issues I'm hopeful that my area is in the clear, in fact in my 4 years of owning chickens we have only ever had one die due to any type of health reason so I think we are doing pretty well. I just wanted to make sure, and I will definitely try to check in with the vets about my area! Thank you guys for responding and I'll look out for any of the signs you have listed.

 

[KF0002]

I do have my Turkeys with my chickens so there's that and I know we have a bunch of earthworms up here so hopefully nothing happens, luckily both of my Turkeys are female so I don't have to worry much about them breeding with my hens and I will try to get the medicine you said so I have it on hand! I did recently deworm all of my chickens a few months ago so they shouldn't have worms at the moment and I heard that pepper flakes can be used to keep worms at bay as well. Overall since I've had them with my chickens for about 3-4 months now and haven't had any issues I'm hopeful that my area is in the clear, in fact in my 4 years of owning chickens we have only ever had one die due to any type of health reason so I think we are doing pretty well. I just wanted to make sure, and I will definitely try to check in with the vets about my area! Thank you guys for responding and I'll look out for any of the signs you have listed.

I don't put much stock in red pepper flakes or cayenne as a good enough dewormer or prevention/treatment for blackhead. I have experimented with various concentrations of cayenne in the water and even in the feed and it hasn't proven effective for me. When I aim to deworm my birds or animals, I use dewormer that is pretty tried and true. Red pepper flakes and things like that may be good at keeping worm loads down some, but should not replace an actual dewormer.

It sounds like you may be one of the lucky ones who may never encounter blackhead. I am really glad for you if that's the case, because it has been a challenge to get my birds to adulthood to say the least. Now they seem pretty hardy and I haven't encountered blackhead in them as often as when they were juveniles. They are a little more sturdy against it when they are grown as opposed to when they are younger and they don't tend to deteriorate as fast. Older birds tend to rebound faster with treatment also.

It is fortunate for your chickens you don't have any toms. lol.

 

[Myah1011]

I don't put much stock in red pepper flakes or cayenne as a good enough dewormer or prevention/treatment for blackhead. I have experimented with various concentrations of cayenne in the water and even in the feed and it hasn't proven effective for me. When I aim to deworm my birds or animals, I use dewormer that is pretty tried and true. Red pepper flakes and things like that may be good at keeping worm loads down some, but should not replace an actual dewormer.

It sounds like you may be one of the lucky ones who may never encounter blackhead. I am really glad for you if that's the case, because it has been a challenge to get my birds to adulthood to say the least. Now they seem pretty hardy and I haven't encountered blackhead in them as often as when they were juveniles. They are a little more sturdy against it when they are grown as opposed to when they are younger and they don't tend to deteriorate as fast. Older birds tend to rebound faster with treatment also.

It is fortunate for your chickens you don't have any toms. lol.

Once again thank you for your fast and detailed reply’s and thanks for telling me about the pepper thing! I will continue to deworm my birds with actual dewormer I just might use the pepper to keep their numbers down like you said. I am also happy that I appear to be lucky and hope that blackhead never comes to my area, I would wish the same to you but it seems to be a bad problem for you so I just hope your turkeys don’t get sick as often and I wish you luck with raising more in the future! Since I’m new to Turkeys it’s been hard learning the ropes but with people like you I feel incredibly lucky! I wish you all the best when it comes to any of your birds!

 

[Myah1011]

@casportpony

Call the state vet and check with local feed stores.

Sorry for not seeing your reply sooner but I will definitely try to call the vet when I have a chance! Thank you for reaching out an replying and taking the time out of your day to do so! I wish your birds happy health and good living

 

[KF0002]

Once again thank you for your fast and detailed reply’s and thanks for telling me about the pepper thing! I will continue to deworm my birds with actual dewormer I just might use the pepper to keep their numbers down like you said. I am also happy that I appear to be lucky and hope that blackhead never comes to my area, I would wish the same to you but it seems to be a bad problem for you so I just hope your turkeys don’t get sick as often and I wish you luck with raising more in the future! Since I’m new to Turkeys it’s been hard learning the ropes but with people like you I feel incredibly lucky! I wish you all the best when it comes to any of your birds!

Thank you! I wish you all the best with your birds also. I enjoy my turkeys very much, so the pros of having turkeys outweigh the cons I have to deal with regarding blackhead. It does seem to be quite common in my area unfortunately, but it is still possible to maintain healthy turkeys despite the adversity that they face with blackhead. You just have to know what to look for, and how to treat it.

 

[KF0002]

Sorry for not seeing your reply sooner but I will definitely try to call the vet when I have a chance! Thank you for reaching out an replying and taking the time out of your day to do so! I wish your birds happy health and good living

Your local extension office will be able to tell you if blackhead has been reported in your area also.

 

[Myah1011]

Your local extension office will be able to tell you if blackhead has been reported in your area also.

Alright thank you!