Turkey has flu like symptoms.

[Anonymous]

Hello there, I have a pet turkey who is coughing, sneezing and has a runny nose. She has also turned blue and her sinuses have swollen under her eyes. She is still eating and walking around but I am really concerned. Another one of our turkeys has now caught it, does anyone know what this is?

Thanks, Please answer asap

Francesca

 

[E3lx]

Hi, welcome to the forum 99 99 99 99 99 99 !!!!
How old are they, i found a similar sounding disease, but it mostly affects poults.

Turkey Rhinotracheitis

Synonyms: TRT, rhino tracheitis

Species affected: Turkeys of all ages are susceptible, but the disease is most severe in young poults. Chickens are susceptible to the virus. Experimentally, guinea fowl and pheasants are susceptible, but waterfowl and pigeons are resistant.

Clinical signs: Respiratory signs in poults include snicking, rales, sneezing, nasal exudates (often frothy), foamy conjunctivitis, and sinusitis. Drops in egg production can be as much as 70 percent (see Table 1 ).

Transmission: Spread is primarily by contact with contaminated environments, feed and water, recovered birds, equipment, and personnel.

Treatment: No drugs are available to combat the virus. Antibiotic therapy is recommended to control secondary bacterial infections.

Prevention: No vaccines are currently available. Prevention is dependent on a comprehensive biosecurity program.

Not sure if its got anything to do with what your birds have , but i hope it helps.

Try contacting an avian vet.

 

[Tim]

Sounds like Mycoplasma Galliscepticum to me.

Treatment is the same though - you can't get rid of it, just the secondary infection which comes out as infection in the upper respiritory tract / the symptoms you're seeing.

You will need to visit a poultry vet for a propper diagnosis and they will probably suggest prescription Baytril or Tylan antibiotics. You can usually buy these online cheaper but will still need the prescription from your vet.

You need to be fast though to catch this.

There's some information here: Poultry Diseases under the respiritory tab, click Mycoplasma Galliscepticum.

Good Luck.

 

[E3lx]

I didn't know turkeys can get Mycoplasma Galliscepticum!!!!!
I once accidently introduced it when i got another hen, i heard her sneezing in the box, but i didn't know mycoplasma existed, i though she was just stressed.

 

[Anonymous]

Could be Blackhead, which is common among turkeys and is contracted through the turkey eating chicken poo which is why it is cautioned not to raise turks and chickens together in the same pen, or to raise turks where chickens have been kept.

Good Luck
jd
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Blackhead (Histomoniasis, Enterohepatitis)

Birds affected
Birds affected are: turkeys, peafowl, guinea fowl, pheasant and chickens

Blackhead is an acute or chronic protozoan disease of fowl, primarily affecting the cecae and liver. called Histomonas meleagridis

The disease is present wherever poultry are raised
It is a parasite organism called a protozoa, and is a distant cousin of the coccidia parasite
For the disease to spread amongst fowl the flock must also be infected with the caecal worm
This worm survives in the fowl yard soil, earthworms
This disease affects the large intestine, then attacks the liver
The chooks bowl is eaten by the parasite and then it attacks the liver
When the chooks die their heads go black, hence the name

Turkeys:
Blackhead is one of the critical diseases of growing turkeys and game birds
It is carried by an intestinal parasite and the symptoms are:- loss of condition, drowsy appearance, ruffled feathers, and diarrhoea, sometimes mixed with blood.
It may cause stunted growth, poor feed utilization and death.

It is of lesser economic importance in chickens since they are more resistant, but the incidence in chickens apparently is increasing

Occasionally the caruncles of the turkey may become dark blue or purple (hence the name black head)

If you have an outbreak, dead birds and their droppings must be burned
All utensils should be disinfected daily and, where possible, quick lime should be applied to the run

To prevent an outbreak, Turkeys should not be run with fowls, and young turkeys should not be run in contact with adult birds

If this is not possible, then chicks and hens should be kept on clean dry, well-drained pasture and move about frequently

Symptoms
Birds develop foamy yellow diarrhoea and sit huddled up
They appear depressed and ill
They stop eating and get very thin
Increased thirst
Droopiness
Drowsiness
Darkening of the facial region
The birds can be so ill, that their wattle and comb goes blue (thus the name blackhead)
If not treated the birds usually die
Any sulphur coloured foamy droppings should be considered as blackhead, even if the bird is not showing any other signs of the disease
Blackhead acts as an immune suppressor, which will allow other diseases to have greater effect on your bird’s health
It may cause stunted growth, poor feed utilization and then death
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Another turkey saved by cayenne!

We have raised turkeys with chickens and ducks for three years with no illnesses or deaths or any problems. We use organic apple cider vinegar in all their waterers and organic feed that contains live earth humate, kelp meal, and DE. We believe the ACV and the kelp and DE in the feed keep our birds in great health! But 3 weeks ago, we allowed our 5 week old meat chickens to mingle with the turkey flock for some additional pasture time.

A week after the flocks started co-mingling, one of our 11 week old Golden Narragansett jakes started spending his days in the nest box with his mother (who is broody again). When I took him out, he seemed unable to stand or unable to balance himself. I would place him in the yard where he would sit and eat the grass around him and then struggle to stand and eventually make his way back into the nest box with his mother. He didn't have diarrhea, but the normally white streak in the stool was a sulfur yellow color.

After checking BYC I figured out that it was blackhead and made plans to cull him and watch the rest of my flock get sick and die as well. I was completely heartbroken since my turkeys are my favorite birds. I can't imagine not raising them now that I've had them for 3 years and have been able to parent hatch 4 clutches so far this year! Our breeding turkeys were our greatest success this year and I thought we were going to lose them all.

Treatment day 1:
I found this thread about cayenne and decided to try it instead of culling the jake. The day we started treatment, I saw the first sulfur diarrhea from him. We dosed the turkey feed with about 1/4 cup of all natural cayenne to 10 lbs. of feed. We also mixed a teaspoon of cayenne into a cup of water and gave each turkey poult a large dropper full (about a tablespoon) every 3 days. So we were dosing the feed and giving them cayenne straight down the gullet. We also dosed the feed of the meat chickens to try and stop the blackhead at the source. And of course, the flocks are no longer co-mingling (although the turkeys still range with our egg flock of 8 chickens).

Treatment day 2:
A second poult started to become lethargic and spent the day in the nest box with momma and sick jake. We sprinkled extra cayenne in the feed.

Treatment day 3:
The second poult was no longer lethargic and the original sick jake no longer had diarrhea. We gave a second dose of liquid cayenne to all the turkey poults.

Every day we saw more and more improvement in the sick jake, and it was fast improvement! No other poults became sick but we continued the liquid cayenne every three days for 3 weeks. Now there is no sign of sickness in any of the poults!
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[Tim]

Unless this is a secondary infection caused after a weakening by Blackhead then I'd still say Myco.

Yes, Turkeys can get Mycoplasma and so can Ducks / Geese /Pheasants / Partridge / Quail. Mycoplasmas are species specific so your Turkeys / Chickens should not get cross infected. The organisms can exist for many years and pop up from time to time when a bird is stressed or weakend. I usually notice a few cases pop up on the forums if there has been snow for example.

There have been many different names over the years for Mycoplasma. The older poultry books call it Roup or Foamy Eye and the names usually describe the secondary upper respiritory tract infection - or head cold that is caused when the immune system is weakened by the disease.

Tylan / Baytril is the most common broad spectrum antibiotic offered by vets these days to kill the mycoplasma organisms - building the birds immune system back up is also important so they can fight the head cold part is also important.

These are prescription only drugs - so your first call should be the vets. It's important to catch Myco early on before birds get too bad. If they are really poorly, you can usually get the injectable form into the breast muscle.

Let us know how you get on anyway....

Tim

 

[michelle111]

Tim,
I have a turkey with the same symptoms and from what I have read I concur on your diagnosis. I have 2 questions. Why is it more common after it snows? Also, she is part of my laying flock. If she survives can she pass this on to her poults? I read several things about it being passed through eggs, but none of it was very clear.

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[Tim]

Hi Michelle,

Snow can stress poultry and the disease often strikes when birds are stressed or weak.

There is some information here (written for chickens but is the same for Turkeys): http://poultrykeeper.com/respiratory-problems/mycoplasma

Yes, it can sometimes pass through the eggs to poults although I would say if she is fit and healthy, don't worry too much - chances are most of the flock are carriers anyway and it will only rear its head if the bird is struck with another disease or gets stressed.

If she becomes really ill, I would consider culling so she doesn't pass her genes on - but I tend to be a little harsh here in only breeding from fit stock so they pass on their inherited immunity. After a few years, I believe it pays off, you'll have stronger birds and less vets bills of course!

I hope this helps!

Tim

 

[michelle111]

Thanks. For now I have her isolated and am treating her naturally. I have her in a warm, quiet place and have cleaned her eyes twice. She is much more alert now that she can see, is eating and drinking and was just up there complaining. I will let you know how things turn out.

 

[michelle111]

Two days later another one had foamy eyes when I went out in the morning. I set up another dog crate in the old bathroom where I had the other one and kept them both in there. The second one was not as sick and stayed in several days and started feeling better. As soon as it warmed up a bit I took her back out. At the point where the first turkey was feeling better the temp dropped to -10 F. It was another 5 days before it warmed up enough to take her back outside. I treated them with cider vinegar and cayenne pepper and they are both back with the flock now.