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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