Well I had my first experience with Blackhead in turkey
this week. We lost one bird a few days ago when it was so hot so I assumed that
was what caused it. That was the only loss we had. Then yesterday when I went
to let everyone out in the morning to free range all day I found another young
turkey had passed. Since all the birds were fine when they were put up the
evening before and it had not been that hot I decided something else must be
going on. I was given different opinions when I first got my turkey from people
say they could and could not be raised with chickens. The person I got my turkey from had hers with
her chickens and they all seemed to be doing great. Well, apparently my turkey and chickens are
not going to be able to live together because after doing some research and
performing a necropsy (I am a licensed veterinary technician and have done
several necropsies) on the bird I lost, I have fount that I am dealing with blackhead in my
birds.
I have included two pictures from the necropsy in case anyone else loses
birds and would like to see what they should be looking for if they too decide
to necropsy their bird. If you think you are dealing with blackhead and don’t
have the stomach to do your own necropsy you can collect the bird as soon as
possible after death and put it in a garbage bag and into your refrigerator. Do
not freeze the bird. Then get in touch with your veterinarian. Even most small
animal veterinarians should be able to do a necropsy on your bird even if they
don’t normally treat avian species.
You can have your
veterinarian look for the following during the necropsy to determine if you are
dealing with blackhead:
Lesions on the cecae and liver, the cecae may show a ballooned
appearance and the walls are thickened, necrotic or ulcerated. A caseous,
cheesy, core within the cecae, it may be blood tinged. In some cases a perforation of the cecal wall
may occur leading to peritonitis. The liver will be swollen and display
circular depressed areas of necrosis, usually ½ an inch in diameter. The lesions
will be yellow to yellow-green in color and extend into the underlying liver
tissues.
You can see the lesions in the photos of my bird; also there
is a perforation in the cecal wall resulting in leakage and peritonitis in my
bird as well.
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| Lesions on the liver |
 |
| Cecum, perforation |
To prevent blackhead in your turkey, the simplest way is
to not house them with any other species of poulty or fowl. The next best thing is to follow a strict
deworming program in all of your birds. Blackhead is caused by a parasite that
most avian species carry, so your birds can also be infected by wild birds.
That is why a proper deworming schedule with the correct medications in so
important. I was misinformed and that is what caused my losses, I was told
previously not to start deworming my birds until they were 6 months old. Well,
none of turkey are yet six months old but had I started worming them before now
I may not have experienced the losses I have.
The disease is caused by a protozoan, a relative of coccidia, that is
found in cecal worms of poultry and other fowl.
The bird is infected by the cecal worm and is then infected by the
blackhead organism Histomonas meleagridis. For the disease to spread amongst the birds
the flock must be infected with the cecal worm carrying the protozoan. The worm
and its eggs can survive in the soil for long periods of time, years even. The parasite can also be transferred through
earthworms. Because the presence of the cecal worm is necessary for the
transmission of the disease, an effective worming schedule is very important in
its prevention.
The following drugs are effective against cecal worms in
poultry:
Levamisole, Albendazole Oxfendazole, Fenbendazole and Ivermectin.
Albendazole (Albenza
or Valbazen) 10 mg/kg for all worms except tapes, which
required 20mg/kg.
Fenbendazole (Panacur
or Safe-Guard) 10-50mg/kg by
mouth once, repeat in 10 days or once daily for 3-5 days. Or 125mg/Liter of drinking water for 5 days.
Do not use during molt.
Ivermectin (Ivomec)
200 mcg/kg (0.2mg/kg) orally, repeat in 10-14 days.
Levamisole (Levasole
or Tramisol) Using 13.65% injectable:
5-15ml/gallon drinking water for 1-3 days, repeat in 10 days. Or 18-36mg/kg by
mouth.
Oxfendazole (Synanthic) 10mg/kg
Signs and Symptoms of the disease include:
Loss of condition, a drowsy appearance, ruffled or un-kept
feathers, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea or sulphur colored droppings. It can also
cause stunted growth and loss of appetite. Some birds exhibit a darkening of
the face, comb or wattles, hence the name blackhead.
I personally did not see any of these signs in my birds,
but my birds are still very young so I believe they succumbed before I was able
to notice any symptoms. I have also read that any turkey exhibiting a sulphur
colored stool should begin treatment immediately, even if no other symptoms are
seen. My birds all still have normal stools, but the necropsy results show that
they are suffering from this disease. Therefore, I suggest anyone experiencing
a loss of birds have a necropsy done.
Birds affected are turkey, peafowl, guinea fowl, pheasant
and chickens but turkey and other game birds seem to suffer the most from the
disease. Many chickens are infected but seem to be less affected and usually no
losses occur.
Treatment:
The best treatment for the disease, emetryl, is no longer
available on the market and is now illegal because it was found to be
carcinogenic. So now the treatment seems to be hit or miss for some people.
What I have found is treating with Metronidazole seems to be the best treatment
at this time. You can get metronidazole from your veterinarian, it is a very common
small animal drug or you can try your local pet store that carries fish
supplies. Look for a product called Fish
Zole, the active ingredient should be metronidazole. The dose is 50mg/kg by
mouth once daily for 5 days. The fish zole comes as a 250mg tablet, so to dose
the birds you will need to weigh your birds and figure out the dose to
determine how much to give. As a
reference point a 10lb bird will get 1 tablet. If you are not sure how to do
the calculations you can email me your bird’s weight and I will calculate it
for you or call your veterinarian and they can calculate the dose for you. Corid (amprolium), which is commonly used for
prevention of coccidia can also be added to the drinking water to help treat and
prevent blackhead. Some medicated turkey feeds already have powdered amprolium
mixed in. It comes as Amprol 128 which is Amprolium 20%
soluble powder. This should be able to be found OTC, and is approved for use in
growing chickens, turkey and laying hens. There is no meat or egg withdrawal
when used as directed. If you cannot
find this product you may be able to get the liquid form (9.6% solution) and
the dose is 2ml/gallon of water for 5 days. You may need to add some sugar to
the water as it is unpalatable to some animals.
I hope this has been helpful and that you can learn from
my experiences.
Until next time, enjoy your feathered friends!
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