[Glaswegian]

hi. i was wondering if anyone has experience of this condition? i bought five bronze and ten white turkeys at the end of august,all went fine up to about 2 weeks ago when i noticed one of the bronze birds was very lethargic and had runny yellow poo,she died the next day.since then i have lost another four with the same symptoms. i searched the web for an answer and all sighn's point to the dreaded blackhead. the turkeys were given the same run as the hens and ducks but were housed separately. i now have the turks indoors all the time to see will it make a difference. i found a website that says cayenne pepper mixed with their food and water can cure blackhead i have been doing this for the last week and a half,but it doesn't appear to be working. has anyone tried this cure?


                            cheers.

[Hermit]

Oh dear , the blackhead parasite lives in the runs. Never mix turkeys and chooks, the risk is too great.Never even use redundant runs .Regular worming prevents blackhead but only with a proper wormer such as Flubenvet, not a herbal such as Vermex. I know of a few folk that have lost whole flocks to the disease, I can only suggest you worm the rest with Flubenvet  ASAP and try to save some. I believe there is no cure for blackhead so try what you can.  Hope it is not blackhead  

[pauljay]

Hi,

My sympathies.  It has happened to us before but over the last two seasons we have isolated the poults as soon as we get them and wormed the with Flubonvet before letting them out to run as far away from the chickens as we can.   It seems to have worked.  However I have just taken two out of the flock with the symptons you have described as well as being bullied.

If you are going to Flubonvet them you will need to do it quickly if they are intended as Christmas fare as I think there is a 4 week period required twixt end of medication and consumption.

Best speak to a vet and good luck.

[Glaswegian]

hi hermit and pauljay,thanks for your reply. i'll certainly give flubenvet a try.can it be bought over the counter or do i go to the vet for it? i have kept hens ducks and turkeys together for the last three years without any sign of ill health in any of my birds,so it's a bit of a mystery how they are so sick now .

[Daisys Mum]

 
You should be able to get flubenvet over the counter, my local farm supplies stocks it.

[Glaswegian]

thank you daisy's mum.

[Hermit]

You can get it cheaper over the internet but I would get it straight from the vet or an authorised merchants in your case. Good luck

[Glaswegian]

hi i managed to get a tub from a vet this morning,so i'll start worming them this morning and it works because it's hard to see them wasting away.

[StephB]

I kept my turkeys and chickens together last year but I wormed them twice during their July-December life.

I had read that as long as all your birds are regularily wormed with Flubenvet then you are fairly safe keeping them together.

I had abit of a wobble this year though and decided to keep mine separate as i was worried I was just lucky last year.

I think basically if you can keep them separate then you should, but if you do not have enough space then worming them thoroughly twice a year then you stand a good chance of avoiding it.

I have no clue if worming now will save your turkeys but I really hope it does.  Fingers Crossed.

xxx

[Glaswegian]

hi. i have my turks separated  from the chooks,have them on flubenvet and haven't lost any for a few days now. i had them in their shed since last week,let them out this morning far away from the chooks,i swear i could hear them cheer as they ran with their wings flapping into the run.so once again 

[DinkyDill]

I have 4 turkeys this year as an experiment and they have access to ground that chickens have been on. Was advised to worm them, so, wormed them with the medicated feed from marriages. Advised by marriages to mix 50% layers medicated pellets and 50% turkey growers. Easy enough to do, this was just a precaution as they were not sick to start with.

[harry]

whats the safe withdrawel time to put turkeys on old chicken ground...... does this also apply to turkeys with ducks muscoverys

[DinkyDill]

I have read that 2 years should pass before putting turkeys on chicken ground. Don`t know if that is right, but some people keep turkeys and chickens together and they are ok and others have problems with turkeys over this. Difficult to decide isn`t it about this?