Need Turkey Help

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

Received this email asking for turkey help, and I'm not experienced in birds:

i need some help. my turkey is sick. it spends a lot of time just lying around. its poops are very runny and yellow, but they dont appear foamy. not eating much but drinking a lot. he dose a lot of panting like he is trying to catch his breath. he seems to me he is spreading his wings at times and lying in a cool damp spot like he is hot. which would explain the panting and water intake. this is the start of the 3rd day. we have him on tetroxy hca-280 we are putting it in his water. it is an antibiotic but im not sure it is the right one for what this is.

[djarenspace9]

Gina has turkeys, I will text her to see if she can give any advice.

[Nemehoto]

It sounds like parasites. The best thing to do is to take a fecal sample to the vet and ask for parasite count. There are some rather nasty worms that birds can get that can kill them pretty quick. I lost a lot of ducks to the avian version of hookworm. We had to lock up the flock and medicate everyone for a week and we still lost most of them.

Your turkey's symptoms sound a lit like my severely worm affected ducks. Bad thing about birds they don't show symptoms until the infestation is very bad. They can start "bobbing" like they are losing their balance, have trouble holding their wings tight against their body, pronounced /swollen crop, or walking with their breast elevated. Last stages.... I hate to say... difficulty standing, trying to get up and can't, unable to eat or drink on their own, refuses food but wants water, I watered mine with a syringe and they were grateful, watery diarrhea, sometimes they will vomit, they will act feverish, panting heavily, often on their side, restless rustling of feathers. Death occurs 1-3 days after they roll on their side.

I would get a fecal count immediately and get the wormer from the vet.

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

A couple of turkey people think it might be blackhead. Flagyl was recommended. I'm out of state, and need to find a rehabber in Virginia who has Flagyl. My vet in GA cannot issue a RX out of state.