Any poultry is sick from time to time, and turkeys are no exception. They often have common diseases with chickens. They are affected by both infectious diseases and non-infectious pathologies. Read more about turkey diseases, symptoms and their treatment - hereinafter.
Infectious diseases
These types of disease are easier to prevent than to treat, because most of them end in the death of the bird. Experts recommend a number of preventive measures:
- buy turkeys or eggs for incubation in proven farms;
- regularly disinfect the room;
- change the litter in a timely manner - some pathogenic microorganisms retain their activity in its deep layer, getting there with the excrement of a sick bird or infected feed;
- to deal with the prevention of helminths and coccidiosis.
Smallpox
Turkeys become infected from chickens through drinking, food, as well as through direct contact with a sick individual. Flies and mosquitoes are also carriers. The causative agent can live in turkey feathers, so a sick animal should be immediately quarantined.
The causative agent is very tenacious, does not die at temperatures from -15 ° C to + 36 ° C. This is one of the most common dangerous diseases.
The incubation period of the disease is from 7 to 20 days, the bird can get sick at any time of the year, but more often the infection occurs in the autumn period, when her immunity is weakened.
The main symptoms are:
- dry cones, dark spots (crusts) appear on the skin;
- deterioration of appearance - wings are down, plumage is tousled, feathers are dull;
- a sharp decrease in activity - the bird becomes apathetic to everything that happens around it;
- poor appetite.
There are 4 forms of the disease:
- Skin. Most often, turkeys suffer from this form. Lymphatic formations in the form of brown spots appear on the head and scallop.
- Catarrhal or atypical. The most severe form. The virus affects not only the internal organs, but also the eyes. Even if the bird can be cured, it will remain blind for life.
- Diphtheria. With this form, the respiratory system is affected. The rash is localized on the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs, diphtheria films are formed. The bird cannot breathe normally. Her beak is open all the time, and she makes whistling sounds.
- Mixed. Diagnosed when symptoms of the two above forms are observed.
All these types have different symptoms and treatment methods, so be sure to consult a veterinarian to determine the exact form of the disease.
Sick poultry is placed separately in a sanitized room, and the entire poultry house is also disinfected. The affected skin is wiped with glycerin to soften smallpox manifestations, and then iodine is applied. This avoids the reappearance of smallpox. If the nasopharynx is affected, it is washed with a 2-3% warm solution of boric acid. A sick individual is given 1 tablet of an antibiotic at night (erythromycin, penicillin, terramycin, tetracycline or oxytetracycline) + an antimicrobial agent (for example, furazolidone), and during the day add Lozeval to the drink according to the instructions.
If the disease has spread throughout the economy and has become epidemic, all livestock will be eliminated. The bodies of dead birds are burned, and the premises are once again disinfected. Smallpox prophylaxis is vaccination. Turkey is vaccinated at 1.5 months with an embryo vaccine.
Tuberculosis
Another dangerous disease, but unlike the previous one, it is not treatable. The causative agent is tuberculosis bacillus. It enters the farm through dirty water, eggs and bedding. Both the upper respiratory tract and the lungs are affected in the bird, their functioning is disrupted. Then all vital organs are rapidly destroyed. When a sick bird is opened, its liver has small (sometimes large) yellow-white nodules, as in the photo.
Symptoms
- the bird moves slowly, its legs give way and it falls, therefore it is more often in a sitting position;
- she refuses food, in this regard, quickly loses weight;
- liquid stool, which contributes to dehydration;
- the bird is balding;
- characteristic nodular neoplasms are noticeable on the skin.
Treatment of a sick bird is pointless, it is immediately destroyed. All forces are sent to preserve the rest of the livestock. All birds are taken to fresh air or transferred to another barn. The house is completely disinfected.
The causative agent is inactivated by exposure to caustic alkali and a 3% formaldehyde solution. The dishes are thoroughly washed and treated, all litter is removed, manure is cleaned from the floor. In the barn, they open all the windows and doors, and keep them open for two summer months so that the room is "fried", ventilated and dried. Only the sun's rays can completely eliminate the pathogen, under their direct action it dies within 40-50 minutes. Until the barn has been processed, the birds will not be populated there.
The meat of a well-fed but sick tuberculosis bird can be eaten only after prolonged cooking. The entrails are burned. In no case should they be fed to pets or livestock. Depleted corpses of birds are burned. It is not recommended to bury their carcasses, since the tubercle bacillus continues to live for another year, and there is a risk of re-infection of a new livestock.
Worms
Parasites are found in the body of all living things, including humans. It is impossible to guess that poultry have parasites at the initial stage, since they do not manifest themselves in any way. In the future, the bird weakens, its immunity decreases and against this background it is susceptible to other diseases.
Eggs and larvae of worms are in water, soil, litter. Worms usually populate the gastrointestinal tract, but can also parasitize in the respiratory organs.
When infected with parasites:
- turkeys lose weight despite a good appetite;
- the immune system is destroyed;
- the stool is usually loose.
In veterinary pharmacies, you can find a variety of drugs for worms. The most popular are phenothiazine and piperazine sulfate. Some poultry farmers trust traditional medicine more, but herbs are ineffective against parasites living in the respiratory system, and besides, they do not work on all intestinal helminths.
We suggest watching a video in which the farmer tells what and how he deworms his turkeys:
For prevention, birds are regularly given anthelmintic drugs once every 1-2 months.
Newcastle disease
Known as pseudo-plague or Asiatic plague. This viral disease spreads rapidly and affects the entire population, especially young animals are prone to it. Most of them die. The source of infection is a sick individual or carrier of the pathogen, but it remains healthy at the same time. From them, the virus enters the environment with all their secretions.
In turkeys, the disease passes in an acute form and lasts for 3-4 days, rarely lasts up to 2 weeks.
The main symptom of the disease is grayish or greenish diarrhea with an extremely unpleasant pungent odor. And also mucus is secreted from the nasal passage and oral cavity. Then comes paralysis. A bird cannot move its wings or legs. Often, against the background of it, pneumonia develops - pneumonia, encephalitis - inflammation of the brain or damage to other internal organs with hemorrhage.
No cure has yet been found for the disease, therefore, at the first sign, the bird is eliminated to prevent infection by relatives. The room is sanitized. For preventive purposes, they treat it with ultraviolet light, under its radiation the virus instantly dies. Also, birds from 15 days of age are vaccinated with the La Sota drug (then they are revaccinated after a month, then after 3 months and then once every half a year until the immunity is stable).
Synovitis
This disease affects adult birds and young animals older than 7 weeks. The causative agent is a pathogenic microorganism. Synovitis is characterized by inflammation of the joints and ligaments. This immediately affects the behavior of the turkeys:
- the crest skin turns pale;
- limps (the bird slowly moves around the territory), and then falls to its feet;
- if you feel the joint, then you feel a fever and dense swelling.
In severe cases, diarrhea appears. The carriers of the infection are ill relatives. In very rare cases, infection occurs in the egg during the incubation period.
The treatment consists in the use of antibiotics - “Terramycin”, “Streptomycin”, “Biomycin”. The most effective is Tilan - an injection is injected into the pectoral muscle and Biomycin is added to the feed. To prevent the disease, vaccination is done.
Respiratory Mycoplasmosis
The cause of the disease is an error in the content - low temperature or humidity in the room. Especially if the bird has reduced immunity or lacks vitamins of group B, A.
This is a chronic disease characterized by:
- damage to the respiratory system;
- runny nose;
- exhaustion.
The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets.
Veterinarians claim that there is no cure for this disease. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are used for the rest of conditionally healthy birds in order to prevent an epidemic. Sick birds are immediately eliminated. In farms where mycoplasmosis is registered, hatching eggs are not collected, they are used only for food. But many breeders note that any coccidiostatic agent (Baytril, Intarkoks or Torukoks) helps their bird.
The barn is disinfected, the litter is calcined at high temperature. Enter quarantine. They remove it only after the last conditionally healthy bird has been slaughtered, and among the broodstock and turkey poults, raised up to 8 months, there are no cases of the disease.
Coccidiosis
The causative agents of the disease are unicellular microorganisms - coccids. They penetrate into the body along with poor-quality water and food, as well as dirt from drinking bowls, bedding, feeders, and destroy the entire gastrointestinal tract. Young animals are susceptible to diseases up to 3 months, but more often turkeys suffer from it at the age of 2-3 weeks.
Sick chicks:
- liquid stool with an admixture of blood (from light brown to black);
- refuse food;
- drink a lot;
- they are sluggish, inactive;
- their eyes are half closed;
- wings hang, plumage is dirty and disheveled.
At the first sign, it is necessary to call a veterinarian. He will prescribe a suitable treatment. Usually prescribed "Baykoks" or "Stop coccid." After recovery, the turkeys need a rehabilitation period - they are given vitamin supplements, restore the work of all body systems.
Note! The drug "Koktsisan" can not be given to turkeys.
Dead birds from this disease cannot be eaten, all carcasses are burned. The room is treated, populated it again after a few weeks. Prevention consists in their correct content. Vaccination of newborn chicks is carried out only as directed by a veterinarian. The diseased bird is immediately removed separately from the rest of the livestock.
Non-communicable diseases
The main causes of this category of diseases are errors in care and maintenance.
Sagging goiter
This is a milder form of hardened goiter, and can be treated. Goiter is stretched and sagging due to an unbalanced diet and the consumption of large amounts of water when the bird is in stuffy rooms or in the sunshine in summer.
The veterinarian is involved in the treatment. He selects an individual diet, taking into account the diet of the bird. And also the bird needs peace.
Hard goiter
The disease occurs easily, but cannot be treated. The main reasons for its appearance:
- malnutrition - an excess of roughage and the absence of fine gravel, chalk;
- non-compliance with serving standards.
As a result, the goiter overflows with food, which leads to inflammation, it becomes very hard to the touch, pus can stand out from it. The turkey loses its appetite, which entails a sharp loss of weight, the bird behaves passively, sits more ruffled.
There is no treatment, the bird cannot consume food and starves to death. To prevent the development of the disease, it is necessary to feed it correctly from the moment of purchase of the bird. What should be the diet of turkeys, is described here.
We recommend watching a video where an experienced poultry farmer talks about how you can try to help a turkey cope with a violation of goiter:
Wrong appetite
Strange things appear on the turkey menu that are uncharacteristic of its nutrition. He eats feathers, litter, sawdust. His appetite increases, he constantly feels hunger and spends all day in search of food.
Changes in food addictions occur due to a lack of nutrients in the diet. If nothing is done in time, then the goiter of the bird hardens, and it dies. Treatment involves introducing feathered vitamin-mineral complexes into the diet to make up for the deficiency of substances.
Hypovitaminosis
If vitamin deficiency is not enough for vitamin deficiency, then hypovitaminosis is a vitamin deficiency, i.e. there is a violation of the balance between their consumption and the intake of vitamins in the body. The main reason for its development is an unbalanced diet. Amid a lack of vitamins, immunity deteriorates, the bird weakens, it suffers from a runny nose and lacrimation.
Revision of nutrition in this case does not help, it is necessary to do vitamin injections.
Mechanical injuries
Often turkeys have problems with their legs. Their paws are scattered apart, twisted, bent. The reasons for this phenomenon may be:
- closely related mating;
- lack of calcium or vitamins;
- diseases
- cramped room.
An adult individual sometimes cripples the chick by stepping on it or biting its foot. There are bone fractures, in this case, they necessarily put a splint on the paw and a plaster cast.
Diseases of a young individual
There are diseases that affect only young individuals.
Infectious Sinusitis
The causes of the disease are: close content, hypothermia of the bird and lack of vitamins A and D. With sinusitis, the sinuses and eye sinuses become inflamed, in which pus accumulates. The bird's head swells and turns red. The treatment consists in the use of antibiotics - Furazolidone, Oxytetracycline, Streptomycin, Tilan or Farmazin.
Experienced breeders also recommend taking a syringe with a needle thicker (pus will not go well through a thin needle), lay the turkey on its back with its head to one side (it is better to do this together), and pump out the pus from the sinuses by puncture of swelling. The direction of insertion of the needle should not be in the direction of the eye so as not to damage it. The needle should go at an angle, not at a right angle. The pumping of the contents is stopped when the swelling subsides (the skin sags in this place).
Hemophilia
Infectious incurable disease, which usually affects turkeys up to 5 months. It is transmitted from a sick individual to a healthy one, as well as through water and food. In chicks, mucous membranes in the nasopharynx become inflamed, eyes, shortness of breath and wheezing appear, they lose their appetite, and as a result they begin to lose weight. At a late stage, the bird's head resembles an owl in appearance due to the highly inflamed sinus sinuses.
Sick individuals are killed. The rest is done by inhalation with iodine and chlorine-turpentine.The room is disinfected with a solution: 2% formaldehyde, the same caustic soda and 20% freshly slaked lime are added to the water. The mixture is heated to 80 ° C and the entire house is treated.
Paratyphoid
Dangerous disease, which affects chicks up to 1 month. Mortality exceeds 70% since the immune system is not yet fully formed.
The chicks practically do not move, sit in a hunched form, with a frizzy smell, they have no appetite, but there is an increased need for water. For treatment using drugs - "Mepatar", "Trimerazin" and "Lautecin."
Pullorosis (typhoid)
This is a contagious disease that spreads rapidly throughout the herd. The main symptom is white diarrhea with shreds of foam and an unpleasant odor. Chicks constantly squeak, their breathing is heavy. They have blood poisoning, the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system are destroyed.
Typhoid is transmitted through food, water, dishes, from a sick bird. If the eggs were initially infected, then the turkeys hatch from it already diseased. The most susceptible to the disease are chicks at the age of 1 day, the death rate reaches 70%. The treatment is prescribed by the veterinarian, choosing the right antibiotic after making an accurate diagnosis. Obviously sick bird is destroyed. For prophylaxis, chicks are soldered from the first day with Furazolidone.
Histomoniasis
Diseases are more often affected by turkeys, which are found along with chickens, ducks and geese. At risk are turkeys aged 3 to 21 weeks. Ill chicks stand passively in the corner, do not eat, their stools are yellow-orange, the skin of the head acquires a blue-black hue. The intestines and liver are affected (the photo shows spots on the liver of a patient with histomonosis of a bird).
For treatment, medications are used - Trichopol, Furazolidone, Metronidazole and Osarsol, following the manufacturer's instructions.
Diseases of little turkey poults
Poultry are susceptible to serious pathologies, from an early age they can suffer from some serious diseases.
Cannibalism
This phenomenon is often found with a close content of chicks, where they cannot show physical activity and are in constant stress. Hence the pecking of their relatives, constant fights for a place in the sun. The second common cause is malnutrition, lack of protein foods, vitamins and minerals.
The affected individual must be isolated from other birds, otherwise, it will be killed to death. They make changes to the menu of birds, add more protein foods, vitamin and mineral complexes to it. Increase personal space for each individual, adjust their number depending on the size of the house.
Rickets
The cause of the disease is a lack of calcium, vitamin D3, which is necessary for the absorption of calcium. Vitamin is synthesized in the skin under the influence of ultraviolet rays and enters the body with food. More often, the disease is recorded in nestlings of cross breeds, that is, they require significantly more proteins and calcium, but it also occurs in turkey poultry.
Treatment consists of adding vitamin and mineral to food, walking in the fresh air, but not in the sun. Chicks must move. The room also should not be crowded.
Avitaminosis
This is a lack of any vitamin in the diet. With a lack of vitamin A, the chicks are not gaining weight, there are problems with the eyes - they become cloudy, watery. An acute deficiency of B vitamins leads to paralysis of the legs, chicks can not stand up. And they also go bald, their skin condition worsens.
Brewer's yeast and vitamin supplements help fill the deficiency of these vitamins. With a deficiency of vitamin D, young growth slows down, bones become soft, easily broken, hence the susceptibility of chicks to fractures. If you do not take action, then rickets develops.
Often bites of eggs are attributed to vitamin deficiency, but this is not true. If a bird pecks eggs, then it either lacks calcium, sulfur or protein, or food.
Enteritis
Chicks of 1.5-3 months of age are more likely to get it. By symptoms, the disease resembles dysentery. The chicks refuse to feed, become lethargic, their stools are liquid with pieces of indigestible food, the plumage near the cloaca is sticky.
Feeding by expired poor-quality food or dirty water leads to enteritis. Patients are separated from a healthy livestock. On the menu, they should have balanced quality food and clean water. Released birds are released into a common pen after full recovery.
The list of diseases of turkeys is quite large. More often young animals are exposed to diseases, since their immunity is not yet stable. Proper nutrition, care and the creation of comfortable conditions several times reduce the likelihood of non-communicable diseases. From infectious diseases vaccination helps well. Therefore, in order to protect the bird from diseases, it is better to resort to preventive measures and vaccines.