her in the back hall, in a cast-off oval shaped clothes basket. I
put soft burlap under her and wrapped her up warmly. I had a good
knowledge of homeopathic remedies, and I started to cure bowel
and liver troubles. The fever I kept down with aconite by giving
a drop in a little water every hour. I stayed by the side of that
turkey all night long. There were times when she would scream
with pain, and then I placed her feet in water as hot as she
could bear it with plenty of mustard in it, and allowed the water
to come up as high as the first joint of her legs. I allowed her
to stand in that about ten minutes at a time, and then I dried
her feet and legs and placed her back in the basket. She would be
very weak after this treatment, but seemed easier. At other times
she would become weak and lifeless, and I would then take her up
in my arms, go out-of-doors and let her have the benefit of the
cool air. The fight went on in this way until four o’clock in the
morning, when she opened her eyes, raised her head, looked up at
me and chirped a little. I decided then and there that there was
such a thing as curing blackhead.
I did not know then so much about the stoppage in the bowels. I
did know, however, that nothing had passed through her bowels. I
gave her a little warm whisky and milk, some more of my remedies,
and then went for a couple of hours’ rest myself. When I went to
her again about two hours afterward, the red had begun to flow
back into her head, the fever had left her, and her pulse was
normal. The pulse of a turkey begins to beat just above the crop
and in case of death, will gradually creep up until, just before
the breath leaves the bird, it will have reached a point under
the throat. I kept the pulse in this bird down to the middle of
the neck; I never let it get any further. There were times when I
had to place a cloth dipped in ice water on her head, but I was
fighting for the life of my little pet, and she seemed to realize
what I was doing. She was very weak all the morning. I took her
up, placed her out on the lawn in the sun, and she staggered to
her feet about twelve o’clock of that day, and then a solid core
came from her bowels. This had lodged in the cecum. At that time
I knew very little about this trait of the disease. Attached to
the core was a part of the lining of the intestine. The turkey
hen was very weak for days. One thing in her favor was that she
had an empty crop, and I immediately fed her a tablespoonful of
cold water in which was dissolved four grains of common alum.
That was given in order to form a skin and harden the sore and
raw place in the bowel after the bird had passed the core. The
turkey hen did not fully recover for three or four days.
[Illustration: FRIENDS (MISS MAHANEY AND “GRANDMA CLEAVES”)]
That turkey hen is about one of the best I have on my place. I
call her Grandma Cleaves. The Agricultural colleges maintain that
a bird that has once been afflicted with blackhead is unfit for
breeding stock. I have in my possession a young tom that was
hatched out the fifteenth day of July, 1912, by that bird. He
weighs 31 lbs. and is well developed in every way. She laid three
litters of eggs last summer, and sat on the last litter, hatched
twelve turkeys and raised eleven in that flock. In my opinion, a
bird that has passed through blackhead is one of the best and
strongest birds to breed from. I never had a bird come down the
second season with blackhead. It is just like any other common
fever that is contagious, and can afflict a person but once.
After winning that fight, I made up my mind that something could
be done for blackhead, and from that time on I have had great
success in battling against this disease.
My breeding grounds are not so far distant but that the people of
Massachusetts can come to see me. I would be very glad to show
them my runs and turkeys and my methods of breeding.
TO DETECT BLACKHEAD
Blackhead is the disease to be most dreaded by the turkey raisers
in New England and all over the country.
When you go into the turkey house in the morning, go directly to
the droppings board and see if you find any yellow droppings. If
you do, look carefully over your flock. It will not take you long
to discover the bird that has blackhead. The head is an unhealthy
dusky gray, and the bird will mope around, apparently wanting to
eat and yet not doing so. Then you can decide that you have
blackhead in your flock.
TREATMENT OF FULL GROWN TURKEYS
Take that bird away immediately; disinfect her head and under the
wings with salve; massage the crop gently to see if it is full of
undigested food. If it is, give a scant half teaspoonful of epsom
salts in a little water. In about an hour’s time give a
tablespoonful of olive oil and follow with a quarter of a
teaspoonful salicylate of soda in two tablespoonfuls of warm
water. After the crop is emptied put her in a box, say a good
sized packing case, with plenty of straw, and cover with burlap.
Give a teaspoonful of warm whisky and a tablespoonful of milk
mixed together. This will keep up the vitality of the bird. A
long necked milk testing bottle comes in very handy in a flock of
any kind of fowl, for you can place the neck down below the
windpipe and inject the liquids into the crop without any choking
on the part of the fowl. Then watch and see if the droppings are
yellow. If they are give one of the _Mahaney_ Blackhead pills
every hour until the droppings become normal. You can place the
pill on the tongue of the turkey and make her swallow it. If
there is nothing in the crop except a brash of sour wind, give
the pills and hot milk and whiskey at once.
Be sure to keep the bird warm for a few days, and then disinfect
before she goes out with the rest of the flock. Look over the
droppings board every morning and see if there are any yellow
droppings. Use plenty of lime. Twice a week, in the morning, give
sulphate of iron, powdered, (one level teaspoonful in a gallon of
water in an earthen dish). The other days, at night, give
salicylate of soda in the same amount in the drinking water. This
will keep your flock in good condition.
BLACKHEAD IN YOUNG TURKEYS
The first symptom of blackhead in the young turkeys has the
appearance of a common cold in the head. The turkey will sniff
and water will sometimes come from the nose. The loss of appetite
is apparent. The wings droop and when you let the turkeys out of
the coops, the one affected will drag itself along behind the
rest of the flock. I take that bird away from the rest. I
disinfect the head and under the wings with my salve. Rub the
salve lightly on the head. Hold the turkey gently across the
back, press the wings down to the side. If you are not very
gentle with them, and very careful, you are liable to break the
wings.
The moment you see one become lifeless, with dragging steps and
loss of appetite, disinfect the whole flock with the salve twice
a week. Dissolve in an earthen dish four or five of the _Margaret
Mahaney_ Turkey Pills in a little warm water; then mix the
solution in a quart of drinking water and give to the young
turkeys to drink. This, repeated every day, with the straw well
aired and kept clean, and the coop dry and water-proof, will make
them show a marked improvement in three days. I never lose a
young turkey. They thrive just as well as little chickens, and I
think they are just as hardy.
[Illustration: WOMEN MAKE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL TURKEY RAISERS]
As vermin is one of the enemies of young turkeys, use the salve
twice a week always, and use it in the morning. Do not shut them
up after putting on my salve because it is very strong. Let it
evaporate before the little chickens go to bed at night, and you
will have no vermin. There is an old saying about a louse in the
head of a turkey which enters the brain and causes blackhead. I
know very well that that does not cause blackhead, as this
disease comes from a common cold, which descends to the bowels
and liver and kills the turkey after a few days’ suffering if not
relieved.
STARTS WITH A COMMON COLD
Treatment of a Common Cold.
Blackhead starts from a common cold. When you have a bird in your
flock afflicted with a cold, place a small teaspoonful of Epsom
Salts to one gallon of water. Do this three or four days in
succession and put plenty of lime around your turkey houses. I
put lime on the droppings boards every day; it will kill the
disease in no time and do no injury to the turkey. Of course I
put clean straw in my turkey house in damp weather every other
day as the straw becomes damp and is very liable to breed disease.
Give this Epsom Salts treatment in the hot weather whether the
birds show symptoms of disease or not. It keeps their blood cool
and avoids the tendency to disease.
The time for blackhead season is in what is commonly called “dog
days,” that is, mid-summer. The weather is heavy and dark and is
very injurious to young turkeys. That is the time you must keep
your coops good and dry and give plenty of green stuff, with
aconite in the drinking water about twice a week to keep down any
fever. Three drops in a pint of water is all I give them as
aconite is very poisonous. If you have any sting nettle at the
time be sure to feed it, as sting nettle _is one of the greatest
aids to success in raising young turkeys_.
When the turkey dies of blackhead the crop becomes apparently
black and inflamed, and is very foul. The liver is enlarged, and
has white or yellowish spots all over it. In some places it has
the appearance of being eaten away. Underneath the liver, next to
the back of the bird and around the heart you will find a
brownish substance, just the same as you would find in a person
who dies from peritonitis. You will also find in what is called
the second stomach, that is, the bowel leading to the gizzard, a
large core. Sometimes this will be very dark brownish yellow or
ochre color, mingled with blood. This core forms a stoppage, and
unless it is removed, is certain death for the turkey.
I have had turkeys die with what is commonly called in human
beings, “appendicitis”, as the appendix was matterated and badly
swollen. In fact, in a bad case of blackhead all the bowels of
the turkey become swollen. The gizzard is twice its natural size,
the abdomen becomes swollen and black and the odor is very
obnoxious. In a bad case of this kind there is nothing that can
be done, the disease having become too far advanced, and that is
why one ought to watch turkeys very closely. If the turkey is
taken in time and _Margaret Mahaney’s_ pills given, and the
turkey is kept warm, (for they will take the disease first with a
chill just the same as a human being would take malaria) there is
no need of any loss in the flock from blackhead. All the colleges
of agriculture have diagnosed the case as a parasite on the
intestines, but I have thoroughly investigated that theory, and
wish to say that I have found no grounds for such a belief.
COMMON DISEASES
RHEUMATISM
(Sometimes confused with Blackhead)
I have a great many people write me in regard to weak legs in
turkeys. Of course, this is common rheumatism. The limbs suffer
an impairment or loss of use, are hot, swollen and stiff. The
toes then being drawn out of shape, the fowl persistently sits
down and cannot use the perch. The heart may become involved and
this produces death. I had it in my flock one year,—that is, I
had several birds victims to the disease. They would squat down
all the time. The breast bone grew all over to one side from
sitting so much. They were fat and apparently healthy, except
that they could not seem to stand up any length of time. I bathed
their feet with mustard and water as hot as I thought they could
stand it. I saved most of them, but it seemed to me that they
never could walk as well as the flock that had not been affected.
The cause of this affliction is that the turkeys are allowed out
too early in the morning when the dew is on the grass and allowed
to roam around in damp places. At this time I was raising my
flock on lowland. I have never had any of it in my flock since I
moved to high and dry land. Give five drops of bryonia in a pint
of drinking water to six turkeys. After using the mustard water
be careful to wipe the turkey’s legs dry and then rub well with
camphorated oil the backs of the legs leading into the body. Keep
in a warm and dry place and give sulphur in the feed (about a
half teaspoonful to four turkeys).
[Illustration: TURKEYS THRIVE BEST ON HIGH LAND]
“ROTTEN CROP” SOMETIMES MISTAKEN FOR BLACKHEAD
Another disease very common in turkeys which is called blackhead
and yet has nothing to do with blackhead, is what you would call
“rotten crop” in a common hen. When this takes place the crop
becomes very foul and heavy. The bird will drink water, which
stays in the crop and becomes sour. I have often had to take the
bird up, hold the head down and rub the crop gently so that all
the water would run from the mouth. With the aid of a long neck
milk testing bottle I fill the crop with warm water with a
quarter teaspoonful baking soda in it, and relieve the crop by
massaging the second time. Then I give a tablespoonful of olive
oil. Put the bird away from the rest, with very little feed for a
couple of days. I never have any difficulty in saving a bird
affected with what is commonly called “rotten crop.” If not
relieved, however, it will turn into blackhead and the turkey
will die.
COLD—CATARRH—COUGH—BRONCHITIS
All of these are substantially different stages and symptoms of
the same disorder. Exposure to wet and cold is the general cause.
Cough is, indeed, a symptom, not a disease, and is connected with
the other three. It may, however, attend other diseases, and when
its cause is not known, the article pertaining to roup should
especially be consulted. Bronchitis is but an advanced stage or
aggravated form of cold or catarrh. The three are marked by more
or less discharge from the eyes and nostrils, sneezing, wheezing,
and, particularly in bronchitis, coughing and a rattling sound in
the throat. To distinguish this from roup, see whether the
discharge is offensive. If it is, roup is to be treated; if not,
catarrh or bronchitis. In all cases of doubt, use the precautions
detailed for roup.
Turkeys are subject to roup from the time they are babies, more
so than common hens, as a cold is the cause of all their trouble.
Treatment: Remove the turkey to warm, dry shelter, and give warm,
soft food. These measures will usually be sufficient, but the
following will be valuable as aids: _For cold or catarrh_ merely,
and no distinction between them is here made, put three drops of
strong tincture of aconite in a pint of the drink. If there is a
swelling about the throat, two or three grains of the second
trituration of mercuries three times a day will be useful. _For
bronchitis_, in addition to the measures just named, give
sweetened water for the drink, adding a few drops of nitric acid
or sulphuric acid. _For both catarrh and bronchitis_ give some
stimulant, such as ginger or cayenne pepper in the food or whisky
in the water. Treat catarrh and cold promptly, to keep them from
developing into roup. Do not neglect bronchitis lest it run into
consumption.
ROUP
Roup is a highly contagious malady which first affects the lining
membrane of the beak and then extends to the eyes, throat, and
whole head, eventually involving the entire constitution.
According to its manifest symptoms, it has been called
diphtheria, sore head, swelled eyes, hoarseness, bronchitis,
canker, snuffles, influenza, sore throat, quinsy, blindness, and
by other names. It attacks all ages, and will kill young turkeys
in a very short time. Turkeys given poor shelter, and kept in
filthy quarters, are subject to roup.
Symptoms:—Roup develops either slowly or rapidly, with the
general signs of a bad cold in the head, such as wheezing, or
sneezing, high fever and great thirst. The discharge from the
eyes and nose is yellowish, being at first thin but growing
thicker as the disease develops, and very offensive, closing the
eyes, nostrils and throat (these parts and the whole head are
swollen, sometimes enormously, so that blindness ensues, making
the turkey unable to get its food, and thus hastening the decline
of the system); pustular sores about the head and in the throat,
discharging a frothy mucus; the breathing is impeded; the crop is
often swollen; the comb and wattles may be pale or dark-colored.
During the course of the disease the turkey is feeble and moping.
A fatal case terminates in from three to eight days after the
distinctive roup-symptoms set in, and those which are not treated
when an epidemic is prevailing will generally be fatal. Upon
opening a turkey that has died of roup one will find the liver
and gall bladder full of pus, the flesh soft, of a bad odor, and,
particularly about the lungs, slimy and spongy.
Treatment:—It is of the highest importance that the treatment
begin as soon as the first symptoms appear. To detect the
approach of the disease, (and any turkey in the flock should be
suspected if one has been infected), raise the wing and ascertain
whether the feathers beneath it are stuck together, as the turkey
has the habit of wiping its nose under the wings, and naturally
the feathers will become matted and foul.
Remove the turkey to a good warm place; wash her head with warm
water with a drop or two of sulpho-napthol in the water; dry well
with a good soft cloth and rub _Mahaney_ turkey salve on her
head, throat and crop; open up her beak and oil the inside of her
mouth and throat well with the salve. A little swab can be made
for that purpose. Give one of the _Margaret Mahaney_ blackhead
pills, three times a day, and make a pill as large as a good
sized bean as follows, one-half mustard and one-half sulphur;
equal parts. Give the turkey one of these pills every night, and
if swollen eyes and head has prevented her from seeing her food,
feed her a little bread and milk, soft and warm, until she is
able to feed herself. A drop or two of kerosene oil in the
drinking water makes a good disinfectant for turkeys.
When a disease of this kind enters your turkey house disinfect
your droppings boards, and feed five quarts of hot mash from
_Margaret Mahaney’s_ Turkey Feed with one or two onions chopped
fine and put in the mash. A teaspoonful of red pepper also given
to them every night before going to roost will help to prevent
the disease from spreading. Keep your turkey house clean and dry,
and if you see any sign of this disease it is much better to
remove the droppings every day, and if taken in time roup is not
a fatal disease.
CONSUMPTION OF THE THROAT
The special symptoms of consumption of the throat are a frequent
cough, roughness of the voice, and often a failure to partake of
food either from loss of appetite or from pain caused by
swallowing. Attacks of fever, followed by shivering, are more or
less regular. For treatment keep the bird in a very warm
atmosphere, chop up onions very fine and mix in the feed, also
give a teaspoonful of olive oil three times a day with one to two
drops of aconite to a cup of water.
I generally have what is commonly called a hospital for sick
birds; that is, I set aside one coop, keep it warm and have it
heated with an incubator lamp, a large one. The temperature
should be kept around 70 degrees, until the bird ceases to cough.
CONSUMPTION OF THE LUNGS
A distinct feature of consumption of the chest or lungs is a
tubercular deposit in the chest, liver and bowels. The first
symptoms are a thinning of the voice and occasionally sneezing.
When the sneezing comes on in the morning and continues during
the day, the lungs have become involved, and eventually a puffed
appearance will be manifest in the chest. Give the same treatment
for consumption of the chest as given for consumption of the
throat. Add a few drops of tincture of iron (four drops to a
gallon of water) to the water each day until the appearance of
the bird has improved.
Light, ventilation and pure air are three of nature’s most potent
agencies in counteracting disease. Every turkey should have a
liberal allowance of sunlight, though the power and directness of
the rays should be determined by the climate, which is only
natural. Among those that need frequent sun baths are the wild
birds of the air and as the turkey was originally a wild bird, in
the very nature of things, it demands a great deal of sunlight.
It makes no difference how hot the day is, the turkey will lie in
the sun and seem to enjoy it when the temperature is even up to
100 degrees. This is the reason I keep my turkeys warm and
comfortable, as it is a preventive of consumption or any disease
of that nature.
A good dirt bath should be provided for a turkey all winter;
light sand, half clay, with a measure of air-slacked lime. The
turkey will wallow in that for an hour at a time, thoroughly
enjoy it and seem so much brighter after it.
If turkeys are allowed to run on the frozen ground and roost in
the trees all winter, how can one reasonably expect them to
remain in a healthy condition when they positively need warm,
comfortable quarters? If suitable houses are provided for
turkeys, warm, clean and comfortable with plenty of lime, grit
and charcoal during the winter months, it will be found that
there will be very little trouble with blackhead during the
summer and consequently less tendency to consumption and other
diseases in the colder months.
SWOLLEN HEADS
Swollen heads in turkeys seems to me to be the prevailing disease
this spring of 1913. Complaints have come to me from all over the
country, also sick birds have been sent to me to treat.
I do not know whether it would be called roup or canker, but the
appearance of it is that of a common cold, a watery discharge
from the nose, eyes half closed, and sometimes wholly closed,
with a large projecting formation in the orbital cavity under the
eyes, which, if left there, will cause the death of the turkey
after the turkey loses its sight. Press your hand gently on the
formation. If the formation has not become hard, but is still in
a spongy condition, press firmly on both sides of the nose under
the eyes, and force out the thick, foul discharge which has
gathered. Wash the head with Sulpho-Napthol or Presto
Disinfectant, dry well, and then disinfect with my salve. Repeat
this every day until the turkey is well. In the meantime the
turkey will have a little hacking cough that is caused by a
watery discharge from the head, which flows down inside the nose
and drops on to the windpipe. A human being has a chance to
relieve the head and throat, but the turkey does not have this
advantage.
If, however, the formation in the orbital cavity has become hard,
an operation is necessary. Have some one hold the bird gently on
its side, with its wings close to the body in natural form, for
in the struggle, the bird is very apt to break its wing. Wash the
head with Sulpho-Napthol or Presto Disinfectant and dry well.
Have ready a good sharp operating knife, thoroughly sterilized,
and also sterilize your hands. About one-fourth inch below the
eye you will find one or two leaders. You must try to avoid
cutting through these. Always try to avoid cutting through any
veins. Make a clean cut about one-half inch in length, running
straight down the orbital cavity to the beak so that when it
heals up it will leave no scar. If the turkey is in good blood
and a male bird, they are very apt to bleed quite a little. I
would then stop the blood with cotton batten, or by bathing with
water mixed with a little alum. Leave the bird for that day. The
next morning open up the cut, take out the canker, which you will
find to be a yellow, cheesy substance, with a very bad odor.
Remove all this canker, wash out the cavity with peroxide of
hydrogen, dry well, fill the cavity with _Margaret Mahaney’s_
Salve, which keeps the head soft and clean. Wash the head lightly
for a few days. When the wound heals up you will find a sort of
dry core in the wound. Remove this, wash out, and your turkey is
all well. Trust the rest to nature.
If you find that the lump under the eye has become hard and white
before you operate, and that the blood has flowed back from the
head, there is no need of waiting for the wound to stop bleeding.
You can remove the canker at once.[2]