Turkey Walking Like A Drunk???? *Update*

I'm worried that I know why this is caused.... but I'm looking for other peoples' thoughts before I say what's on my my mind.

I have a Tom turkey, he's a Broad Breasted Bronze and is approximately 5 months old. He's been eating, drinking and pooping normally but today he was walking like a drunk. Falling over a bit, wobbly, and loosing his footing. He's been eating I think 16% protein turkey food from the feedstore (it's a feedstore brand). He's my mom's bird so I'm not quite sure of the protein, I know it is low so he doesn't grow too fast, since we plan on keeping him as a pet. No other birds are acting like this and he has 5 others in the pen with him all eating and drinking the same food and water. They get scraps of grass and whatever they consume while they freerange- lately it's been a lot of slugs.

I'm really worried about him; what do you think is wrong and what can I do?

Did you separate him? Try some vitamins (liquid, childrens vitamins) in the water and add two drops on the beak.

He hasn't been seperated, I have nowhere to put him right now. I already have one turkey in the isolation cage that hurt his foot yesterday... it's also a bit too small for big Tom.

First thing I would suspect is that he got into something that was bad - wet soured feed, algae water, old grain, maybe some maggots in some manure or in wood or anything decaying (like hay). Mushrooms seem to be a problem lately. Has your area been quite wet lately?

What are his droppings like, the regular (non-cecal) ones?

Has he ever been wormed? have you checked him thoroughly for lice/mites, especially under the wings and under those feathers? near the vent? sometimes, particularly in hot weather, any parasites on the skin can make them anemic and anemia can make them walk like a drunk.

Is he interested in eating tonight?

First thing I would do is make sure he's hydrated - give him electrolytes make sure he gets them. Monitor his droppings for diarrhea, green color. Investigate the yard tomorrow to see if he got into any areas under some cages, etc.

By the way, do you pen them with chickens?

You'll also want to worm him soon since he's taking in slugs and other stuff free ranged.

p.s. We have four BB whites that we're trying to raise as pets. It's hard as they're not "designed for it", but we try, too!

It was dry, but it just rained last night (the 13th). We haven't had mushrooms around here, luckily. He hasn't been wormed as far as I know, droppings are normal and he doesn't have lice or mites. He's still eating like a pig. I was wondering if he might be gaining weight too fast and it's effecting his legs. I just didn't want to say it right away and get no other response because of it. He is currently living with 3 chicks because we have nowhere ele to put them. The older chickens attacked them and they were raised with the 2 small turkeys anyway. I thought it might be the chickens, but I would think the others would show signs of illness if that was the case.

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On the wobbling, is his head wobbling too - like he's disoriented? Or just his body? If just his body, I'd say weight; I thought you meant his whole body, literally like he was "out of it" like a drunk.

Mine would do that when they were getting too heavy. I lowered the protein with whole oats and supplemented vitamins. With grit of course.

Since you have chickens with him, you'll want to worm at least twice a year with a broad spectrum ivermectin or fenbendazole wormer to keep the cecal worms down as chickens are carriers of blackhead. There's an intermediate host worm that carries the protazoa that cause the illness. The cecal droppings are normally yucky (and mine have butterscotch colored droppings) but the normal droppings should never turn sulfurous. If they do, PM or email me about where to get the treatment. It's very hard to find. Keeping the worms down helps. Some people feed cayenne to help prevent it - I'm considering it. In fact I'm just going to start doing it any way in hopes. Black head doesn't necessarily cause a "black head" but sometimes causes blueness. It can cause weight loss. But it's tricky to diagnose. Just a heads-up.

On this, can you photograph him - particularly his legs? Does he walk like it's getting harder to walk? Are his legs thickening? Does he have a lot of fat do you think? I suspect your instinct is right.

I don't think he's got a lot of fat but he does have a lot of muscle, and I know he's been growing really fast. I showed him (and his hen) to my dad when they were poults, he saw them again maybe a month later and asked where the babies were- he didn't believe they were the same ones.

I can technically take pictures, but the computer tells me it can't load the information every time I've tried to get them on the computer.... still haven't figured that out.

I'll watch him today and see if it's his head too and I'll try to weigh him.
He Ran to me yesterday from across the yard when I was pouring food, but it wasn't his usual run. If it is beacuse he's too big, I might cry because we've tried so hard to prevent it. And the turkeys have the best personality of all the birds.

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You can help him now by reducing his feed intake to twice daily rather than free choice.

Did he run a bit like Charlie Chaplin walks in this video (at 0.20 on the video)


If so that's likely his weight, which I highly suspect. Even if they're a more normal weight, they do that - but if he's that severe he probably needs his feed cut back. It's very very common, especially if his legs are at all thickening.

I tell you - I LOVE our turkeys! They are the most amazing birds, and their personalities are what drew me to them in the first place. I walked up to a pen of medium-age poults (about 5 months) and one came right up to me and looked me in the face. I brought her home (she's the turkey in my Avatar, Picksey). She passed away this year, but the other four we have (and she at one time) will all run up to you with that ridiculous way of running they have. Ours will run and skip, flapping their wings. Another one, Bright Eyes, comes up no matter where you are and plunks herself at our feet. I can never imagine my life without these turkeys again. I'm absolutely in love. So I'll help you to try to get your bird back in shape. Start by reducing his feed availability. I doubt he'll get too thin - I don't think it's possible without them being diseased.

He has recovered thanks to his diet.

I'm very glad!

I had a BB white hen here who unfortunately was getting into some corn. We had to put her on the same diet, and it did work wonders. (She's all over the place now while before she was pretty stationary.) I'm glad it did for yours, too!

Now you know - keep them thinner, keep them away from corn and also away from meat building products. I feed free choice whole oats and laying pellets so that my hens don't get to plump - of course with oyster shell, granite grit always.