Albino Midget White

[farmerlor]

Albinism isn't a mutation that I would want in my breeding stock. This would definitely be a cull on Alberti farm.

 

[Oregon Blues]

In a breed where adult size can range from 10 pounds to 22 pounds, not all the poults will grow at the same rate or be the same size. If she is not showing any signs of poor health or pain, there is no reason to put her down.

Midget White poults can be quite small and slow growing.

Personally, I wouldn't want her in my gene pool, but there are ways to keep her eggs from hatching that do not involve killing her for no reason that I can see without further information. If she is lively and eating, then she is fine. She's not far off in coloring, anyway, since MW's tend to have very white legs and blue eyes. There's not a lot of color in the breed.

At my house she'd be grown out for a roast turkey. No reason to put her down unless she is suffering for some reason. MW's are often kept just to be pets.

 

[chicken danz]

Well I have no intentions of culling her because of albinism. Yes she is smaller than the others which might indicate she does have trouble seeing, but other wise she is a healthy bird. I'm not even sure she is a she but it seems I read somewhere that albinism would only occur in female turkeys. Now if she were a male, she would simply get butchered at some point. But she should still be able to lay eggs for eating when she matures.
The turkey's are currently in a pen under a shade tree. Eventually they will be moved to a building and pens with my peafowl which is sunny but they would have a large open indoor area that is shaded. I am hopefully going to have a number of grape vines growing over the pen to provide shade as well. (If we ever get some rain!!)
I really just don't want to chance damaging her eyes further by taking her outside. The information here has helped. It gives me more to consider. I brought her in to take some pictures, and my camera is really slow and she moves really fast. But at least in the blurs you can see her eyes.
DH says her skin might sunburn as well if she doesn't keep a good feather cover. I think I will leave her in the brooder house until it cools down some and the sun isn't so intense. So I guess she'll be there at least another month. It took me a year to get these turkeys and they certainly weren't cheap. I got them from two different sources so I could have mixed blood lines. If she just hangs around as a non-producing pet that's okay too.
I can breed the others and have the excess boys for dinner or to sell.
I may eventually have to separate her because of her condition if the males get overly aggressive with her or if I start hatching the others' eggs. But that shouldn't be a major problem.

 

[chicken danz]

Oregon Blues, the main reason I was set on getting midget whites is because of their pet like nature. My first batch which I hatched from eggs are big babies. They totally love human contact. The second group wasn't played with as much but they are all still very sweet birds. I love these birds blue eyes. It just makes them that much sweeter. This bird is from the poults I bought in the second group. I have to agree if she grows slow she would only taste better. So given some time she might just feed my family a nice meal.

 

[Narragansett]

In a breed where adult size can range from 10 pounds to 22 pounds, not all the poults will grow at the same rate or be the same size. Very true, but again, as it has been presented this bird is not growing smaller or more slowly because of natural variation. It has some problem that it causing it. If she is not showing any signs of poor health or pain, there is no reason to put her down.

Midget White poults can be quite small and slow growing. Yes, but growing at a markedly different rate than the others in this hatch indicates a problem.

Personally, I wouldn't want her in my gene pool, but there are ways to keep her eggs from hatching that do not involve killing her for no reason that I can see without further information. If she is lively and eating, then she is fine. She's not far off in coloring, anyway, since MW's tend to have very white legs and blue eyes. There's not a lot of color in the breed.

At my house she'd be grown out for a roast turkey. No reason to put her down unless she is suffering for some reason. MW's are often kept just to be pets. I never wrote to put her down for no reason. Turkey culls are the first ones that should be processed for meat, unless they have some defect which may prevent them from growing successfully to market weight. As it has been described, this one does, but if it will eat enough to grow to market size, so much the better, if the owner doesn't care about efficient feed conversion and wants to spend a lot more on feed to get there than is needed. As far as keeping long term for a "pet", well if she goes completely blind she will starve to death. Even having limited sight and hense feeding ability, she might not live an enjoyable life.

Quote: This is true of all turkeys, no matter the feather color. They will all sunburn without good feather cover. White is white, simply an absense of pigment, irregardless of whether it occurs in an albino or a non-albino normal white bird. The exposed skin of this bird will be no more or less sensitive to sun than your other Midget Whites. You are right to be concerned about the possibilty that her eyes may be affected by strong sunlight, but just as other detrimental traits are sometimes linked to albinism, sometimes not, this is in no way a given.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I just thought of something, Chickendanz.

If she is smaller, the bigger birds can push her away from the feeder, so be certain that there is plenty of room at the feeder for everybody to eat without pushing.

 

[chicken danz]

I have her in my brooder house with some young orpington chicks right now so she is the bigger chick this time around. Maybe she'll get a chance to get caught up before she goes out to join the others.

 

[TV]

This is true of all turkeys, no matter the feather color. They will all sunburn without good feather cover. White is white, simply an absense of pigment, irregardless of whether it occurs in an albino or a non-albino normal white bird. The exposed skin of this bird will be no more or less sensitive to sun than your other Midget Whites. You are right to be concerned about the possibilty that her eyes may be affected by strong sunlight, but just as other detrimental traits are sometimes linked to albinism, sometimes not, this is in no way a given.

That's not correct exactly. If it is a true albino then the skin will also lack any pigmentation and be much more susceptible to damage from sunlight. turkeys have quite a little exposed skin on the head and neck. An albino would need more protection from sun exposure.

 

[laturcotte1]

Oh my she is beautiful. And so are you for being so concerned and loving. We have an animal rescue and have had a senior rooster with two broken feet who by the way got in and out of his coop all by himself, was able to stand on a bale of hay for a look out. He finally, after many years of life succumbed to a heart attack. Fletcher came to us with frost bite to all of his toes, eventually all falling off lived a great live, guarding his hens and goats. I have a blind 41 year old horse, we just lost our 11 year old diabetic blind mini schnuazer. They are all worth giving a chance to. As long as we do no harm. I think she is a keeper, give her a name and maybe you'll enjoy each others company for many years to come.

 

[NatureGirl2011]

That is one beautiful bird.

I agree though, I would never put down any animal unless they were in pain. Of course, I'm a sucker for the smaller, seemingly hopeless cases. Just over a year ago I took home a poult that couldn't walk because they were gonna let it starve and be trampled to death. It only lived a week, but it was in comfort the while time. In fact, the reason I brought home the royal palm I have now is because it was smaller and the other wouldn't stop picking on it. In my opinion, just because it's small doesn't mean it's no good. It just means it needs a little extra love.