Turkey Molting?

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mlranchtx

mlranchtx

Hatching
11 Years
May 17, 2008
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We have a Tom Eastern turkey that we've had a few months. He's a couple of years old and was very handsome when we got him. Lately he is losing his chest feathers. He is a long gobbler on our farm and his only companions are a rooster, 4 hens and a guinea so he's not breeding anything that I'm aware of. Do they molt and if so, would he loose only his chest feathers? He's lost quite a large patch and you can see bare skin in places..... Hate to see him looking so shabby! He's a very curious fellow, gobbles up a storm and is getting tame enough to eat from your hand.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Lindsey
 
Hey mlranch, same thing's happening to my turkey tom... he's losing all of his belly and lower chest feathers. It looks terrible. He perches on a metal bar and I was wondering if he's having some kind of reaction to the metal. Anyone know how a turkey molts? He looks awfully strange (and not so handsome anymore). I picked him up to look more closely and I don't see any problems with his skin where the feathers came out. He's not losing feathers anywhere else.
 
The molt makes them look like they have been run through a feather plucker. I have two 1 year old Bourbon Red gobblers who have lost most of the feathers off their bellies, lower chest and fans. The feathers will grow back and when they do they will look better than before the molt. My 2 year old Royal Palm is beginning to look pretty thin in the belly and lower chest area. Last year at this time he looked about like my Bourbons do now but as you can see in my avatar he came out beautiful.
 
I have 2 young domestic turkeys and they are both losing all the feathers on their backs between their wings Im not sure if this is normal molting or do they have a parasite? They look horrible! Looked at them and dont see any parasites but i dunno.... How long before feathers grow back in if this is normal? Its been about two weeks now any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
How old are they? What gender are they? What breed are they?

Could be:

molting
overbreeding (are they females with a tom nearby?)
fighting/pecking
mites or lice

Pics might help also.

Even if it's a parasite you can treat it.
 
All of my toms are well into the molt now. bellies and breasts are shedding badly and they are beginning to lose their tailfeathers. They will pretty back up before fall. Now is the time to gather tailfeathers to sell.
 
Jake looked bad when he'd pulled out his belly feathers to sit on the babies, add moult and he looks like wholly heck. He came to us with little tail at all from being in an overstocked male only pen and so no pretty tail feathers to pick up this year. Sigh. Maybe next year.
 
Quote:
He look shabbier than this?

106_0476.jpg
 
That pic was so disturbing... at first he looked like the headless turkey, like there was just a turkey head on the ground. Then I realized what the pic was, but it still creeps me out -- like the headless horseman (turkey).
 
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