1 day old baby Turkey unable to walk/stand

[GobbleGobbleBaw]

After a very long wait and finally having our hens lay their first eggs, we didn't think in a million years that we'd actually end up with fertile eggs, let alone have one hatch at the end of 28 days in the incubator!
Anyway, so he/she finally arrived and at first I wasn't too worried about its inability to stand up and walk around as I find it quite common in chicks of course when they have just hatched. Most chicks we've hatched however were definitely standing fine and walking well by the second day. It's now been over 24 hours and this little guy is crawling rather than walking and often will end up on its back, not being able to turn back around.
The little legs seem to be fine (not broken), although the left foot seems to be in a "fist" like posture most of the time but it is able to spread the toes out like it would have to in order to walk. I"m a bit at a loss here and any input/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm frequently coaxing him to where water and food is (I'm using baby rice cereal and luke warm water).since he didn't make any attempts to eat or drink on his own. He is picking at the box wall he's in and the bedding from time to time, whenever he has a little more energy than other times. He seems weak overall but I think with some more food and water he might get better.

Thank you in advance for any input/suggestions!

 

[Hazelrah]

I'm sorry to hear your chick is having problems. I have 5 day old bantams and one of them had legs that stayed behind her like a seal. I am following the instructions in this link and offer it in hopes it may work for turkeys as well: http://www.poultryhelp.com/spraddle.html

Here is a long bit from another thread discussing how to make little shoes if the toes are curled:

OK HERE IT IS
THIS WAS BY POSTER Glenda L Heywood:

ORTHOPEDICS FOR POULTRY MADE EASY FOR BEGINNERS
By D.C. Townsend

These treatments have been tested and proven effective. I developed them for peafowl but they
may be used for any poultry. The key to success is to begin treatment promptly. In some cases delay
will kill or cripple the chick.

CHICK SHOE
Not Actual Size
HALF SHOE
Not Actual Size
In the 1995 hatch, I had a number of peachicks with a kink in the outer toe of one or both feet.
They were well past a week old when I decided that I must do something about it. I made HALF SHOES of black pipe cleaner. I tore off a quarter inch-wide stripe of duck tape several inches long and secured
the HALF SHOE to the middle and the outer toe. Several days of treatment were needed. Some of the
HALF SHOES came off and had to be taped on again, but all treated peachicks had straight toes at the
end of the treatment. There is a young peacock that I missed treating. Now it is too late and he will
always have a kink in his outer toe


HOBBLE BRACE
ACHILLES TENDON OUT OF THE GROOVE
When the Achilles tendon slips out of the groove on the hock joint, a peachick will not be able to
straighten its leg. The problem needs prompt attention because the struggling peachick will put
its weight on the hock joint which will damage the skin and cause swelling in the joint. The tendon
can be pushed back in place with just one finger or a very gentle squeeze between the thumb and index
finger. Sometimes just one treatment will give a complete cure that seems like a miracle. Other
times several treatments are needed. Stubborn cases require advanced treatment that is too difficult to
explain here. I treated both legs of a peachick for two weeks; She grew up to be a healthy peahen.

STRADDLE LEGS
This problem can occur even if you take the precaution of having quarter inch hardware cloth
under your peachicks. Sometimes it is caused by the struggles of a chick with its toes rolled into
fists. In that case, both problems must be treated at the same time. I cut a piece of tape four or
five inches long and from the HOBBLE BRACE with the legs far enough apart so that the peachick can walk. The tape must go the whole way around and cover its sticky side so that it does not stick to the
peachick's fuzz when it sits down. Usually 24 hours of treatment is sufficient, but sometimes more is
required. CHICK SHOES and the HOBBLE BRACE can be used at the same time.

 

[Cold Canadian]

I had the same problem and ended up distroying five chicks and one died that all had the same problem .I had two more hatch and this time I left them in the incubator for twice as long a time .Warm and humid as it were and they started off the same and then they gained there feet and are doing just fine ? Seems for me it was the heat ? I took the forst ones out when they were dry and fluffy and it seems that this was still to early ,at least it all seems to point in that direction ? If you can put them back and let them stay in there a while longer .......can't hurt and if it helps then it would be a good thing .

 

[AH64Coyote]

I've seem this a few times myself. We frequently show them the high protein chick starter/grower and dip there beaks in for vitamin water every chance we get. We keep newborns on vitamin water for at least the first couple weeks. Hope they pull through for you.

 

[GobbleGobbleBaw]

I'm happy to report that the first turkey baby with this problem is doing GREAT! We did tape its legs with the simple band-aid method and helped it eat/drink etc. of course.
We had 2 more after this one, they both needed assistance hatching and the 4th one was doing VERY poorly. Couldn't hold its head, couldn't stand or walk and I thought for sure he wouldn't make it. Today is day 4 for him and he's starting to come around. I wouldn't normally help but he was stuck in that egg for a very long time (2 days after having made some progress and then it just stopped and seemed very weak).

Thank you so much, Hazelrah for all that wonderful information! I'm such a noob and this is our first time hatching Turkey Eggs. We've hatched chickens before and they were super easy compared to what we're dealing with now lol. Turkey's are just "special" *chuckle*

We are using gamebird starter feed but none of the weak ones with issues wanted to eat it, even when I softened the food. So I did the only thing I could think of and that was Baby Rice Cereal. It has a lot of vitamins and can be made thicker/thinner and so that's what I did to the 3 weak ones. I could swear that it made all the difference as far as their ability to walk/stand and holding up the head for the 4th one. Sugar water seemed to only help for a short period of time but after I did the rice cereal a few times, each one I gave it to started improving quite a bit after each little feeding.

Thanks so much again for everyone's input. You guys were lifesavers!

 

[Hazelrah]

Happy to hear things are turning around for you. I'll remember the rice cereal trick in case I get a baby that is unable to eat the starter food. I will be starting my second hatch in a week or so (waiting on shipped eggs).

 

[GobbleGobbleBaw]

@ Hazelrah: Do let me know how it does for you. I will stick with it cause it made such a big difference. Oh and I was wondering, too....2 of the 4 we have now are light yellow in color, just like some chicken chicks would be. Is that common? We bred Royal Palms with a Eastern Wild and a brown/white (the name escapes me at the moment). They are really pretty. I'm wondering if they'll stay that color, but I'm guessing not?

 

[Goodearthfarms]

I recieved 15 baby poult 4 days ago. They arrived busy and alert. They went straight into the box prepared for them other living room with stater crumbles, water with vitamins heat light at 90 .. The 3rd day on died suddenly. The next morning. One stopped being able to walk or stand right and died withing an hour. Then another, then another today. What is happening? What do I need to do different? They are all eating and drinking up till an hour before they keel,over.

 

[GobbleGobbleBaw]

I think that 90 degrees is too cold for them. You didn't say how old they are, but I've noticed with mine, that even at 1 week old, they still seek out the really warm spot that is 99 degree's right now. It is rather rare that they will seek the colder corners of the box. If they are only 1-5 days old, I would most definitely say that they have to have 98.5 - 99.5 degrees. Turkey babies get cold very quickly. I also give them warm water instead of cold water as drinking cold water will cool them down VERY quickly.
Hope this helps and please let me know how they're doing!

 

[StarFlower99654]

Happy to have found this thread. I have a baby turkey that has curled feet. He is a few days old now and walks around fine, but I have to fix his feet. His brother didnt make it due to having that had straddle legs and was very weak. That wont happen again now that I found this thread. Thank you everyone!