7 week old tukey w/splayed leg..am I doing this right??

[Turkeyrangler]

A little update. He does get up on the roost again. He is seeing the vet in the morning and that is when I will make my decision. I am willing to drop some change on him if it will help, but if his quality of life is not going to be good then I will elect to have him put down. He was out for a while today eating bugs and grass. He was preening as well, so I'm pretty sure he isn't in pain. I don't think a turkey in pain would preen himself. If I end up with a crippled turkey that is OK too. If he can get to food and water and the other birds don't mess with him then I'm cool with that. Hope things turn out well tomorrow. I tend to plan for the worst, and hope for the best. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Inkyspal]

Turkeyrangler,

I just found your post from last year regarding your 7 week old turkey. I'm in the same boat.
I have an eastern wild turkey poult that is 6 weeks old. He (or she) has struggled with splay leg since he hatched. He is also about 1/3 the size of his siblings. I tried the shackles when he was a few days old and they seemed to work fine. After a few days, he was standing on his own and doing well. Then, I had to go out of town for a week so I decided to remove the shackles in fear that he may hurt himself while I was gone. When I got back, the leg had splayed again and was worse than before. I re-shackled him and have kept him isolated in a large bucket with towels surrounding him like a bowl to give him support for the last month. Everytime I remove his shackles his leg just goes right back out again. Yesterday I took him to an avian vet. He suggested that I euthanize the turkey. He said that the leg would never heal correctly. I don't want to accept this answer. He is a very good vet who actually teaches at a veterinary university, but I have a hard time believing that with as much growing as this little turkey has left to do that his leg can't heal. At this point, I don't want to euthanize him. I've grown very attached to him since I've been giving him so much care and attention the past few weeks. He stays in the house in his little bucket and chirps and purrs as if he's happy. He eats well and is a sweetie pie. I can't bring myself to put him down right now. I wanted to reach out to you and see what the vet said about your turkey...and to see how your turkey is doing. Do you think its possible for a turkey to survive and learn to live with the splayed leg? Thanks for any advice or help you can offer.

 

[teri c]

I know it has been a long time since your post about the little turkey, but I now find myself in the same situation and was wondering if all the hobbling worked.

 

[Inkyspal]

teri,

I am so sorry to hear of your little bird. It breaks my heart everytime I think of my little "cricket". After a very long struggle and every attempt to correct his legs, I ended up having to euthanize him. He was doing a little better and had begun to hop and flop around a bit and one night his little leg snapped up near the "thigh" bone. There was nothing that could be done to reset it. Even in the midst of the pain he must have been going through, when I held him close to me he made the sweetest little sounds that I had grown so used to hearing. Although I only had him a few short weeks, that little turkey left an impression on my heart that will be with me forever.
Splay leg CAN be corrected. However, you have a very short window of opportunity to do so because of their rapid growth rate. Once that time has passed it is nearly impossible to make any progress. I wish you all the best with your bird. Saying a little prayer for him.