a wounded, rescued turkey from a livestock trailer

[supergirl42]

Well, Lucy is eating and drinking well and learning to use her wings! I had to cut off part of her tail feather due to feces, then realized she won't have her balance. Took her outside today to meet a chicken, but the chicken was not impressed, so it was a short visit. I am limiting her food though, not even sure how much a turkey should eat every day. I have a question about her wound, it is starting to scab - do I leave it? Right now, am still putting Udder Balm Ointment on it to keep it moist.

I uploaded pics, but they are not here - so not sure what I did wrong - but she does have blue eyes!

 

[Frosty]

Personally, I would leave the scabs on and keep putting the ointment on to keep the scabs softer so they don't crack. Blue eyes sounds like possibly a White Holland? I just went out and looked at my BBW's and their eyes look dark.

I went back to read the original post again... turkeys (especially in crowded conditions) sometimes do peck at their buddies beaks and toes, so that may be why the upper beak looks cut and parts of the toes are missing. And the wounds that you are describing may not be road rash, it may have been breeding damage. The toms grab the neck while breeding and can rip up the under wing area if they slip off (which is why some folks use breeding saddles). I am glad that you rescued her!

 

[chicks4kids]

I had a BBW that had one blue eye and one brown eye...so it happens sometimes. Your comment about the 5 toes on one foot has me baffled. All my turkeys have only had 4 toes...

But GREAT JOB on helping her out! It sounds like she's doing much better. And I agree that you should NOT remove those scabs...I would let it heal over. If you do introduce her to others in your flock just watch for pecking at her wounds. But I would keep her seperated for awhile.....for her own benefits mostly, but also to allow you to find anything diseases that you don't want to introduce to your flock.

Keep it up

 

[OmaBird]

The 5 toe commit got me thinking this was a made up post by one of those nut ball organizations riled up over factory farms.

Its always amazing how many are experts on how a turkey should be cared for but they don't know anything about turkeys.

That was just my first thoughts.

 

[supergirl42]

I cant count! Four toes on each of her two feet - three with no claws, the smaller toe in back has a claw. Read that factory farms also cut off the bit under the chin - so mom thinking that this made her a girl, might be a boy afterall. I will continue to call her Lucy though...thanks for the info about the scabs, will just keep them soft. Her body is also turning green - realized it is bruising that is coming out - poor girl! Can you just imagine flying out of a trailer 100 km an hour and hitting the pavement? Maybe she is part cat. Been really educating my mom on factory farm poultry - I am vegetarian, mom wonders why...now she is understanding. When I read mom info from the internet about cutting the beak, claws and the part under the neck - she got upset! Ecducation - sometimes thats all it takes. That bit about the male turkey ripping the ladies under the wings - what age does that start? How do I know how old Lucy is? She is also defecating alot of 'water', more so than solids - never really noticed this with chickens, but then never had chickens on newspaper before, either.

 

[supergirl42]

 

[OmaBird]

What are you reading that is telling you they cut under the neck? I say hog wash to that.

 

[chicks4kids]

What you have there is a BBW.......

 

[Frosty]

Definately a BBW from the size of the feet/legs... Still could have been stomped by another bird, though. I think if she actually flew out of a trailer and hit hard enough to scrape under the wing, wouldn't the wing have been broken? Right now I do still think it's a Lucy... The watery poop isn't really normal but possibly be because her diet is off? What color is it?

 

[OmaBird]

It does look like a scrape from breeding. I am not sure on the breed. It is not that big if it is of breeding age. Not of size I would think would be from a factory farm for eating. The nails look more from a cage bird.