Afraid my turkey hen was sprayed with Roundup

sarahbeth006

In the Brooder
Nov 16, 2015
13
4
44
Last month we had a broody turkey hen disappear on us, and we found a pile of feathers so we thought she was dead. Four days ago, she showed up for breakfast alone, looking bedraggled (as expected). I penned her up because I wanted to make sure she had access to food and water. As far as I can tell, she hasn't eaten, she's holding her head low on her shoulders, and she paces all day. She does call when I'm out, but no matter what I put in for her to eat, she ignores it.

Today I noticed that the tree line where I suspect she was setting is starting to turn a suspicious shade of orange. The state road crews came through a few days ago for "maintenance" meaning they mowed down our daylilies and apparently sprayed the treeline with something. If she was in there, she probably got doused. Anything I can do to help her or should we just put her down?
 
The first thing that I would do is rinse her off very well. If there's still pesticide on her feathers, she could continue to consume it if she preens.
I'm not really sure what to do besides that, but if you're not sure if she got sprayed, I'd continue to observe her and note down any other symptoms.
 
Update: My husband let her out of the pen and she walked three feet and started chowing down on grass - I guess the grass in her pen was not acceptable. She has since bounced back just fine. Our sprayed daylilies are slower to recover. My mom caught the state road guys out one day and they said they didn't know that anything was sprayed. Sure.
 
In the event you suspect a bird has consumed something toxic related to chemicals, you can offer charcoal for birds. It absorbs the toxins much like carbon filters do in aquariums. Most people who breed small caged birds offer charcoal. Remember that it will also do the same thing to medications, so be sure to remove charcoal before administering medication.

https://ladygouldianfinch.com/product_charcoal.php
 

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