Can Turkeys get a hernia? Updated with a pic

[flocksalot]

I have 11 toms and 10 hens this year. Lucky ME! Anyway one of my toms never struts his stuff for me anymore. He is however hanging out with the girls all the time. He even jumps the fence daily with the girls. Yesterday I was putting him back over the fence and I felt something very odd. There was a mushy protuberance in my hand as I hefted him. I lifted his tail and sure enough there is this lump in his lower belly. It's located just behind his legs (but not up to his vent) and in the soft section where all the internals are. Yesterday it was about the size of a golf ball. Today it's about the size of a baseball. I hadn't planned on butchering any yet, but I don't want him to just burst open on me. What a horrible way that would be to die. My local poultry expert (MOM) has never heard of such a thing, so I'm hoping someone can help. Tall Tommy is pretty big, but most of his weight is made up in height. He is as tall as my almost 8 year old. He's also cool as his eyes are half (liturally split right down the middle) blue. Tall Tommy is a BBW with a hatch date of May 2 of this year. He used to strut with the other toms, but hasn't for at least a couple of weeks. There had been some fighting going on between the boys and one hen used to kick everyones butt when they disturbed her. Big Boy (no longer the biggest) had gotten injured and I had to isolate him for a couple of days until his neck muscles healed, so he could hod his neck normal again. Tall Tommy could have been injured around then. All the boys are well over the 35 lb. mark at this point and I did see them fling each other around before I could stop them. One of them actually jumped over my son to grab another and toss him. Could something like that have caused this? If not that what could this be? I would take a pic if I knew where my camera was packed up at (we sold our house in Feb. and are currently living in a tiny apt. as our home gets built on the farm). One other tom, Mr Blue eye (one eye is the same color blue as my sons) no longer seems to strut, but he appears to have no injuries. I checked him all over which of course got Big Boy all excited and frustrated. He is Momma's Big Boy and gets very jealous if I pay attention to another turkey.

OK I tried to take a picture with my cell. It's bad I know, but you can slightly see the bulge poking out of his feathers. Any ideas? Does not appear to be fluid filled.

 

[chicmom]

Is the lump more like a bubble, and does it feel like it's full of fluid? Maybe it's an absess and you could just drain it........I would imagine it could be a hernia. I mean, why not? The are really big birds.

I'm new to the turkey world, so I don't know, but hopefully a more knowledgable person will come around.

Good luck with him,
Sharon

 

[flocksalot]

Quote:
Forgot to say that I can see blood vessles in it. I need to check him better, but Big Boy gets so jealous. I need to have my son home from school to distract him. From the brief glance I got this morning it almost looked like intestines much the same as my younger brothers hernia looked when I was a kid. Poor Tall Tommy!

 

[crj]

On the home page I noticed an online vet. Maybe you can check that out and get some help there. Just a thought.

 

[flocksalot]

Quote:
Thanks! I do think it's a hernia, but it doesn't appear to bother him too much. He wolfs down food and I actually saw him trying to strut today. He is pooping, but if I don't see him doing that I'm going to cull as that would me his intestines have gotten restricted somehow. He's not a breeder and I have no plans to keep him beyond the Thanksgiving processing time. I just wasn't up for an emergency slaughter right now. Just got done with the meat birds and really just enjoy this time with my babies. One of my girls has taken a shine to my husband and stared and called to him all day while he worked on the roof. She gets ever so excited when he comes home from work. She really wants him to come down and be with her. She's so funny. I love Turkeys.