First Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon- Join us! Set Day: Easter

[gryeyes]

Well, the little poult I hatched from thebirdguy's eggs is virtually identical to the two BB (dark) poults I bought at the feed store, labeled "Heritage Broad Breasted Turkeys - straight run." They were in a tub with White Broad Breasted turkey poults. I like the dark ones best.

Guess I'll just have to watch their snoods develop to determine if I've got boys or girls or a combination. I had wondered what those little bitty knob things were on their foreheads.

I set lotsapaints' eggs much later and am still hoping some will hatch.

 

[Wisher1000]

I had wondered what those little bitty knob things were on their foreheads.

"Snoodletts"

 

[superchemicalgirl]

we cleaned the wound but I'm not sure she will recover from it

it's pretty severe... AS you can see from the picture most of her thigh has no skin or feathers anymore and she has a few large puncture holes... we rinsed everything then squirted her down with betadine then applied an antibiotic ointment but it didn't stick very well, I'm pretty sure she'll need some actual antibiotics, any suggestions on type and dosage?... she is still very with it so I want to give her a chance if she has one but also don't want her to suffer unnecessarily.

That looks bad, I'm so sorry.

I would clean it with normal saline 0.9% irrigatation (find it in the wound care section) in liter bottles. Blot dry with gauze or non shed wipes. Wear gloves and smear triple antibiotic ointment on it (bacitracin, neomycin, polymixin b - no aloe, no pain relief gel, just the basics). I'd also try and give her something either by mouth or IM injection near the site. She'll most likely require systemic antibiotics in addition to the local from the looks of a wound like this. I don't know what's available for birds (only humans, sorry) but you could post in the emergency section and see what people have to say. If you could find a sulfa I'd go for that.

 

[debs_flock]

I hope she's doing okay. Chickens are amazingly resilient.

Thirty years ago I had a rooster that was attacked by dogs. It's throat and chest were torn open almost identical to your pictures. It was apparently dead. I put the body into an empty feed sack and put it in the corner of the shed until I could deal with it later. The next day, I went into the shed for feed and saw the sack move. I looked in and found the rooster looking back at me. Even though that rooster had always been meaner than h**l, I decided anything with that much will to live deserved my help. I treated him with neosporin-type ointment (all I had at the time) and he healed up fine. I think putting his "dead" body into a sack and putting him into the shed helped him to retain enough extra body heat to survive.

I hope you have luck with your girl, the wound looks terrible.

Deb

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I have an escape artist turkey. Was out twice already today. That's my litmus test for removing their heat lamp and closing the brooder lid.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Still hilarious!!

I have an escape artist turkey. Was out twice already today. That's my litmus test for removing their heat lamp and closing the brooder lid.

Glad yours are doing well!! I still don't have turkeys---6 due tomorrow.

 

[HappyAcresKY]

Thank you for all the suggestions, encouragement and support, I needed it more then ever last night, I feel more optimistic after reading them

She seems okay today, she's not eating or drinking much but she was attacked while broody so she wasn't eating or drinking much before, she's pooping (looks normal) and she is standing most of the time on her good leg. She's very alert and continues to hiss at us if we get too close, which I'm taking as a good sign. We cleaned the wound again today, which didn't look as bad as I expected, sprayed it with Blue-Kot and folded the skin back over (couldn't stitch at this point it wasn't supple enough), covered with gauze then wrapped it in a bandage to help keep it closed and moist plus gave her some antibiotics. She definitely has a fighting spirit and I want to do everything I can to keep her comfortable and healing so please continue with suggestions, I am very appreciative of everyone's input.

 

[Arielle]

I was just reading and found Speckled hen recommended this for pain. 2 baby aspirin twice a day or 1/4 tab adult aspirin twice a day.

I personally have no knowledge about aspirin and chickens but it would sure help with the pain and swelling.

 

[Wisher1000]

You are going to have to get her to drink at least. It may take a week or more for her to want to eat and drink on her own but you have to keep her hydrated. If you have a small syringe you could squeeze a small amount into the corner of her beak (careful not to get too much or into her nose) several times a day. My roo wouldn't eat anything but soft scrambled eggs the whole time he was recouperating. I think he knew he could hold out and get the good stuff!

 

[NotAFarm]

Hi everyone! I've been out of town so I am now catching up! I left my turkeys and tutors in the care of a friend and all fared well. I can't believe how big they got in the week I was gone!

I will get some pics of them tomorrow. My friend said she had heard that poults were hard to raise and was surprised that she didn't have any problems. I told her she should consider getting some

! She loved having the Eco Glow for them and commented on how great it was and how much they seemed to enjoy nestling down under it at night and climbing on it during the day! The added benefit of no light was the icing on the cake she said. I have to agree!! They are getting so big that I am going to need to move them to something larger than the dog kennel they are in. I hesitate to move them to anywhere outside since I've heard to keep them "off the ground" for 6 weeks. I had them on paper towels until they went to my friend's house. She has soil that is sand........I mean just sand.....and she lives a few miles from me......I have clay covered by topsoil at my house. She collected at bucket of warm, dry sand that she has in a pile and we used it for bedding the dog crate for them. They thrived there so I decided to try it. I remember Steve of SandS Poultry mentioning that they brood turkey poults on sand so I thought why not?! We moved them to a cardboard box for the ride home and emptied the used sand at her house. I brought home a 5 gallon bucket of sand and refilled the dog crate and they settled right in. I'm thinking I will be going back over and getting some more sand so I have enough to last until they are old enough to be outside.

Where are the pics of the poults from this Turkeython?!