Half-Naked Bird is Sunburning. What can I do to help?

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Also, what is the proper/best way to pick up and carry a full grown turkey hen? The person we got her from picked her up in such a way that greatly alarmed us, but we were told that that was the 'only' way to pick up the turkey. :|

Turkeys are strong and will fight when picked up generally. I don't pick up any turkeys unless necessary. Their wings can give you a nice punch in the face if you aren't careful and strong.

As @drumstick diva mentioned bluekote would be a good thing to spray on her. It will cover the skin from the sun and keep it softer.

 

[Revan]

We used to have turkeys, they were terribly friendly and followed us everywhere. We rescued them and later found them new homes. When we walked up to them they just sat down so we just picked them up like we would any other bird, sort of tuck them under our arm, holding their wings down and their legs under them. I imagine others might tell you to grab them by their legs and hang them upside-down but we only do that with the rare rooster that won't cooperate. We don't eat any of our animals so we treat them like pets, and name most of them! I know, we are silly!

No worries. We name some of our birds too. Most all our farm critters are also rescues. No one gets eaten here. Problem animals, generally the more aggressive roosters, simply get re-homed.

As for picking up birds, yeah, that's what my mom and I were thinking. Try to support the bulk of the weight. What alarmed us was that the former owner insisted on putting her hands around the joint of the wings where they connect to the body and lifting up the bird by her WINGS. No support under the body itself. First thing I worried about was the wings breaking, because the bird weighs at least 20 pounds.

As @drumstick diva mentioned bluekote would be a good thing to spray on her. It will cover the skin from the sun and keep it softer.

Okay. I think I have some of that somewhere. Thanks. ^_^

 

[Albanydog]

No worries. We name some of our birds too. Most all our farm critters are also rescues. No one gets eaten here. Problem animals, generally the more aggressive roosters, simply get re-homed.

As for picking up birds, yeah, that's what my mom and I were thinking. Try to support the bulk of the weight. What alarmed us was that the former owner insisted on putting her hands around the joint of the wings where they connect to the body and lifting up the bird by her WINGS. No support under the body itself. First thing I worried about was the wings breaking, because the bird weighs at least 20 pounds.



Okay. I think I have some of that somewhere. Thanks. ^_^

How awful, picking them up by their wings just seems really ignorant!

 

[ashlierami]

So, today we (my mother and I) picked up a free turkey hen. She was being given away because apparently the owner's Muscovy Duck male was attacking her relentlessly and caused quite a bit of damage. My primary concern at the moment is the large amount of feather loss she has sustained, and parts of her exposed skin is turning rather red due to sunburn. I am hoping that her feathers grow back in. In the meantime, is there anything I can apply to her skin to help protect it from further sunburn?

Here's a picture of her. Her wings are covering much of her back, but under them is all bare skin.

View attachment 1407597

This probably sounds silly but I applied aloe vera gel that is used for after the sun to my quail hen when she went thru a molt and had a bare back that turned red.i know that's 2 different birds but it helped her. Her back was red and hot to the touch . She did have sunburn from laying out in her dust bath that is in the sun. Now she has a full back of feathers and was never affected by the gel. She actually seemed to like the cooling affect it provided as well as the cover on her skin. I included pics of her bare back pre sunburn and her now with all her feathers. I didn't get a picture of when she was sunburnt.

 

[rebrascora]

I have no experience of turkeys but if you think about it logically, those wings joints have the weight of the bird hanging off them when they fly, so they have to be strong enough to support it being lifted by them. People are sometimes quick to judge because something doesn't "look right" to them, but that doesn't mean it is wrong. I'm not saying this is the correct way to lift a turkey, but just to be open minded about it if you don't know. I appreciate that you are seeking advice on this and therefore showing a will to learn but others have been keen to be disparaging of it. It might seem similarly odd (if you think about it) that we will sometimes swing a child by it's arms between too adults, but the child actually enjoys it. Not saying a turkey enjoys being lifted and/or swung by it's wings, but there is a chance it might.

I would be inclined to apply some sun block or high factor sun cream. I use it on my horses muzzles to prevent sunburn. I would imagine a single application would be all you needed but the Bluecote sounds like a good idea and may work. It would be difficult to tell if it had or not though as you would not see if there was any obvious burning under the purple colour.

 

[Albanydog]

I have no experience of turkeys but if you think about it logically, those wings joints have the weight of the bird hanging off them when they fly, so they have to be strong enough to support it being lifted by them. People are sometimes quick to judge because something doesn't "look right" to them, but that doesn't mean it is wrong. I'm not saying this is the correct way to lift a turkey, but just to be open minded about it if you don't know. I appreciate that you are seeking advice on this and therefore showing a will to learn but others have been keen to be disparaging of it. It might seem similarly odd (if you think about it) that we will sometimes swing a child by it's arms between too adults, but the child actually enjoys it. Not saying a turkey enjoys being lifted and/or swung by it's wings, but there is a chance it might.

I would be inclined to apply some sun block or high factor sun cream. I use it on my horses muzzles to prevent sunburn. I would imagine a single application would be all you needed but the Bluecote sounds like a good idea and may work. It would be difficult to tell if it had or not though as you would not see if there was any obvious burning under the purple colour.

Domesticated turkeys can't fly except when they are babies, they are too heavy to support their own weight. Same for male Muscovy ducks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Domesticated turkeys can't fly except when they are babies, they are too heavy to support their own weight. Same for male Muscovy ducks.

My muscovy and heritage turkey hens routinely fly still as adults. The males cannot.

 

[rebrascora]

My friend's used to fly up onto his roof or a tree branch to roost at night. I think they were bronze turkeys. Maybe they are different in the UK. Just saying it may not be cruel .... which was kind of being implied.... to handle them in that way.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My friend's used to fly up onto his roof or a tree branch to roost at night. I think they were bronze turkeys. Maybe they are different in the UK. Just saying it may not be cruel .... which was kind of being implied.... to handle them in that way.

I have picked up adult turkeys, if you don't control their wings you are going to get a beating. Being picked up by the base of the wings is a better way than being held by the legs in a strong heavy bird like a turkey. Holding them like a chicken to your chest is pretty much impossible for many people to do.

 

[Revan]

I personally don't feel that picking a large bird (or any bird really) up by the wings is a good idea, but that's just my opinion.

We did have to move her from the vehicle to her new enclosure, and we opted to put a blanket over her and carry her, fully supporting her weight, and there was far less struggling and squawking than when she was lifted by her wings. It was her struggling when being lifted by her wings by the previous owner that caused me to really worry about her breaking a wing.