Help How to treat a Turkey with a broken middle toe *UPDATE*

[Dev]

Hi. I need some suggestions of what I should do for one of my 12 week old black Spanish Turkey. His middle toe is broken at the first knuckle from the end, just back from the nail and it is broken completely apart, the toe is hanging by a piece of skin.

My husband first sprayed it with Vetercyn wound and infection treatment spray, then put neosporin and then two bandaides (because the toe is so long) and then he put duct tape over that to hold it because both my turkeys like to stand in dishes of water that is in the yard. There is a small amount of blood where the skin is torn due to the bone seperating there. We can't get the toe to set straight though even though it is wrapped snuggly it still turns sideways because it is not connected at all other than a small piece of skin. My husband thinks the toe will probably fall off as it heals since we don't have a way of setting it and getting it to stay put. The turkey keeps picking at it so I am not sure how long the duct tape and bandaides will even stay put. Was neosporin ok to use? It is actually Wal-Mart Equate brand of antibotic ointment and it doesn't appear to have any cain pain reliever as an ingredient.

At this time the turkey is still eating and drinking and will walk but walks slowly and of course the first thing he did when I put him down was walk to the water bowl and stand in it while he grooms himself.

Thanks in advance for any help.

*update* He still seems to be ok but he does act like he is in pain, especially when he walks, he stops and makes a high pitched noise and starts picking at the bandage. What should I do for pain? Is there anything?

 

[Dev]

I am posting pictures of the bandaged toe. As you can tell from the pictures it is now painful for him as he will hold up his foot when standing but he does walk on it but tries to lean so as not to put too much presure on it. With it broke I am sure it is very sore.

I am just wondering if I we did the right thing by putting antibotic ointment, bandaides then the duct tape. we put the bandaids underneath the duct tape so the sticky of the duct tape wouldn't cause problems...I am not sure what is in that sticky stuff of duct tape. Should we have left the toe on as we did or remove it. It seems to be held on by just a piece of skin.

It now looks as if he has the tape split now so I am not sure how much longer it will last. I dont' have anything else to wrap it with that would stay on....any suggestions is welcomed. I will be going to the store (wal-mart) in the morning, is there anything I can get to dress it with that would be better than the Vetercyn, antibotic ointment.

Also, should I leave the bandage alone for awhile or should I change it every day? With this being a break I thought maybe I should bother it too much but I don't want infection to set in either. My turkeys live with my tulouse geese so everytime they are up and walking the yard the turkeys follow, even the one with the broken toe will follow although I am sure he is in pain doing so. If I try to separate them the turkeys goes nuts and gets really stressed out because they have never been separated from the geese since I brought them home from the hatchery.

Also, looking at the color of the head and neck of my two turkeys, my other turkey's face is red and the one with the broken toe is very pale...is this normal? I think they both are usually pretty red faced/neck when they are out in the sun and a light pink when in the shade, it is almost 100 degrees here. I am wondering if the paleness of the hurt turkey is a sign of something, pain or stress? Anyone with turkeys know?

PS: I call both a he but I don't know if they are or not, I am hoping one is a he and the other a female but don't know how to tell. All I know is I think they are gorgeous and hate to see them in any pain.

 

[chickenzoo]

Looks like you are doing a good job. The only other thing I could think of too do is to take heavy cardboard, cut it into the shape of his 3 toes..."shoe", cover it with duct tape to keep it from wetting down, then take vet wrap and wrap each toe to the "shoe", then wrap it to the foot and a little up the leg. This gives it a little more stability when it gets bumped....

 

[Dev]

Thank you chickenzoo for your reply.

The turkey got the bandages off not too long after I posted my last update here. I purchased some bandage that was just like vet wrap and some water proof tape. Both worked great at staying on even though he got in the water. He is limping much more now and holds up his leg when standing as much as possible. He is still limping/walking on it though because when the geese and the other turkey move across the lawn grazing he has to follow so he is having to use it. I took the bandage off last night and sprayed it some more with Vetericyn and I put him up in his cage for the night to let it dry out some. It looks much better and looks like it is starting to grow back together some. I originally thought it was broke and torn off at the first knuckle but it is actually more of the tip of the toe and it is held on by more than a small piece of skin as I originally thought. It must have some attached vessels/nerves because he twitches when I am dressing it and it has warmth in the end. I keep feeling of his leg/foot to see if it feels hot, it doesn't feel any warmer than the other turkeys so far. I will be checking again in a bit when I get them out of their night cage to free range in the yard for the day.

His head is still very creamy light color, not the normal pink to red color as normal (see pictures). I still wished someone with experience with turkeys would let me know if this is a sign of something I should know about, like too much stress or infection causing the color change, etc. Anyone?

 

[geepy]

You might want to post this in the turkey section. I have turkeys and their heads change color all the time, I'm not really sure why either. All my birds free range and are healthy. Check out the turkey section their are quite a few people on there that might help.

 

[chickenzoo]

Turkeys change neck color due to how they feel, it is the blood in the vessels that make the color. How is his poo?Sulfur yellow poo can be a sign of Black head. Watery white poo can be a sign of worms, or seeing worms in poo. Green watery poo is often a sign they are not eating and only drinking fluids. Has he lost a lot of weight? If not, it may just be that he is in some pain.

 

[LeezyBeezy]

You can give chickens aspirin, maybe you can give to turkeys. 81 mg size, crushed. Might help?

 

[Dev]

Ok, thank you. Does anyone know what i can give him for pain. I really think he is in a lot of pain today, moreso than yesterday as yesterday he would try to follow the others as they made their way across the lawn grazing. This morning I let him out, changed his dressing. The toe looks not too bad but he seems to be in a lot of pain as he holds up that foot and is not following the others today. He is just standing still and holding up the leg and when he does take a step he acts like he doesn't want to put it down and does so quickly and pulls it back up. I don't know what to give him for pain or is there a spray I can use on it for pain. I can see the bone still of the toe but it does seem to be on the process to healing.

 

[chickenzoo]

I believe it is 5 baby aspirin to a gallon of water that you can give . Dissolve it real good then fill up his water bowl. I would suggest possible keeping him confined to a dog kennel/crate to help speed the healing. The less he uses it the quicker it will heal and the less pain he'll be in.