Help! Injured Turkey!

[cluckophony]

I have a tom turkey whom I love dearly. Unfortunately he is not too bright and constantly goes after one of our dogs. Today he tried to attack the dog while she was sleeping under the truck. I heard something going on and ran outside. The tom has two small puncture wounds on top of his head. They only appear to be skin deep. He is walking around still but sounds like he is struggling when he breathes. When he breathes he takes a deep breath and half of his neck inflates before he gets the breath. What does this mean? What can I do? Any advice appreciated.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You can't do nothing except hope that it heals unless you want to take him to the vet. Hopefully he will heal up, and he learns to leave the dog alone. Sorry, a good luck.

 

[cluckophony]

Thank you! That's kind of what I was thinking... He made it over night. His breathing sounds raspy but he's back at the sliding glass door trying to get the dog as usual. What a foolish bird. I wish he wasn't also the one who follows me around everywhere being so friendly.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Turkeys are goofs as well as a pain sometimes, they can be too friendly. Glad he's hanging in there, it shows he will probably be fine.

 

[cluckophony]

Today the turkey has been walking around but not eating. I was giving some bread to the chickens and he came over and at a small piece and it looked like it really hurt him to eat. I cooked some grits with unsalted butter for something soft and neutral but calorie dense and he took a tiny nibble and then walked all around with his mouth open and his head going up an down like he couldn't swallow. Any thoughts on what I could give him to eat?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They can go without eating for a while, I would try again tomorrow, it might take a few days.

 

[ravensgait]

I wouldn't try to feed him, it sounds like he has some damage in his neck or crop , An adult turkey can go a while without eating . May be best to just keep an eye on him and make sure he does drink. hopefully the damage will heal heal up in a few days .
My daughter keeps wild turkeys , I've seen a couple that were messed up, recover . Had a hen who survived a coyote , her neck was fractured how she survived that I don't know but she had a good knot on her lower neck the rest of her life , she lived for 2 years after that . They are pretty tough birds

 

[gaylittleswan]

I've never heard of grits as an answer but I realize now that that's a great thing to feed sick birds!

In the past I've fed my sick chickens mushy/watered down feed, but grits are an awesome idea. Who knew I would find such a great chicken tidbit on a turkey chat? haha

Thanks for the revelation! I hope your tom sees improvement. Maybe further inspection of the wounds might help you, I've had animals die from wounds that I hadn't immediately noticed the full extent of.
Good luck with him, keep us updated!

 

[cluckophony]

Well, he has already made a full recovery! Amazing. Back to his old silly self. So happy!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's great news, they are really great healing themselves. Now hopefully he doesn't mess with the dog again, he might not be so lucky next time.