Help! Sick turkey

[4H Mom]

That is actually very good to know about the dirt.

He was, in fact, finding bugs to eat, and seemed to particularly like the roly polys. I was helping him find them! Silly me figured it would be good for him to eat what was natural for him to eat. But of course later considered he could eat fertilizer or gopher poison or God know what the gardener has put out there versus what God has put out there. But then I started reading that bugs were carriers for worms and other pests, so was already suspecting it wasn't as good of an idea as it sounded.

I'm sure I'll be much more careful about that when he's out of sick bay.
Thanks for the pointer!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Wow. What a learning curve. And I thought this would be an easy first project! haha.

Your are kind for asking after him. We think he's doing a little better and we think we've figured out a little better what's going on.
Yes, in fact, I was thinking that maybe he got into something, certainly possible, but I think ultimately we concluded that he's hurt his foot, and before we figured that out he got dehydrated.
His bedding (in the dog crate) is a layer of newspaper covered by a layer of paper towels covered by pine shavings.

After talking to many other more experienced turkey owners, i got a lot of "Gee, I don't knows."
But one very knowledgeable and helpful lady instructed me to do the following

1) get poultry electrolytes/vitamins and add them to his water (1/4 tsp per 4 cups)
2) get Sulban for any worms, although she felt he was pretty young for full infestation.
3) give him 1/2 anti-biotic daily (down the gullet - that's fun [not])
4) keep him warm under a heat lamp. (he's in a large, well-bedded dog crate in our garage with a heat lamp)

I did all these things yesterday and made sure he drank some his medicated water by both peaking his interest in drinking on his own as well as giving him some in a medicine dropper.
He appears to be eating and drinking and he no longer has diahhrea. So that's all good.

WHAT I HAVE FURTHER DISCOVERED in the meantime: His left foot ball is swollen sore and warm. I have checked carefully for any lesions or scabs or thorns, etc and have found none (ie. bumblefoot). I manipulated his digits which don't appear broken. He doesn't want to put any weight on it, though, which is why he looks so unsteady, won't walk, etc.   AHA!!!

SO, I've also added anti-inflammatory (1/4 of a plain old aspirin, crushed) to his drinking water.

oh my gosh. have I missed anything? I think that he's looking more lively. He'll stand up to eat. I'm hoping he'll feel better after a few more days giving his foot time to recover...

I am worried that he's eating his bedding shavings. Can that be hurting him?

Very good detailed post in what you are doing. Sounds like you are on the right track. Wonderful to see how you have talked with other people to help your turkey.

It is possible that he could be eating his shavings.

 

[kuntrygirl]

some turkey enthusiast's on this website don't recommend letting your turkey poults touch the soil until they are older as their digestive track is not able to handle the bugs, worms, and whatever else may be in the soil. They will let them be on sand but not actual yard/garden dirt.Hope that helps for the future.
I have learned and am learning sooo much on this website as this is my first year with adult turkeys and poults. Might check out the thread for "turkeys for 2013. 'Lotsa' info there for us newbies.

And you are absolutely right. I am one of those that DO NOT recommend letting your poult touch the soil until they are older. Glad to see that you are reading the threads on BYC. Great observation.

 

[kuntrygirl]

That is actually very good to know about the dirt.

He was, in fact, finding bugs to eat, and seemed to particularly like the roly polys. I was helping him find them! Silly me figured it would be good for him to eat what was natural for him to eat. But of course later considered he could eat fertilizer or gopher poison or God know what the gardener has put out there versus what God has put out there. But then I started reading that bugs were carriers for worms and other pests, so was already suspecting it wasn't as good of an idea as it sounded.

I'm sure I'll be much more careful about that when he's out of sick bay.
Thanks for the pointer!

Yes, this can kill a poult. I have a few pointers on this thread but as someone suggest, please check out the Turkey 2013 thread. A lot of info on that thread as well. We love talkin' turkey. Gobble Gobble.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/761082/questions-for-experienced-turkey-enthusiast

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/725829/turkeys-for-2013

 

[ivan3]

7 week old poult has an average (external temp/diet can alter this) intake of ~11 ounces of water, daily. Aspirin dosage: 5mg/kg tid (~2mg per lb). However, we dosed our roo (bumble foot/arthritis) with 81mg. baby aspirins (bid) - 8lb. roo ~10mg./lb with no problems (measured efficacy by observation of increased activity level). I'd be more concerned about keeping the turk on soft bedding until the swelling in foot either resolves - or reveals itself as an infection. You might consider painting foot with betadine. BBB's are prone to foot/leg problems in the best of situations. Usually (in adult birds - turks in particular) the quickest way to insure whatever powdered/oral med is being consumed as required, is to crush and daub up with grapes, etc.

 

[chicks and hens2]

How much would you estimate the poult weighs? I would think it would be the smallest infant dose listed on a bottle for human babies, it would probably be in a liquid form. Aspirin is generally OK for animals but NSAID's( aleve,Ibuprofen,advil etc) I am not sure about. I know Tylenol (acetaminophen products )are NOT good for dogs, cats etc, I wouldn't think so for poult's either.
Sorry, I can't help any more than that. But you would definitely want to put it in the water, you did good there. I wonder if making a poultice out of some herbs or something would draw out the inflammation. You could google herbs that help with inflammation???Good luck!Hope it gets better soon.

 

[4H Mom]

Thanks ivan3, kuntrygirl, and out of the brooder!

Again, very interesting stuff. If the aspirin was 200 mg in 4 cups (32 oz) of water = approx 65 mg per 11 oz of water.
I hope he's drinking that much but I'm not sure, but I could figure it out because we mix up a fresh batch every day. And I wonder how much my turkey weighs?
Hmm. What a fun project. My son will have a lot to talk about in the next 4H turkey meeting.

He seems much better, more perky, more talkative, walking (hobbling) around more while we're cleaning his cage.
We did switch out the shavings for soft towels, being careful they weren't unraveling, because he seemed interested in eating loose threads, too.
Our turkey is very sweet but holy smokes, has he turned into quite a project.

Thanks again for all your help.

So nice of you to offer your expertise.

 

[ivan3]

I just listed Aspirin ranges. as you asked. I'd probably not bother with it. More important is the bedding (we had good luck with old smooth weave t-shirts - can't catch nails in weave). Good to hear it is hobbling around. We `cured' one of three BBB poult's Spraddle Leg (hope your turk just took a blow to bottom of foot and will clear up), but he had to be put down after flying off of back deck and revealing true extent of what is a common genetic fault in commercial varieties.