- Jul 26, 2009
- 1,866
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I guess I did a dumb thing, one one of my two toms paid the price for it. I chose today to "de-winterize" the turkey and quail runs. This involved mucking out a winter's worth of used bedding, removing the outer weatherproof winter covering, doing any necessary repairs, etc.
So, it's been cold here this spring -- around the 1st of April, we had lows of 9 to 15 degrees for close to a week solid, with highs only around 28 to 32/33. Since then, its only gotten to the mid to upper 40s at most.
Well, today a warm front went through this morning, and it climbed from 44 at 8 am to 83 by 2:30 -- which was when I started doing the turkey pen.
So, the birds were stressed because I was in there with them scooping bedding, and it was hotter inside than outside due to the covered rain-proof roof and no shade tarp yet.
They were all running around stressing because of me, panting and holding their wings open.
All of the sudden, one of my two toms basically collapsed and had what I would say was a seizure -- flopping upside down, kind of twisting his head around and not very responsive.
The only thing I could think to do was taking him outside and hose him down. As luck would have it, I had just turned on the outdoor water lines for the season. I ran cold water (probably 45 to 50 degrees) over him for about five minutes -- In particular, I tried to run it over the naked skin on the neck (but not in his respiratory tract), and under his wings on the relatively bare skin there.
Well, I guess it worked -- he "came back" -- he is still wobbly, and mostly resting, but will get up, walk a bit and move to another spot, then sit down and rest again. He is still panting just a bit, but seems alert.
So, what is the prognosis? Are there any complications likely to set in from either the heat stroke or the water treatment (he was pretty soaked but is drying fairly well at this time)? It is going down only to the mid 60's tonight, low 70s tomorrow.
Should I give him antibiotics? Should I put electrolytes in the water pan?
TIA. I feel bad -- I know turkeys are a bit "delicate" compared to other birds, and I knew they were stressed, but I was "almost done" and kept going.
Won't do that again -- I guess I'll only work with them when it's cool, not in the heat of the day.
So, it's been cold here this spring -- around the 1st of April, we had lows of 9 to 15 degrees for close to a week solid, with highs only around 28 to 32/33. Since then, its only gotten to the mid to upper 40s at most.
Well, today a warm front went through this morning, and it climbed from 44 at 8 am to 83 by 2:30 -- which was when I started doing the turkey pen.
So, the birds were stressed because I was in there with them scooping bedding, and it was hotter inside than outside due to the covered rain-proof roof and no shade tarp yet.
They were all running around stressing because of me, panting and holding their wings open.
All of the sudden, one of my two toms basically collapsed and had what I would say was a seizure -- flopping upside down, kind of twisting his head around and not very responsive.
The only thing I could think to do was taking him outside and hose him down. As luck would have it, I had just turned on the outdoor water lines for the season. I ran cold water (probably 45 to 50 degrees) over him for about five minutes -- In particular, I tried to run it over the naked skin on the neck (but not in his respiratory tract), and under his wings on the relatively bare skin there.
Well, I guess it worked -- he "came back" -- he is still wobbly, and mostly resting, but will get up, walk a bit and move to another spot, then sit down and rest again. He is still panting just a bit, but seems alert.
So, what is the prognosis? Are there any complications likely to set in from either the heat stroke or the water treatment (he was pretty soaked but is drying fairly well at this time)? It is going down only to the mid 60's tonight, low 70s tomorrow.
Should I give him antibiotics? Should I put electrolytes in the water pan?
TIA. I feel bad -- I know turkeys are a bit "delicate" compared to other birds, and I knew they were stressed, but I was "almost done" and kept going.
Won't do that again -- I guess I'll only work with them when it's cool, not in the heat of the day.
