Injured turkey

[meriruka]

My wild turkey hen just flew into a wall of the coop. She dropped like a stone to the floor. She is now laying on her side, kicking her feet and sort of spinning in circles. I picked her up (which agitates her even more) her neck seems ok and her legs are ok. One wing seems a little off, but she was so upset that I was touching her, I didn't explore further. She opens her beak wide like she is gasping, but no sound comes out. I wrapped her in a blanket & laid her back down.
Anybody know what I should do next?

There are no vets within an hours drive that will see poultry, so I'm on my own with this.......

 

[M@M@2four]

You may be stressing her out more with the blanket if she doesn't care for you touching her, even though you mean well. I had turkeys and they can be VERY clumsy! I would just remove the blanket, set some food and water down for her and let her try and get herself together. Just give her time to calm down and she may be just fine. She's probably gasping due to stress. Good luck!

 

[meriruka]

I guess I was trying to keep her warm, it's chilly here and she looks like she's in shock. I'm pretty sure bringing her in the house would stress her out completely. I'm going to hunt around for some straw instead......

 

[M@M@2four]

I know--I understand your thinking--just trying to keep her warm, but she probably doesn't see it that way(lol) especially if she doesn't liked to be touched. The straw sounds like a good idea...how is she doing now? Is she still gasping? Do you have any electrolytes around? Maybe that might help...

 

[meriruka]

She's not gasping anymore, but she lays still in the straw unless she sees me then she thrashes around, but can't get up. I'm going to give her an hour or two before I try to give her anything to eat or drink, she'll just thrash & the food & water will fly......I don't think she needs to be freaked out (or wet) right now.

I'll try feeding her later and checking her out. Will it help if I cover her head while I examine her? Or maybe bind her wings to her body? I'm sure the struggling isn't good, I need a way to keep her calm.

I'm dreading I'll have to put her down. She's too big for the ether/go to sleep method & I don't own an ax........

 

[M@M@2four]

Yeah, I would just let her rest for awhile. If you want to examine her in a bit, a towel over her head should calm her down--not at the first few seconds, but she should calm down and then you have to bind her wings--hold her wings in place so she doesn't knock you out flapping. Hopefully just some rest will be the trick!

 

[meriruka]

No change. How long do you wait? I don't want her to suffer, but I also don't want to put her down too soon.

 

[M@M@2four]

so, she's unable to stand at all? Is she sitting upright, holding her head up? No neck injury? Hmmmmmm...Here's what I would probably do...do you own a dog crate/large cage? I would set that in your barn, lay hay/straw down for bedding, and place food, water, and some grapes or fruit(turkeys LOVE grapes--atleast mine always did). I would drape a towel or old blanket over 3/4 of her cage to keep it somewhat dark and private, and carefully place her in it for now. I would give her a good 24 hours or so to see how she is doing. I have had things that I thought for sure would die and ended up making it on many occasions. Sometimes, rest, food, water, peace, and quiet can do the trick. If you don't have a large cage, I would make her a little are closed off from others(so they don't stress her anymore and eat all her food. She may not make it due to something internal, but you atleast did your best to make her comfortable. Now if obviously if it's beyond help and you see her in severe pain and distress, then you need to consider putting her down. We had this happen with one of our turkey hens, but she, we blieve, broke her neck--she flew down out of the rafters and broke her neck on a wooden roost. We didn't own an axe at the time either, so we borrowed one from the neighbor. After that, we purchased a nice, sharp axe. Hate to do this sort of thing, but these things do happen!!! Good luck!!!

 

[meriruka]

She is laying on her side but can move her head. She can't stand up.

I went and bought an ax, I'll put her in the big dog cage for tonight (with food & water), hopefully she'll recover......

Thanks for all the help!