Is my Turkey dying?

[LaurenMox]

Hello everyone. My beloved turkey has been standing in the same place for an hour, barely reacting to stimuli with her wings drooping. Her two poops have been clear. She is a broad breasted turkey and is a year and a half. She was eating and drinking just a few hours ago. She's breathing fine, no discharge out of nose ears eyes or mouth. She keeps falling asleep and then waking back up. Is she just feeling ill or is it something worse

 

[azygous]

Has she been laying up until now? I'm not familiar with the egg laying habits of domestic turkeys. Check her vent. Is there any watery discharge?

 

[R2elk]

Has she been laying up until now? I'm not familiar with the egg laying habits of domestic turkeys. Check her vent. Is there any watery discharge?

Domestic turkeys are seasonal layers. If their eggs aren't collected they will go broody once they have a sufficient sized clutch which can vary from 8 to 20 eggs depending on the individual hen. If the eggs are collected, they may go broody on a single egg late in the season.

 

[azygous]

Thanks for that info @R2elk . If this turkey hen has been currently laying, these symptoms could be from a stubborn egg. When my chicken hens act like this, I give them a tablet of at least 300 mg calcium citrate to encourage contractions to help push the egg out. Usually, this produces an egg within an hour, and they then revert to normal behavior. Since popping a calcium tablet into the beak is not going to produce any harm, it's worth trying.

 

[R2elk]

Thanks for that info @R2elk . If this turkey hen has been currently laying, these symptoms could be from a stubborn egg. When my chicken hens act like this, I give them a tablet of at least 300 mg calcium citrate to encourage contractions to help push the egg out. Usually, this produces an egg within an hour, and they then revert to normal behavior. Since popping a calcium tablet into the beak is not going to produce any harm, it's worth trying.

Usually if turkey hens have a problem laying, it is due to not having access to free choice oyster shell. Being seasonal layers, they do not normally experience the laying problems that production chicken hens have.

Since it is a broad breasted turkey, it's issues may be due to the health problems that are associated with the variety such as heart failure.

 

[LaurenMox]

Domestic turkeys are seasonal layers. If their eggs aren't collected they will go broody once they have a sufficient sized clutch which can vary from 8 to 20 eggs depending on the individual hen. If the eggs are collected, they may go broody on a single egg late in the season.

She has not laid yet, I definitely think she needs too as she's been sitting in her nest a lot, is there anything I can do if the egg is stuck?

 

[R2elk]

What is your general location? If in the northern hemisphere, she should have started laying last spring. They do not normally start laying in the fall. Exceptions are BBWs which may start laying as young as 5 months old in the fall of the year they were hatched.

A one and a half year old hen isn't going to start laying in the fall of the year if she has never laid before. It is very unlikely that she has a stuck egg and more likely to either be trying to go broody or one of the health issues related to being broad breasted.

I did have one Sweetgrass hen that never laid an egg during the 3 years I had her. I hatched her myself. She also never went broody because she never laid an egg.

 

[LaurenMox]

What is your general location? If in the northern hemisphere, she should have started laying last spring. They do not normally start laying in the fall. Exceptions are BBWs which may start laying as young as 5 months old in the fall of the year they were hatched.

A one and a half year old hen isn't going to start laying in the fall of the year if she has never laid before. It is very unlikely that she has a stuck egg and more likely to either be trying to go broody or one of the health issues related to being broad breasted.

I did have one Sweetgrass hen that never laid an egg during the 3 years I had her. I hatched her myself. She also never went broody because she never laid an egg.

I live in Ohio. She laid a few eggs last year. She has been broody and has a spot she likes to sit in (a dog house lol) I think she tries to lay but nothing happens.

 

[azygous]

It can't do any harm to try the calcium citrate. There are always individuals that decide they will defy the norm. If she's been in the nest, it might indicate she's feeling the urge to lay or an urge to pass some sort of blockage in the oviduct. Either way, the calcium could help. The citrate form works faster than the carbonate, but you can pop a Tums or two into her if you have no calcium citrate. Oyster shell takes too much time in the system to be absorbed, so it's why tablet form is best in this situation.

What does her poop look like? Is she struggling to breathe? Does she appear to be weak in her legs or stumbling? If your weather suddenly got hot after being cool or mild, her symptoms could be from heat stress.

 

[R2elk]

I live in Ohio. She laid a few eggs last year. She has been broody and has a spot she likes to sit in (a dog house lol) I think she tries to lay but nothing happens.

She may well have a damaged ovary.