Need Turkey Help- Sick? 19wk Jersey Buffs w/Pics

[chickenannie]

Your turkey definitely looks pale and weak. I would definitely stop feeding them the new food, and go back to the old one right away. In addition I would do what sandspoultry sais and feed them hardboiled eggs (whites and yolks) and greens each day for the next week or so and see if that gives them a boost. You might throw in some black oil sunflower seeds too.

I would take action immediately rather than wait and see even a day or two -- this is based on my experience, that by the time we humans notice something is wrong, the bird can be fairly advanced in its illness.

The food you bought might have problems -- it might be stale, might not taste good, might have accidentally gotten something in it like salt, or might not have the right nutrition for your turkeys.

I doubt it's an egg-laying problem. Mine didn't start laying for another month or two, and when they did it was obvious because the hens would run around squawking loudly and persistently (it took me a while to figure out they were distressed that I hadn't provided them with a proper nesting spot and were desperately looking for one). Live and learn!

Also, based on your pics, I think all your turkeys are hens. My Red Bourbon toms had developed much more around the snood and wattles at that age.

Keep us updated!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Ok.. here's my update for today.

I think this turkey is doing this in response to our visits!
I've tested this theory with my daughter & myself 5 times now today... We go out to see the turkeys and once we open the door to the pen, this one just lays down. We leave and as soon as we close the door, she perks her head up starts looking around and it seems once she's convinced we're gone, she gets up again and moves on with her life.

5 times today! What's this about?

I checked the vent area feathers for mites, don't see anything.
Pooped normally immediately following the inspection

Fed her hard boiled eggs, she ate one happily.
They have access to both food types, Flock Raiser Pellets & the new food
They have vitamin water in the brooder AND fresh water in the pen
Crop is full

They haven't had a chance to get a lot of excercise as they've been confined to the brooder until a couple of weeks ago..the brooder is huge, but not enough for them to jump or spread their wings..

I haven't ever given the turkeys any treats because I could never figure out how old they needed to be. So.. aside of shelled sunflower seeds, todays eggs are the first treats ever. No fresh greens available here unfortunately though, not even for the humans.

They've still not been on dirt yet... only supplied clean bedding. As I understand it they have only just become old enough to start exposing them to dirt, & frozen ground didn't seem the right way so I'm waiting for winter to break before they hit the dirt.

I of course don't know what other turkeys look like in the face, but they don't look any different than before to me or anything. We see our turkeys several times a day, they are on our back porch.. I dunno...

Is she bowing to us?
Is it nearly impossible that she's practicing squatting?
It has been hypothesized that they are both females... are we the dominant males to them?

Thanks Steve and everyone for your replys... I've been so lucky with my only two turkeys, hate to lose one now in the home stretch!!!

 

[chickenannie]

Ah ha! You've found the answer. She is "sitting" for you. Meaning, she is ready to mate with a tom. Her behavior is indicating that she wants to be bred. Just put her with a tom, and wa-la! She will recover and start laying fertile eggs.

 

[sandspoultry]

I agree, she see's you guys as dominate birds. I have never seen a Jersey Buff up close but if the coloring and feather patern follows a Bourbon Red they are easy to tell male from female. The Tom's will have black edging to the feathers and the hens will have white.

Steve

 

[chickenannie]

I went back and looked at your pics, and started laughing, because it's kind of funny that hens do this, and that is clearly what she is doing in your pic... with her wings kind of relaxed to the sides like that and "motionless...zombielike" as you described.

There was a similar story in the book: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral in which the author has a whole chapter on Turkey sex. They thought their hen was sick, too, and they separated her and put her in her own pen to "recover" but then she would act fine again.

Actually I had a hen last summer who always "sat" when humans approached, and it was very handy for me, because I could let her out of her pen for the day to forage, then just walk up to her in the evening, pick her up (without chasing her) and put her back in her pen.

Good luck with your turkeys!

 

[ivan3]

To be 100% certain, pick her up when she `presents' if that's what she's doing you'll hear her `purring' (kinda like a `cat motor').

 

[DawnSuiter]

SHE LAID AN EGG TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So.. not sick at all... just an early bloomer! She's 22 weeks old...

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE????? Am I mis counting somehow?? She was born...er.. um.. hatched here at home on September 4th last year.....

I thought I would have another month or two even!!! i wasn't giving her oyster shell.. just purina flock raiser.... looks great just like the eggs she hatched from.

I have to make a nest... I have to add the oyster... so much to do ALL OF A SUDDEN

but best of all.. mystery solved!! The other one started sqatting for us late last week... oh boy.. I HAVE TO FIND A TOM!

 

[chickenannie]

Awesome !! Glad to hear it. Mine laid eggs about that time, so I think it has as much to do with the springtime extra daylight hours as with her age. Good luck with wittle baby turkeys!

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Good for you!!!!!!!!! wow 22 weeks does seem early but never "look a gift turkey in the mouth". You do need a tom though, are there any turkey breeders around you? The reason I ask is if not try the Americian Livestock Breeds Conservancy in Pittsboro, NC they have a nation wide database of member breeders. They don't have the breeder list posted you have to call them.

Steve in NC