Please help me with my little turkey!!!

[Jolyn]

I went away for a couple days and when i got back one of my little turkey's has leg problems.

I was concerned that maybe my boys got in there and dropped him but my husband assures me that the boys did not have any alone time with him.

I am not sure what spraddle looks like but i can only imagine it would be like this. His little legs go outward instead of straight up. I will try to post a picture.

After looking at pictures i am pretty sure he has spraddle leg....

Please tell me what i need to do to help him...he's just too sweet.

He's only about two and a half weeks old i think.

 

[Jolyn]

Here is a picture of the poor leg...

 

[Jolyn]

Anyone? I am going to try the bandaid splint......Not sure exactly how to do it but anything is better than nothing.

 

[thewarriorchild]

I realize this isnt going to help but Wow! that looks really out of place. I am guessing you will have to splint the leg. Can you post a pic of the whole bird? Is the foot really totally turned around?

 

[susand24224]

When I have had spraddle leg, it has been in new borns or shortly after birth, your baby is much older, so I wonder if he has slipped and strained something (?) or has a neurological problem. For the young ones, there are several remedies. You can make a splint holding his legs in the proper position with a band aid (wrap one stick end around each leg to hold them together), or with something else like a twist-em. I've seen people do a great job with this, but I am all thumbs when I try. What has worked for me is putting the baby in a drinking glass that forces it to stand upright. Your baby is old enough that such close confinement may be difficult, so I would check him and "liberate" him often from the glass.

I hope it works out for you.

 

[susand24224]

I just saw your photo and it is not the spraddle leg that I am used to. The leg needs to go back to normal position, but only very carefully--something serious is going on in there!

 

[NotTheMomma]

Looks more like a slipped tendon. Search on here for remedies. Sometimes it stays in place after fixing, and sometimes you have to do it again. I am assuming a vet isn't an option? Certainly understand if so. We do the best we can with what we have. Do try to get it back in place, and then you may have to splint it to hold the tendon where it needs to be. Good luck.

 

[threehorses]

Agreed with the slipped tendon. If he's a broad breasted white, they grow very fast. Make sure your diet is appropriate for him not growing TOO fast, especially if you want to keep him as a pet - not slaughter him.

You'll want to splint it and leave the splint on for a long while for support. There should be some other posts on here about that. I have no experience in having to splint.