Please help. My turkey can't walk and I don't know what's wrong.

[chooks4life]

Random idea popped into my head, may not be relevant... With sheep and deer etc their shoulderblades are not connected to their skeleton so if they get obese it packs fat between their shoulders and body and makes them stand wrong because it forces the bones away from the ribs. Now I know a turkey's legs are obviously connected to her skeleton but maybe her size is forcing her into a sort of spraddling caused by the sheer width of the breast? Dunno. Random idea, as I said.

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It's good she's showing an interest, but best to be sure she doesn't have a burgeoning parasite population due to being unable to dust bathe. It's a good idea to expose her to a sunlight at least once a day for 5 to 15 minutes. Obviously if she can't move herself, don't leave her in the hot sun unsupervised. Vitamin D is also a hormone and we need it, as does she. Bone health in particular needs Vit D. The last thing she needs is for her legs to weaken.

Good to hear she's going better, hope she recovers. Best wishes.

 

[Turkey Mamma]

Thanks for your thoughts I know that she doesn't have any "visible" parasites and the preening isn't excessive so I haven't been worried about that. I do hope she's getting enough sun though. It's been between 7 degrees and 45 for the past few weeks, so I haven't taken her out. We do have a large skylight in my kitchen and her bed is almost directly under that. I hope that is giving her some sun. I can't believe I didn't think of the sun thing. Thanks again!

 

[Turkey Mamma]

~~Okay, so just posting an update on Lucky – Although she has shown some improvement over the last few days, it was minimal. I had just been speaking with my husband about putting her down because after a week and a half I’m not seeing enough of an improvement to justify keeping her like this. Then, today when she was sitting on the floor waiting for me finish making her bed, she stood up and climbed up onto her bed! I wasn’t finished making the bed so I put her back on the floor and she did it again! My husband suggested we try letting her stand again. I figured she was tired from already practicing (my husband has started calling it “turkey therapy” lol) but what the heck, we tried anyway. It didn’t work but after I let her sit down alone and moved away or a second she stood up and turned completely around on her own two feet! Astonished I thought, maybe she just wants to do it by herself. I got some grapes (her favorite) and used them as incentives to get her to move…well she did! She only took a step or two at a time but that is the biggest improvement I have seen since I brought her in!!!! It has been a SLLLLOOOOWWW process but I am really starting to believe that she will pull through this!

 

[Eggcessive]

She probably heard you both say the "cull" word, so she decided to jump up. Is she still on antibiotics? She could be given some poultry vitamins orjust PolyVisol baby vitamins daily 3 drops, and she would have her vitamin D. If not still on antibiotics she probably could use with some probiotics to get her gut bacteria going. Plain yogurt has some or Probios Dispersable Powder is a good product.

 

[chooks4life]

Good to hear there is an improvement! Best wishes with her future.

 

[newturkeygirl]

Hello Turkey Mamma, what and how did you soak her feet? I have a turkey who won't stand and now her feet are swollen. She was injured too, cut under her right breast, pretty nasty and got infected. We are still healing, but now I'm afraid she'll never walk again. I think some sort of soak may do her good.

 

[Turkey Mamma]

Newturkeygirl - I am SOOOO sorry I didn't see this until today. I hope your turkey is okay! If it's not too late, here are some things you can do to help a turkey with open wound:

1. Antibiotic. Go to your regular tractor supply and ask what is best. They have a wide range of brands and types. I like the ones that go in the water because they dissolve well and can be fed with an eye dropper or syringe if the bird wont eat on their own.
2. Baby aspirin. Google dosage for aspirin based on weight for chickens or turkeys and you'll find the right dose. I gave my 35lb turkey 1/2 baby aspirin (low dose) and that seemed to help her.
3. vitamin supplement. This is great if they are lethargic or wont eat much at a time. You can also scramble up some eggs for extra protein and mix in with their feed if you want. It's good for energy. Yogurt (plain) is also very good for them too but in small quantities.
3. Epsom salt is WONDERFUL. I filled the tub up with warm water and let her sit in it for about 20 - 30 minutes. Make sure to rinse her after and if it is cold where you are at you will need to get her dry right away because a cold wet bird can often be a dead bird. I used the blow dryer and she LOVED it....I just made sure not to blow too close to her skin or in her eyes.
4. peroxide/water mix - about 1/2 and 1/2 of each. Rinse the wound with this and then pat dry with clean cloth.
5. triple antibiotic - don't give both oral and topical antibiotics together because this may be too much. I have used them together on the first and second day but then stop the topical if the wound has crusted. Also, don't put the topical ointment directly in the wound - just squeeze a healthy amount around the edge of the wound. Also NEVER get triple antibiotic with any kind of pain killer in it as that can make your bird sick or even kill her.

It doesn't sound like she has been attacked but you can't rule that out either. It's very possible that she has bumble foot and may have injured her wing while she was falling/flapping wings to get up again. Check her feet for sores of any size (even tiny ones) and ONLY if you feel comfortable, you could try shaving off the scabs with a sharp, sterilized knife. I did this for Lucky in the middle of my kitchen floor...then flushed her feet with peroxide mix and soaked them with Epsom salt wraps after. I did the wraps twice a day for several weeks. I just took a big wad of paper towels and wrapped it around each foot, then cupped a plastic bag under the paper towel and poured Epsom salt water right onto the paper towel. Then I wrapped the plastic bag around each foot to keep the water in and put a thick towel under that to soak up excess water. You can go by the directions on the box for humans. It wont hurt her. I would recommend giving her aspirin before any invasive treatment to help with any pain too.

Most importantly: Don't give up! My turkey has been in my house for over a month (she is spending her last night here tonight and then will be moved back out to her coop tomorrow). She didn't walk or even stand for over a week and until a couple of days ago she wouldn't walk very far at all. Now she is VERY mobile and almost back to 100%!!!! Each week I felt like things were not working and she wasn't getting better fast enough but then she'd improve in one way or another and we'd keep on trying. This turkey has escaped death twice now and she really has lived up to the name Lucky for sure! Also, she just laid her very first egg tonight which is why I got on here to post. I had no idea you'd sent a message. I am so sorry. Please let me know how she is and I will be checking this site daily over the next few days just in case I can help in any way. God bless and I hope your feathered friend will be okay.

 

[newturkeygirl]

Hello. Thank you for writing. Sad news. I ended up taking her to the vet and he told me she developed gout. He said she had it pretty bad. He suggested it best to put her down. I didn't see the need to allow her to suffer. It was a very hard decision and I miss that turkey everyday. I will hang on to this info though because I am seriously considering getting another one. I'm so glad to hear lucky is doing well.

 

[Turkey Mamma]

I am so sorry to hear that things didn't work out. They are considerably more work than chickens but they are also very rewarding too. What breed did you have? If you get another turkey I'd go for a heritage breed that will not gain as much weight have less chance of health problems because they are not genetically altered. Lucky is a Broad Breasted White (genetically altered breed to gain lots of weight in a short time) and I believe that has been the cause of her health problems. She has lost between 5-7 lbs since being in the house and I plan on continuing a healthy diet for her to keep her from gaining too much.

Best wishes, Megan

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh, so sorry for your loss. I'm glad she isn't suffering. You did the right thing, although I'm sure you miss with her being in your house for so long. Whoops, I got confused in reading. I'm so glad that Lucky is doing better, but sorry that Newturkeygirl's turkey had to be put down.