Poult's Wing Feathers Growing in Oddly

[WalnutHill]

Turkey grownups are great, if socialized when young. My Narragansett tom thinks he is supposed to follow me around and talk to me. He is the only turkey I have ever seen fluff his feathers in full strut when he is asleep.

Any chance Stuffing has a hard time moving "her" neck to groom the feathers?

 

[Finnie]

Hm, I think he can move his head fine, but I haven't really paid attention. I'll try to observe that tomorrow.

 

[Finnie]

Any chance Stuffing has a hard time moving "her" neck to groom the feathers?

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. I am so glad you suggested this. This morning I examined Stuffing's neck to see if it was stiff, and it really is! I've been giving them neck scratches all along, which they seem to like, and they will snuggle in and close their eyes. But this time I tried to see if I could "scratch" his neck out straight, and he seemed to be actually holding it stiff and bent. I did eventually get it stretched out, but it appears to be somewhat kinked, or twisted.

Then I went back through all the hundreds of photos I have taken of them, and there are very few where he is walking around with his head held up high. Cranberry walks around like that all the time, always stretching up to see what he can see. But Stuffing's photos all showed his neck pulled back in to his shoulders, except that the further I looked back at younger photos, then there were a few where he was holding his neck more normally. So I suspect that this kinking up of his neck is something that is progressively getting worse.

Now I have to wonder two things. Since he seems to hold his wings funny, too, then does he have some kind of general, all over skeletal deformity? And will the condition get so bad that it might kill him, or cause him to be in constant pain? This may change my plans for his future... But if the problem is with muscle tension, as opposed to skeletal structure, then it might make his meat too tough... If he is able to live to full weight... And my plans for my own future did not really include learning how to process poultry...

Aw rats. He was really just supposed to be a pet. He can still be that for the time being. Maybe everything will work itself out.

 

[Finnie]

Thought I would put an update about Stuffing.

As he has grown, it became apparent that he also has leg and foot deformities. Ironically, his neck seems to be getting a little bit better, but as I watched him waddle across the floor, I could tell that those legs will never be able to support a full grown turkey.

Today I met with the breeder and he swapped Stuffing for a different poult. His vet will be coming out to his farm later this week to check on some birds, so he will have the vet see what she thinks about Stuffing. It was sad to see the little guy go, but it is better this way.

Now I have to bond with the new little stranger that's in the brooder with Cranberry. I have to come up with a new name. Stuffing 2 isn't going to fit him.

The new one is supposed to be only a week younger than Cranberry, but I think it's more than that. Unless I have another runt.

I'll take photos after I'm sure he's found the food and water. So far all he's done is have a nap.

 

[WalnutHill]

How about "Tater"?

Seriously, though, I think you took the best course possible. The vet can perhaps determine if it was prenatal development issue or a genetic issue or a disease, and the breeder can watch for further instances.

I think that is one reason that hatchery stock has such a poor reputation compared to breeder stock (even though both come from breeders)...if a chick/poult bought mail order fails to thrive or dies, there is really no follow up on why. It's just credited or replaced.

 

[Finnie]

Here are some photos of Cranberry with his new friend, who still doesn't have a name yet. We are tossing a few ideas around. The breeder said the new one would be within a week's age of Cranberry, but I think maybe he forgot how old Cranberry was. The size difference just seems like a lot more than a week. But maybe between 4 and 5 weeks is when they have a growth spurt?










Please tell me that new little one doesn't have wonky wings! He's just nervous in strange surroundings, right?

And does he seem like he could be four weeks old? I should go back and look at Cranberry's four week old photos.

 

[Finnie]

Well I looked back at Cranberry's photos at four weeks old, and he really was the same size as this new little guy. I forgot that they have growth spurts every single day!

I heard back from the breeder what the vet said about Stuffing. He has a clean bill of health and his neck is fine. His only problem is a slight limp due to a crooked toe.

I do not know what happened to all the deformities I had been seeing in him. I had thought the breeder and the vet would both take one look at him and say "OMG, she wasn't kidding, this poor turkey!" But I kind of suspect that as a newbie turkey person, what I was seeing might have been temporary abnormalities due to uneven growth spurts and I just didn't know what I was looking at. (But I have documented proof about the pin feather sheath problem, and I know he had a stiff neck during that time.)

But apparently he is fine now, and I might even be able to go and get him back this weekend! I really hope so, because it's just not the same with a substitute turkey. I haven't even given that one a name yet.

And the new one does have wonky wings, but apparently that is another common growth spurt issue, which should resolve itself. Man, the more I learn about turkeys, the less I realize I know.

 

[Finnie]

Well, it's been quite a while. The story of Stuffing, the turkey with the skeletal problems doesn't really have closure. When I contacted the breeder after Stuffing's vet check, to see if I could get him back, the breeder said that Stuffing would be going to the animal hospital for a few days because his crooked toe needed to be put into a cast. That doesn't really mesh well with "clean bill of health", so I decided not to push for getting Stuffing back any more. I did get used to the new replacement, and we have named that one Muffin.

Muffin still has weird wing feathers, but nothing about him is deformed. I have read where a lot of people had turkey poults whose wing feathers did not lay nice as babies, but after reaching adult size, that corrected itself. So I am hoping Muffin will do that too.

I have settled on what I think is a two week age difference between Cranberry, my original poult, whose hatch date I know for sure, and Muffin, the replacement poult that I was not given a hatch date on. At 9 and 7 weeks old now, they still have a huge size difference. But they love each other, and also get along very well with the chicken chicks they are being raised with. Those are 5 and 6 weeks old now. It is very cute to see a tiny chicken snuggled up on a perch next to a huge turkey.

Here are some current photos of the poults.

Cranberry at 9 weeks old:


Muffin at about 7 weeks old:


I guess I don't have any very good photos where they are together, but here is what I do have:




Yesterday was such a nice day, that I dragged my old puppy ex-pen out of the attic so they could go outside for some fresh air and sunshine. The turkeys are used to going on walks with me around our property, but this was the first time the chicken chicks ever saw grass. They are getting so big, I guess I need to hurry up and get their baby coop ready, so they can move out of the brooder full time.

Oh, and I keep calling the turkeys "him", but neither of the two ever struts. Not like Stuffing, the one I had to give back. He was a strutting fool. When the breeder had him back for a few days, he told me that one was going to be a dominant tom. I'm thinking my two must be hens, since they never do that. The most they will do is flair their feathers out horizontally if something makes them nervous. So I guess no fertile turkey eggs in my future. I'm slated to get a Sweetgrass poult next week, if one hatches. Don't know what that will turn out to be.