Last week I bought my first ever turkey poults.
They were 18 days old when I got them, now they are 27 days old. I've been watching their feathers coming in, and the smaller one has always seemed like its left wing was shaped funny, with the pin feathers sticking out at an odd angle. Occasionally it will lay its wings down flat, but most of the time, the left one just doesn't look right. Today I noticed that now the right wing looks a little off as well. I think these photos show what I mean:
If I didn't have the larger one to compare it to, as a newbie, I might just assume that is how turkeys develop. But Stuffing, the little one, isn't the same at all as Cranberry, the bigger one. Cranberry's wings filled in much sooner, and they lay nice and flat.
In fact, I noticed from the first day that Stuffing was smaller, and by the second night, Cranberry had grown a ton, but by comparison, it seemed as if Stuffing was shrinking. The first day, I didn't think Stuffing would ever eat, and was worried he might not survive. (Mind you, at 18 days old, I know that he already knew how to eat, but how could I know whether the stress of the move might harm him?) I'm not worried about his survival anymore, but I wonder if he has some kind of deformity. I wonder how this will affect him when he is grown.
I have some other pictures to show the difference between him and Cranberry.
Nice smooth wing development on Cranberry:
Cranberry even has a tail:
Here you can see the size difference at 26 days old:
And here you can see that Stuffing's legs are much thinner. It's almost like he is a week further behind in development.
So I think somehow his growth must be stunted, and probably the wing deformity is related. What do you guys think? Anybody seen this kind of wing development before? Does it mean he will look odd as an adult? Or is it possible he might outgrow all this and catch up to Cranberry eventually?
If I didn't have the larger one to compare it to, as a newbie, I might just assume that is how turkeys develop. But Stuffing, the little one, isn't the same at all as Cranberry, the bigger one. Cranberry's wings filled in much sooner, and they lay nice and flat.
In fact, I noticed from the first day that Stuffing was smaller, and by the second night, Cranberry had grown a ton, but by comparison, it seemed as if Stuffing was shrinking. The first day, I didn't think Stuffing would ever eat, and was worried he might not survive. (Mind you, at 18 days old, I know that he already knew how to eat, but how could I know whether the stress of the move might harm him?) I'm not worried about his survival anymore, but I wonder if he has some kind of deformity. I wonder how this will affect him when he is grown.
I have some other pictures to show the difference between him and Cranberry.
Nice smooth wing development on Cranberry:
Cranberry even has a tail:
Here you can see the size difference at 26 days old:
And here you can see that Stuffing's legs are much thinner. It's almost like he is a week further behind in development.
So I think somehow his growth must be stunted, and probably the wing deformity is related. What do you guys think? Anybody seen this kind of wing development before? Does it mean he will look odd as an adult? Or is it possible he might outgrow all this and catch up to Cranberry eventually?
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