Rescued Turkey is Badly Bow Legged...

[banana-jana]

We rescued a pair of white turkeys yesterday, the lady said he had a hurt leg..when we got him out of the pen, he is not hurt. It looks like he has deformed legs, they are severly bowed and he waddles like a duck. Now since she told me it was hurt, and I see this--could this be a threat to my ducks? Is there anyway to help him. He eats and gets around but it looks like a struggle--like he needs braces? New to turkeys and any help is appreciated.
He is what we were told 6 months old, and was eating a laying crubmle of 16%. Could changing his diet help his legs? He looks kind of heavy too. Poor Guy..his name is Elvis.
Banana-Jana

 

[CMV]

Elvis either has rickets from a poor diet early in life, or has a hatch defect (humidity too low). Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about it at this point. Slim him down if he is over-weight and allow for a high activity level if possible. Hopefully, the legs will strengthen as he ages and get sturdier. I don't think I would be feeding a tom layer crumble. The excess calcium will not do him much good at this point and will definitely not do his kidneys any good. His legs will either keep supporting him, or not. If not, he will make a tasty meal. Sorry if that sounds flippant, but there is only so much you can do when you get a bird that had a rough start in life.

Good luck with him.

 

[SillyChicken]

it could be that Elvis is a BBW, Broad Breasted White, which is a turkey designed to grow fast and put on a lot of breast meat to be ready for processing. It may be that he was fed plenty well and growing to the end of his intended life span. He may come to the point where he can no longer walk because he's just too heavy for his legs to support him. If this is the case, you should send him to a processor and enjoy him for the holiday. If he does spend a lot of time laying around on the ground, he can get sores on his breast bone. Best to process him.

Try to post a photo of the bird so maybe he can be identified or others could offer support.

Some BBW can live longer. I have a BBW hen that is going on 2 yrs. I hope she can hold out another year. My Tom only lived for a summer. He was too heavy to walk and was processed for thanksgiving (he was 40.5 pounds, dressed!)

 

[banana-jana]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I feel so bad for him. He is quite plump...is there a "diet" that would help him? I really cannot imagine eating Elvis, even though we just got him yesterday--we got attatched to him and feel sorry for him. I will look for a better diet, I think all he has ever eaten was the laying crumbles--that is what the previos owner said. I am new to turkeys and am open to suggestions on diet.
Jana

 

[Kevin565]

. Some people advise letting them allow to "Swim" some to help build up leg strength. That is what I did for awhile with a turkey that had slipped tendon.