Sick Bourbon Red...Advice Welcome

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I checked out ivan3's post and watched both videos. Those birds are normal compared to this turkey.

I almost culled her this morning. She was laying down, not moving, with her head twisted 450 degrees from normal and eyes shut. I set up a spot to hang her from, got the knife ready, got a bucket for the blood, found some cord to make leg shackels, everything. When I went to get her, she was standing up preening her LEFT side, the side she turns away from. When I came home from work, she was in her coop eating. She has eaten so much by herself today that she barely took the clover I offered (previously she grabbed whatever I gave her by the mouthful, I'd never seen a turkey swallow so much grass at one time). The water trough was full of food off of her beak, so I know she is drinking as well. I watched her eat for a while. Her head is turned a little more than 360, but she is able to peck straight down on the feed and eat. I guess I will call this an improvement
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I have heard of the Vitamin E/selenium thing before. I think I will try that if I can get to a store tomorrow.

I am wondering if this is a head injury. My birds have a clipped wing to keep them inside a six foot fence. I watched a midget white have a terrible crash landing after it tried to fly to the roof of the roost but missed and crashed into the roosts themselves on the way down (After seeing that crash I am considering opting for the risk of them flying out and facing the bobcats). Maybe this bird had a similar crash. As I mentioned in the first post, it also had been pecked pretty good in the head several times by other turkeys before I found it.

As long as she's eating on her own and can avoid lapsing into a coma, she gets another day
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Reprieve! Hope it is the result of something traumatic and she'll slowly improve. We doctored up our neighbor's Spanish tom, a few years back after he was attacked by a fox. The crown of his head was dragging on the ground with his beak pointed out at 9 o'clock. If one lifted his head then slowly let go, it would return to the same upside down, drag-the-ground position.

He somehow recovered and lived about a year longer (would see him out looking pretty healthy as we'd drive by). Wish I'd gone down to see how he managed to eat and drink shortly after injury.
 
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Woke up this morning just to check this thread. So glad to hear that she is doing good. I was worried. So glad that you are being patient and helping her as much as you can. Thumbs up for you. She is lucky to have you.

Keep us posted. Crossing my fingers she will make it thru this and be back 100%.
 
Added Vitamin E/selenium to the list of medications. I read about people cutting the tips of the gel caps and squirting them in. I just put the capsule on a plate and she swallowed it! No Problem!
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May be starting to look better. She's doing a better job of preening and actually took a few steps forward yesterday. Still twists up regularly, but if you leaver her alone, the head eventually pops up.

Eating by herself well but also likes to grab huge clumps of grass out of my hands. Last night I thought she was going to choke. She pulled a big wad of clover out of my hand, stuffed it down her throat, and fell over thrashing. Then she stood up like "hey, I meant to do that."
 
Bird is definitely improving
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She is able towalk forward again. Eating is much easier. She is gettng bored out of her head, which is a good sign. I need to find something for her to play with. She still twists up regularly, but unless something bad happens, I think we can close this thread. Thanks for the advice and encouragement.
 

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