Asever1
Chirping
My favorite tom turkey, Salt, was found night before last hanging upside down with his leg caught in the fence. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he was covered in blood on his head and neck. I believe what happened was that he fought with my other tom and in the fight lost his footing. His leg was caught up by the “knee”. It was very cold that evening and the blood was starting to freeze on him. His head and neck were engorged with blood and swelling but he was alive!
We took him down and brought him inside. I put warm wet cloths on his head to warm him and start washing away the blood. We covered him in warm towels.
It looks like one of his eyes may have been damaged but he does have the other one. However, he isn’t opening that eye anymore very well. He’s just a mess, but the swelling went down rather quickly once he was warmed and right side up again.
Now he just looks super bruised all over his head. He keeps both eyes closed but does occasionally barely open the one eye. His poor snood was damaged with a huge gash and is still a bit swollen at the end. The leg that was stuck in the fence seems structurally sound, no breaks, but when he tries to stand his foot either remains curled up or the leg shoots out behind him. If I help him get his foot right under him he can take weight on it and balance pretty well. This is an improvement over yesterday. I’m worried that he might not walk though.
He is drinking water if I put it in front of him and guide him to it. I’ve put electrolytes in the water. He will not eat though and I’m concerned. I’m wondering if there are foods he might be able to eat better than the pellets? Something that turkeys just can’t resist?
Any thoughts, tips, suggestions are welcome. I’m attaching a few pics so you can see what he looks like. My poor beautiful grand champion Royal Palm!
Day 1
Day 1
Day 2
I haven’t taken a photo yet today but he looks pretty much the same although his color looks better and his head isn’t as hot as it was. It’s been about 30 hours since he was found.
He’s a sweetheart and I hate to see him suffering
We took him down and brought him inside. I put warm wet cloths on his head to warm him and start washing away the blood. We covered him in warm towels.
It looks like one of his eyes may have been damaged but he does have the other one. However, he isn’t opening that eye anymore very well. He’s just a mess, but the swelling went down rather quickly once he was warmed and right side up again.
Now he just looks super bruised all over his head. He keeps both eyes closed but does occasionally barely open the one eye. His poor snood was damaged with a huge gash and is still a bit swollen at the end. The leg that was stuck in the fence seems structurally sound, no breaks, but when he tries to stand his foot either remains curled up or the leg shoots out behind him. If I help him get his foot right under him he can take weight on it and balance pretty well. This is an improvement over yesterday. I’m worried that he might not walk though.
He is drinking water if I put it in front of him and guide him to it. I’ve put electrolytes in the water. He will not eat though and I’m concerned. I’m wondering if there are foods he might be able to eat better than the pellets? Something that turkeys just can’t resist?
Any thoughts, tips, suggestions are welcome. I’m attaching a few pics so you can see what he looks like. My poor beautiful grand champion Royal Palm!
Day 1
Day 1
Day 2I haven’t taken a photo yet today but he looks pretty much the same although his color looks better and his head isn’t as hot as it was. It’s been about 30 hours since he was found.
He’s a sweetheart and I hate to see him suffering
Is there any chance you can get him to a vet? What I worry about most is water intake. He needs a minimum of 23 ml of water per pound per day. If you can't take him to a vet you will need to tube feed him.
