turkey hens spin in circles

[yesterDAYNE]

Hello there! So I'm relatively new to turkeys, only had them for abt a year. I haven't really had many issues until this popped up.

We bought some hens sometime last year, 2 blue slates and 1 black, all sisters. They're great, except one of the blues went blind in one eye and now spends her time with her eye on the ground spinning around and calling to keep in contact with her sisters. I thought maybe she just injured herself, or maybe something with her genetics caused her to go blind in one eye. The other slate and the black are fine.

However, I purchased some lilacs from a different breeder. They grew up fine, 2 hens. They're about 4 months or so now. Issue is, one of them is doing the same as my slate. She spins in circles, appears blind in one eye, and pecks under her own legs when eating. I'm now worried this is some sort of disease I don't know about. I tried googling "turkey spinning in circles" or "blind in one eye" but couldn't find anything. She's also never been around the adults unsupervised.

The lilacs are like my children to me, and I'd like to help her if I can. I dont see any external injuries on her. Any ideas? Thanks.

Video:

 

[R2elk]

Hello there! So I'm relatively new to turkeys, only had them for abt a year. I haven't really had many issues until this popped up.

We bought some hens sometime last year, 2 blue slates and 1 black, all sisters. They're great, except one of the blues went blind in one eye and now spends her time with her eye on the ground spinning around and calling to keep in contact with her sisters. I thought maybe she just injured herself, or maybe something with her genetics caused her to go blind in one eye. The other slate and the black are fine.

However, I purchased some lilacs from a different breeder. They grew up fine, 2 hens. They're about 4 months or so now. Issue is, one of them is doing the same as my slate. She spins in circles, appears blind in one eye, and pecks under her own legs when eating. I'm now worried this is some sort of disease I don't know about. I tried googling "turkey spinning in circles" or "blind in one eye" but couldn't find anything. She's also never been around the adults unsupervised.

The lilacs are like my children to me, and I'd like to help her if I can. I dont see any external injuries on her. Any ideas? Thanks.

Video:

Blindness can be associated with the slate (D) gene. It has been referred to as small eye syndrome because the eyes tend to be smaller than normal and can lead to blindness. It is more common in Lavenders and Lilacs than in Blue Slates because the Lavenders and the Lilacs are homozygous for the slate gene (DD) while the Blue Slates which are heterozygous (Dd).

The black should not have a problem because it does not have a slate gene.

I hope you are not using the blind ones for breeding stock.

 

[yesterDAYNE]

Blindness can be associated with the slate (D) gene. It has been referred to small eye syndrome because the eyes tend to be smaller than normal and can lead to blindness. It is more common in Lavenders and Lilacs than in Blue Slates because the Lavenders and the Lilacs are homozygous for the slate gene (DD) while the Blue Slates which are heterozygous (Dd).

The black should not have a problem because it does not have a slate gene.

I hope you are not using the blind ones for breeding stock.

Oh thank you! I thought it might be related to those genetics but I couldn't find anything 100% on it.

They aren't, they're just pets and our males are red bourbons. We don't really plan on breeding to sell. If we did I'd make sure they're eggs from the black one!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hi
Looks like you have gotten an answer already
Enjoy your new ducky