Turkey is Having Seizures

[Kiki]

Her mother is 10 years old and I previously had a Bourbon Red tom that was 11 years old when a predator took him on a Thanksgiving evening.

If I don't want to get bloodied, I wear gloves and a jacket. I also maneuver so that the hen is facing my back. A good flogging with the wings only can actually feel pretty good on my back.

If I wanted to remove unfertilized eggs from a broody, I would move the turkey off of the nest into another area probably using guide sticks or a big net. I would then remove the eggs and either block or destroy the nest.

In my case, I would not allow a hen to collect infertile eggs in the first place. I would remove all eggs daily before the hen goes broody. Admittedly the longer this goes on the fewer eggs are required to cause the broody bug but it will delay the onset of broodiness.

I picture you wearing a football uniform...shoulder pads, helmet and arm pads too.

 

[R2elk]

I picture you wearing a football uniform...shoulder pads, helmet and arm pads too.

Not me. I didn't even put gloves on this morning when I stole the babies.

 

[ojust4today]

Update on Tom... I have not seen him have a seizure in a couple days. He is getting in and out of the new pen without assistance. Yesterday it rained all day he knew to stay in where it was dry. Sometimes he is standing for long periods of time he could not do that before.
This morning he did not gobble which was a sure sign before that he had made a turn for the better, however he did make some turkey chirps which is major progress. He did so when he was being given some scratch.

So he has been eating the new feed as suggested, gobbles it up and has been separated from the chicks now for a week. Those two changes may provide him an awesome comeback!!
My hen still sitting. Nothing’s changed... no poults still in the position she turned in. I’m assuming my math was way off for hatch date or her eggs are not fertile. Any suggestions on this? Do I still let her sit even if there is a possibility it is not happening? Does she have the instincts not to sit any longer if the eggs are not fertile?

 

[R2elk]

Update on Tom... I have not seen him have a seizure in a couple days. He is getting in and out of the new pen without assistance. Yesterday it rained all day he knew to stay in where it was dry. Sometimes he is standing for long periods of time he could not do that before.
This morning he did not gobble which was a sure sign before that he had made a turn for the better, however he did make some turkey chirps which is major progress. He did so when he was being given some scratch.

So he has been eating the new feed as suggested, gobbles it up and has been separated from the chicks now for a week. Those two changes may provide him an awesome comeback!!
My hen still sitting. Nothing’s changed... no poults still in the position she turned in. I’m assuming my math was way off for hatch date or her eggs are not fertile. Any suggestions on this? Do I still let her sit even if there is a possibility it is not happening? Does she have the instincts not to sit any longer if the eggs are not fertile?

You may want to candle some of the eggs to determine whether or not they are fertile. If they are not fertile, you will want to remove the eggs and destroy or block the nest site to prevent access to it.

Turkey hens will sit on infertile eggs and will not want to give up on them. Allowing a hen to sit on infertile eggs can be harmful to her health.

 

[ojust4today]

Ok, thank you. I will check into it. Ahhhh the responsibilities of keeping birds.

 

[Kiki]

Ok, thank you. I will check into it. Ahhhh the responsibilities of keeping birds.

 

[jenmerrill]

Without knowing how big your coop is, that is a lot of poultry for a coop and you could be overcrowding them. Overcrowding can cause all sorts of problems, stress and disease.

Lack of water fro 48 hours is enough to kill lots of poultry even in cool weather.

You have to upload videos to another site such as YouTube and then you can use the Media button to the right of the Mountain icon to link it to BYC.

My Tom is doing a strange, seizure like movement and I would love to see what it looks like. [email protected]

 

[R2elk]

My Tom is doing a strange, seizure like movement and I would love to see what it looks like.

This thread is from 2018. The OP hasn't been on BYC since 2020. She never did upload a video.

BTW, it isn't a good idea to post your email publicly.

 

[42_Cats]

I need to know is it ok to keep turkeys and chickens together. They have been together for over a year and a half no problems. When I first got them I had about 25 hens. We just ordered 45 more hens so now we have approx. 60 hens. The seizures did not start until we got the new hens or we introduced a new rooster around the same time which would have been Two turkeys, two roosters and approx 60 chicken hens in one coop. That is why I’m asking should my turkeys be separated from my other birds. We are down to one rooster.
The only other thing I can think of is there were about 48 hours the birds went without water around the same time. It was hot not extreme hot but hot enough...could he have went into shock over being dehydrated? (My daughter filled the watering containers and forgot to unscrew them to let the water flow.)

What I have done is for about two weeks I did nothing because it was mating season and I was told it was a mating behavior. When things got worst and my gut told me this has nothing to do with mating I removed him took him into our shop kept him in a dog cage. We gave him electrolytes and probiotic that seemed to really help; the first few days he was really relaxed and rested. Then he began regaining his strength and started walking around our property. For about a week he almost was 100%. Back track: The thing is he probably had a couple hundred seizures before this point in time of getting help. We also had a rain spell here around this time and sometimes I would find him stuck in mud on his back in the coop so he lost alot of his feathers and gained major skin infection as a result of the moisture. Just awful... broke my heart.
So after a week of him doing much better and regaining his health/strength... no seizures we returned him to the coop. He did good for about a day but the seizures started again. I found him yesterday wing wedged between wood he could not move I thought he was dead and I don’t know how long he was like that it could have been hours. My coop is far from my house and I usually go out morning and evening.
Any suggestions or help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. He is an awesome bird who is just amazing to have.

We also have a hen who is sitting on six or so eggs. He got sick half way through mating season. So our plan is to build a separate pen for the turkeys for the babies who our due anyday.

I have videos this site is not allowing me to upload. I edited them down to 10 seconds did not help. If anyone would like to see video I could email it to you.

I need to know is it ok to keep turkeys and chickens together. They have been together for over a year and a half no problems. When I first got them I had about 25 hens. We just ordered 45 more hens so now we have approx. 60 hens. The seizures did not start until we got the new hens or we introduced a new rooster around the same time which would have been Two turkeys, two roosters and approx 60 chicken hens in one coop. That is why I’m asking should my turkeys be separated from my other birds. We are down to one rooster.
The only other thing I can think of is there were about 48 hours the birds went without water around the same time. It was hot not extreme hot but hot enough...could he have went into shock over being dehydrated? (My daughter filled the watering containers and forgot to unscrew them to let the water flow.)

What I have done is for about two weeks I did nothing because it was mating season and I was told it was a mating behavior. When things got worst and my gut told me this has nothing to do with mating I removed him took him into our shop kept him in a dog cage. We gave him electrolytes and probiotic that seemed to really help; the first few days he was really relaxed and rested. Then he began regaining his strength and started walking around our property. For about a week he almost was 100%. Back track: The thing is he probably had a couple hundred seizures before this point in time of getting help. We also had a rain spell here around this time and sometimes I would find him stuck in mud on his back in the coop so he lost alot of his feathers and gained major skin infection as a result of the moisture. Just awful... broke my heart.
So after a week of him doing much better and regaining his health/strength... no seizures we returned him to the coop. He did good for about a day but the seizures started again. I found him yesterday wing wedged between wood he could not move I thought he was dead and I don’t know how long he was like that it could have been hours. My coop is far from my house and I usually go out morning and evening.
Any suggestions or help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. He is an awesome bird who is just amazing to have.

We also have a hen who is sitting on six or so eggs. He got sick half way through mating season. So our plan is to build a separate pen for the turkeys for the babies who our due anyday.

I have videos this site is not allowing me to upload. I edited them down to 10 seconds did not help. If anyone would like to see video I could email it to you.

I know your original post was from 2018 but I’m currently having this same issue with my young tom, Po. He had his first seizure this evening. I found him on his side in the coop and my cameras showed the rest.

I’m making my way through the thread and maybe I just missed it but which food did you decide to switch yours to?

He’s only about 3 months old and has been eating 20% protein Hearty Hen layer feed with my chickens. They have a constant supply of pellets during the day as well as a 45 gallon water barrel set up.

 

[R2elk]

He’s only about 3 months old and has been eating 20% protein Hearty Hen layer feed with my chickens. They have a constant supply of pellets during the day as well as a 45 gallon water barrel set up.

Layer feed has too much calcium in it for male fowl. It can cause harm to their kidneys. Stop feeding the tom the layer feed.

At 3 months old, a quality all flock feed is appropriate for your turkey. It has the higher levels of lysine, methionine and niacin that they need along with the proper level of calcium for males and non-laying fowl.

@ojust4today has not been on BYC since June 15, 2021.