Turkey Newbie-Wing feather question

[PearlD]

I would say that 50% of my poults have done that 'wing hanging' thing.......and they all turned out just fine. Beats my what causes it, but it seems to take care of itself as they get older

 

[ivan3]

Here is some info from research on Cormorants that provides some background on causes:

"The abnormal rotation of the carpal joint in some of the cormorants in this study is similar to a disease with a variety of names, including angel wing, slipped wing, and airplane wing (Kear, 1973; Kreeger and Walser, 1984; Ritchie et al., 1994)."

"Angel wing occurs in young waterfowl when the weight of the rapidly growing flight feathers on the manus is insufficiently supported by the non-rigid bones of the wing. The manus twists outwards, and remains in that position after the bones are ossified. It has been reported in domestic and wild waterfowl fed by humans, and has been associated with overfeeding, an unbalanced diet, including an excessive level of protein, and deficiencies in calcium, manganese, and vitamin D. It is found in rapidly growing birds, and occurs more frequently in male birds, in the larger individuals of a brood, and during warm weather, when energy otherwise used to maintain body temperature may be used for growth. [my italics] The only report of an angelwing- like disease in wild birds not fed by humans is in American white pelicans (Drew and Kreeger, 1986). A possible explanation for this disease in cormorants in the wild is very rapid growth. Such growth is most likely to occur in older chicks in the brood, in broods with parents superior in fishing skill, and in years of mild weather and abundant food supply (Dunn, 1976; DesGranges, 1982)."

And link to full article: http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/35/2/331.pdf

If you tape, you might consider 3M paper tape (transpore), it is easy to work with and easy to remove.
Thanks for posting (now I know what an airplane wing is...), good luck with those fast growing devils!

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Oh, don't worry about contradicting me! There are billions of things I don't know and billions of things which I can very well be misinformed about. This is my first time with turkeys too so I'm still learning with the rest!

 

[dangerouschicken]

Last time I checked, turkeys are not waterfowl

I thought angel wing was a duck/goose thing? I really don't think turkeys get angel wing.

If you have ever watched turkeys in the wild, the tom will drop his wings down and strut around his harem. It looks just like the picture of your baby. Maybe your baby is a male? I have two baby turkeys right now, and one does this behavior and the other doesn't. Perhaps I have one each?

Here is a little about wild turkey behavior.

 

[silkiechicken]

I don't know about strutting, looks just like a weak wing that they probably grow out of. Sometimes it happens with my silkies too when they are babies.

Here's one of strutting which looks like more of a turkey effort than the OP's post of the wings hanging.

 

[pdpatch]

Right now two of our Great White's have this which are the faster growers. But they are growing out of it, and it's less obviouse now. All 5 of the Great White originally had it. I ask some one I know who works at a commercial turkey farm and they said don't worry about it it happens all the time.

It looks like the second picture that farm_mom posted, where the two flight feathers are a lot longer then the rest. they were almost an 1 1/2" longer in the two week old chick.

At two weeks or so some of the Tom's started to strut, which was kind of funny since there tails feather were just little nubs sticking out.

If you are going to be taking your turkey to a poultry show you might want to tape up the wings, if they will let you. But the chicks will peck at anything that is out of place or different.
So you might have to seperate the ones you tape, if you do.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Dont know much about turkeys either but silkiechicken you got a little male there. Our turkeys did that last year just struted like that and now he is a beautiful big tom the ones that kept their wings in turned out to be hens.

 

[farm_mom]

I decided to try to tape one the other day after reading the responses. I had one that had one normal side and one "bad" side, so I started there. The poult did not like the tape and it moved it's wing in strange ways, and soon enough the others all took note and began pecking, so I took it off. I'm glad to hear from some of you that it's normal growth because I think I'm just going to wait and see what happens. Especially since these are not show birds, I don't need perfection, I just wanted to be sure there wasn't something missing in their diet or some neglect on my part.

I do have another question, since I have you guys here!!

I've notcied my birds don't really drink all that much, and I had one die the other day for no reason I can discern. Is it possible for a turkey to forget to eat or drink?!? They did wonderfully the first day, they were all eating and drinking and I thought maybe these guys aren't as dumb as I've been told. But now I've got some who seem to wonder around with no real interest in food or water (at least not when I'm there.) I do have marbles in their food and water dishes to attract their attention.

Thanks for all your great advice! And I love the pics silkiechicken, they're adorable!!

 

[pdpatch]

You might try dipping there beaks into the food and water, to remind them where it is. They are just about in that stage where you wonder where all the food and water is going.

You may also have to raise the food and water up a bit. At two weeks we put a small 1x4 2 inches long, piece of wood under ours so it was more at there height. They are now using a 2 x 4 under the food and water.

 

[farm_mom]

Thanks for the advice pdpatch. I do try dipping the beaks of those who just seem to wander around in their own world, but they show no interest. Oh, the food consumption has increased, dramatically in the last few days actually, but the water, not so much. I have 12 poults and they only drink about 1/4 gal a day. They seem more interested in roosting on the waterer than drinking from it!

But, I will try raising it up to bring it to their level more, thanks!