Turkey Walking Like A Drunk???? *Update*

[Stewarts]

They are adorable. Its not silly to care about the Lord's animals and birds, He gave them to us to care for and to have as companions. Its our responsibility to care for them and do our best for them. One thing I may suggest is to go on Google and put in her symptoms, see what comes up. Find other Poultry sites and ask questions of them as well. There are Blackhead threads on this site and a lot of people have a lot of information, research them as well. I'll do a little research myself, perhaps together we can come up with a solution for her.

By the way, where are you from? I'm on Prince Edward Island, Canada.

 

[Turkey Mamma]

Thank you. You are very sweet. I was feeling pretty discouraged last night when I posted and I needed that Yes I have been searching every site that I can find and have found a lot of good information. I am giving her another soak. She seems stronger today and will stand on one of her legs. Now that she is doing that it seems like it might be specific to her left leg after all. I'm still not sure. I felt around on her legs and tummy again today and still can't find anything strange to report. I'm in Viola, KS (USA). We have a little five acre hobby farm out here, but it's still close to the city. We really like it out here. Canada is a long haul from here! What's the weather like there right now? It's raining ice here.

 

[Stewarts]

Hallelujah

The Lord is

at you!

Its always so much better when they start to come right again on their own! Did you get the SuperBoost? If its just a soreness or a minor injury in her leg or foot, you've dodged a bullet. I'd put her on a diet myself, limit her to her regular turkey food and SuperBoost in her water. I give my birds plenty of greens - fewer calories and you can't gain weight from water. Although she will still gain weight, maybe you can slow that down a little.

Prince Edward Island has been hit several times with snow storms, although we finally got dump after dump of snow, its been pretty mild and warm here. Its was still green until the first week in December. Usually its the opposite with raging winds 90 - 100 mph and frigid temperatures along with the blowing snow and freezing rain. At the moment its 4:48 pm, getting dark with light rain and warm. I've just been to the hutch to shut my birds in the coop for the night and turn on their light for a while, then came in to find my rescue turkey hen and meat chicken wandering the hall. I let them out of their room for a change of view. We live on the diary my hubby works at and have a insulated coop with an attached hutch in the back yard. We have 2.5 acres of land that we plan to build on on day soon.

Now, to finish the tree.

 

[Turkey Mamma]

Oh wow! I can't imagine winds like that. If the wind gets above 40 mph here it blows the pilot light out on our furnace and we are searching for our lawn furniture in the pasture! How do you keep the chickens warm enough? Now I know why you have their area insulated! We keep ours in an 6X8 shed that has been converted to hold four roosts, and we just make sure they have plenty of hay to keep them warm. A dairy sounds very nice. Lots of fresh milk! We have two goats that we are waiting to get things going here for goats milk, but it is taking forever for them to warm up to each other. Goat love is so unpredictable They are very sweet though and the boys and I have fun feeding and petting them. My husband grew up on a farm but this is all new to me, so I am loving all of the new experiences that I get to share with my boys.

Well, to update on Lucky: No I didn't end up giving her the Superboost. The guy at the store said that it might not be a good idea to give her two different kinds of antibiotics since she was already on one. Instead I just got her a vitamin supplement since that was the other ingredient in the Superboost. I also gave her a little pedicure (soaked and cleaned off the scabby looking black spots on her pad and then soaked her foot again for about 20 minutes in Epsom salt water). Actually, the pad looked significantly smaller after I did that, so I'm hoping that I helped a bit. I guess it was a little swollen after all. It looked so different from the pictures of bumblefoot that I viewed on line. We are going to practice standing again tomorrow and see if she will put any more weight on it.

I am definitely going to add greens to her diet. I'll have to buy store bought this winter but I can plant some in my garden this spring, and that may even help with the cost of her food. She does eat a lot of bugs and greens from the back yard, but she won't be able to do that this winter. Your enthusiasm has got me all pumped up and I'm talking like she's going to be fine. I hope she is getting better and that I have more good news for you tomorrow. Thanks again for being such a wonderful support and stay warm up there! I just looked outside and it's snowing!!!

 

[Turkey Mamma]

~~ Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I finally got the flu that my youngest has had for the past few days. and although yesterday my son was back to his normal, crazy two year old self, I was miserable. Lucky and I didn't practice walking and I didn't soak her foot again until late last night, when I could finally stand up without feeling nauseous. It was all I could do to just keep her clean and fed yesterday I'm feeling much better today though, and we are going to try today. Lucky does seem better still....She preened herself ALL day yesterday (something I haven't seen her do since I brought her in the other day) and that was encouraging. I'll write more after I get her up and around today, when I soak her foot some more and we practice standing again. Hope you are staying warm and your feather babies are doing well.

 

[Stewarts]

I am so very glad to hear she's doing better. Sorry you are feeling so ill, especially around the busy holidays. Hope you have a very happy Christmas and New Year. 8 days till 2014 - can you believe that! My birds are all well, I'm going to make some saddles for my indoor turkey hen so she can go into the coop after Christmas and not be cold, it will also protect her from the tom when he mates her. Then I have to make one for a small co-op hen who is being de-feathered by my horny roo

Stay safe and healthy.

 

[Turkey Mamma]

Saddles! I hadn't heard of that before. I just googled it I have only had this happen to one of my hens and when it did I just brought her in for a few days to rest up and gave her a supplement. She still gets picked on but she hasn't lost any more feathers. This is something I am going to have to try making myself so that I have one on hand. Great idea! Good to hear they are doing well and on their way back out to the coop. Lucky and I practiced walking twice today and both times she did put some weight on BOTH feet and kept them flat on the floor, where before she wanted to curl her claws. She's still not wanting to pull them up under her to support her weight, but she has stopped dangling the one out from behind her when she is laying down. She's also been scooting herself off of her bed quite a bit and will move toward food/water when it is set a bit in front of her. Even though things are moving along slowly, I am seeing an improvement each day. We are going to watch her over the next week and see how things develop. As long as she doesn't seem to be in any pain, I'm enjoying my time with her. I hope that you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too. Take care and stay warm!

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

I found your post very interesting and am glad to have read it. If I think they have sore feet I put triple antibiotic ointment on them but make sure it is kind that doesn't have pain reliever in it. That helps for the mites in the scales too. I doubt it will cure all your problems but might help some. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and good luck with your turkey.

 

[Stewarts]

This is the saddle I'm going to make for my turkey hen before she goes into the coup again. I also have a little co-op hen that needs one.


I have a large beige blanket that I won't have to sew much so I'm going
to make these.

Quick and easy, just measure the bird, cut the slots and put it on
her.

Here's how it looks on the chicken

I will add this feature, a tail hole so it will fit better.

First time for everything, ay! Next someone will come up with turkey diapers.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

That is very interesting. Let us know how it works