Turkey with bad legs, what can I do?

[Keera3802]

So I recently got this poor female turkey from my dads friend. He could no longer take care of her and kept her in the coop almost her whole life because he had a Tom turkey that would abuse her (that’s what the scar on her head is from) he was feeding her moldy food and she hadn’t had clean water for I don’t know how long. To say the least she is in pretty bad shape and I want to try to help her, but she has very swollen legs and feet and she can’t walk. She will take a few steps here and there but she mostly just lays down all day. I carry her in and out of the coop every day and make sure that she always has food and water around her at all times. I’m just not sure what to do about her legs to help her walk better. The guy who I got her from also gave me 4 chickens (they are pretty old) and they have very swollen feet and legs as well but they are still able to walk normally. The turkey also sounds like she’s wheezing a bit and pants very easily even when she’s in the shade and it’s not warm outside, what can I do for her?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is she a broad breasted?

 

[R2elk]

So I recently got this poor female turkey from my dads friend. He could no longer take care of her and kept her in the coop almost her whole life because he had a Tom turkey that would abuse her (that’s what the scar on her head is from) he was feeding her moldy food and she hadn’t had clean water for I don’t know how long. To say the least she is in pretty bad shape and I want to try to help her, but she has very swollen legs and feet and she can’t walk. She will take a few steps here and there but she mostly just lays down all day. I carry her in and out of the coop every day and make sure that she always has food and water around her at all times. I’m just not sure what to do about her legs to help her walk better. The guy who I got her from also gave me 4 chickens (they are pretty old) and they have very swollen feet and legs as well but they are still able to walk normally. The turkey also sounds like she’s wheezing a bit and pants very easily even when she’s in the shade and it’s not warm outside, what can I do for her?
View attachment 1895203 View attachment 1895204 View attachment 1895205 View attachment 1895206 View attachment 1895207

She appears to be a Broad Breasted White aka Giant White.

She most likely has heart problems which is common in this variety especially when given poor nutrition and no exercise.

I also would not be surprised if both she and the chickens have scaly leg mites.

I would make an effort to get her to increase her exercise a little bit more each day. Treat both her and the chickens for scaly leg mites.

You can also try giving her vitamin B complex at the rate of 1/2 capsule or tablet dissolved in one gallon of water. Do not mix anything else in the water. Make it the only source of water. It should be made fresh daily. It will be fine to also give it to the chickens.

Good luck.

 

[Keera3802]

Is she a broad breasted?

I’m not really sure what kind of turkey she is, I just got her about a week ago from a family friend, and he isn’t sure what she is either.

She appears to be a Broad Breasted White aka Giant White.

She most likely has heart problems which is common in this variety especially when given poor nutrition and no exercise.

I also would not be surprised if both she and the chickens have scaly leg mites.

I would make an effort to get her to increase her exercise a little bit more each day. Treat both her and the chickens for scaly leg mites.

You can also try giving her vitamin B complex at the rate of 1/2 capsule or tablet dissolved in one gallon of water. Do not mix anything else in the water. Make it the only source of water. It should be made fresh daily. It will be fine to also give it to the chickens.

Good luck.

Thank you, I will try to work with her more and more on exercising and getting her out. I will also start treating for leg mites as soon as I can, I’m really hoping that the mite problem won’t spread to the chickens I had before I got these new ones. I will keep them away from each other until I can clean everything up and they look good again. And ideas on what I can to to help the turkeys breathing?

 

[R2elk]

Thank you, I will try to work with her more and more on exercising and getting her out. I will also start treating for leg mites as soon as I can, I’m really hoping that the mite problem won’t spread to the chickens I had before I got these new ones. I will keep them away from each other until I can clean everything up and they look good again. And ideas on what I can to to help the turkeys breathing?

Only a healthy diet and exercise will be able to help her breathing if it is a heart problem. I recommend doing your best to try to not get too attached to her. Even in the best of health, broad breasted turkeys do not tend to have long lives.