- Jun 28, 2013
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Hi guys,
I'm new here, but I could really use some help. I'm staying out at my dad's property and he and his fiance bought seven turkey chicks maybe four to five months ago. They've been living in an outdoor cage with access to a small portion of the barn and I'm pretty sure they're being fed on corn (not sure of the specifics). The condition of the cage is not particularly ideal, they don't clean it out, but I'm unable to help as my dad's fiance is very possessive of the animals. Over the past months, they've been dying off and we're now down to four with two of them sick. Things have gotten bad enough that they've opened up the cage and let them roam free for lack of any other ideas, so I have a bit of room to work with them now.
Whatever is killing them doesn't seem to be physical. We just find them splayed out on the ground, unable to get up, although they can still move their legs and there's nothing visibly wrong with them. If I pick them up and set them on their feet, they seem to be able to stand, although they shake and can't walk. I've isolated one of them and taken it inside, set water near it with a couple of drops of honey and some of the feed we have for our chickens. When she falls over, I set her upright and move her around so she's not laying in her own excrement. After a day of this treatment, she seems to be improving slowly and can now stand up on her own and even managed to take a few steps, although her walk is clumsy and she steps on her own feet. Sometimes, when she gets up, she seems to have difficulty uncurling her toes. If I uncurl them for her, she stands on them just fine. For the first while, her droppings were whitish and watery but they're looking more normal now. This afternoon, I found another one splayed out near the house and moved her over out of sight so I can care for her without being scrutinized.
I've looked through some documents on different turkey diseases and can't seem to find anything that matches these symptoms to my understanding. I don't like to see these animals suffer and, up until now, my dad's fiance has just left them in the cage with the others to starve and dehydrate with the food and water mere feet away. I don't really know anything about turkeys, but if there's anything I can do for them, I'd be happy to do it. Does anyone have any idea what might be going on here?
Thanks in advance.
I'm new here, but I could really use some help. I'm staying out at my dad's property and he and his fiance bought seven turkey chicks maybe four to five months ago. They've been living in an outdoor cage with access to a small portion of the barn and I'm pretty sure they're being fed on corn (not sure of the specifics). The condition of the cage is not particularly ideal, they don't clean it out, but I'm unable to help as my dad's fiance is very possessive of the animals. Over the past months, they've been dying off and we're now down to four with two of them sick. Things have gotten bad enough that they've opened up the cage and let them roam free for lack of any other ideas, so I have a bit of room to work with them now.
Whatever is killing them doesn't seem to be physical. We just find them splayed out on the ground, unable to get up, although they can still move their legs and there's nothing visibly wrong with them. If I pick them up and set them on their feet, they seem to be able to stand, although they shake and can't walk. I've isolated one of them and taken it inside, set water near it with a couple of drops of honey and some of the feed we have for our chickens. When she falls over, I set her upright and move her around so she's not laying in her own excrement. After a day of this treatment, she seems to be improving slowly and can now stand up on her own and even managed to take a few steps, although her walk is clumsy and she steps on her own feet. Sometimes, when she gets up, she seems to have difficulty uncurling her toes. If I uncurl them for her, she stands on them just fine. For the first while, her droppings were whitish and watery but they're looking more normal now. This afternoon, I found another one splayed out near the house and moved her over out of sight so I can care for her without being scrutinized.
I've looked through some documents on different turkey diseases and can't seem to find anything that matches these symptoms to my understanding. I don't like to see these animals suffer and, up until now, my dad's fiance has just left them in the cage with the others to starve and dehydrate with the food and water mere feet away. I don't really know anything about turkeys, but if there's anything I can do for them, I'd be happy to do it. Does anyone have any idea what might be going on here?
Thanks in advance.
