Turkeys For 2013

[yinepu]

Quote:
allowing a few more days between slaughter and cooking will help soften him up a bit too..

 

[chicken pickin]

Does anyone have experience with a hen that has had her side gashed open? I noticed one of my hens has seemed a little off recently so today I gave her a look over and she has a huge open gash on her side under her wing. It doesnt look infected and looks like it is healing but it is huge and Im nervous for her. Is there anything I should do for her or should I just keep an eye on her. Im going to separate the toms from the hens for a while and was thinking about getting the hens saddles. Any other tips?

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

Definitely keep her separate from the others. Poultry heal quite nicely by themselves, but I always have a tube of triple antibiotic cream on hand. It cures anything! I've seen a little chick's eyeball so swollen to be the same size of the head. I thought for sure it would die, but I gave my best "hail-Mary" pass and rubbed the cream all over the side of the head. In just one day, the swelling was down by half, the next day, swelling all gone and the third day the eye was open and just fine!

Just make sure your hen is in a place to feel safe. I usually have a heated bathroom where I raised the young-uns and put in healing poultry, where they can get their medicine and feed, plus feel safe in a quiet corner. i'm sure not everybody can do that, but perhaps a giant, quiet box no one can get her in?

And find the culprit with the long nails!!!

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank You. She seems to be healing ok but the wound must have been huge because their is still quite a hole, but its not bloody or oozy just looks like skin but in the shape is still a large hole/gouge. It must have happened a little while back or maybe is continuously been happening and I just never realized. I feel awful for her.

I left the hens to their coop and run and just sectioned off a part of their run with a temporary fence and put the 2 Toms in that. They will have no shelter for the time being which I feel bad about but I will only do this for about a week until she is feeling better and the saddles come in the mail. I also have 4 younger hens I will be adding to the breeder pen in a few weeks also. SO hopefully that will help also. And I can trim turkey nails? what would I use?

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

A few pages back, someone had mentioned the spur on male turkeys. They said something like " get a pair of pliers, grab the end of the spur, and twist back and forth. The spur should pop right of, leaving the nub underneath it. It doesn't hurt the turkey."

If anyone can recall exactly how to do this, please chime in.

And I'd try the triple antibiotic cream, just to keep any infection down. Neosporin makes it and also a generic brand. It also comes with a pain killer in the cream. The generic works just as well as the Neosporin brand.

Good luck to you.

Lynn

 

[KrisH]

A few pages back, someone had mentioned the spur on male turkeys. They said something like " get a pair of pliers, grab the end of the spur, and twist back and forth. The spur should pop right of, leaving the nub underneath it. It doesn't hurt the turkey."

If anyone can recall exactly how to do this, please chime in.

And I'd try the triple antibiotic cream, just to keep any infection down. Neosporin makes it and also a generic brand. It also comes with a pain killer in the cream. The generic works just as well as the Neosporin brand.

Good luck to you.

Lynn

We have removed the spurs with pliers before We found the bmall sliding jaw pliers with open center worked the best for me. (picture below) just enough pressure near the base of the spur to hold and twist. Grasp the leg with fingers on both sides of the leg and to support the leg and not to twist the whole leg. Gently twist the spur around slightly clockwise, then counterclockwise then back again and keep going gently back and forth. when it breaks loose it will just slip straight off. The "quick" that is left will be tender and raw looking and may bleed slightly. we use Spray on "Blue Kote" to treat the open quick. they will be tender for a few weeks. prety sure they will not be breeding for a while. They will grow back fully in just under a year, but ours were fairly blunt for about 8 months or so.

Time for us to do our oldest tom again, should i video it?

RobertH

 

[chicken pickin]

We have removed the spurs with pliers before We found the bmall sliding jaw pliers with open center worked the best for me. (picture below) just enough pressure near the base of the spur to hold and twist. Grasp the leg with fingers on both sides of the leg and to support the leg and not to twist the whole leg. Gently twist the spur around slightly clockwise, then counterclockwise then back again and keep going gently back and forth. when it breaks loose it will just slip straight off. The "quick" that is left will be tender and raw looking and may bleed slightly. we use Spray on "Blue Kote" to treat the open quick. they will be tender for a few weeks. prety sure they will not be breeding for a while. They will grow back fully in just under a year, but ours were fairly blunt for about 8 months or so.

Time for us to do our oldest tom again, should i video it?

RobertH

Yes definitely. Im sure a video will help all of us that decide to try it.

Has anyone had any luck with turkey hens wearing a saddle? I was gonna order a few tonight.

 

[KrisH]

Does anyone have experience with a hen that has had her side gashed open? I noticed one of my hens has seemed a little off recently so today I gave her a look over and she has a huge open gash on her side under her wing. It doesnt look infected and looks like it is healing but it is huge and Im nervous for her. Is there anything I should do for her or should I just keep an eye on her. Im going to separate the toms from the hens for a while and was thinking about getting the hens saddles. Any other tips?

We use "Blue Kote" for that too mostly breeding wounds from spurs thay have not been trimmed. I prefer the pump spray bottle. but be careful it will stain your cloths and hands until it is dry. gloves and barn cloths are helpful. isopropyl alcohol will get some of it off of you though

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/dr-naylorreg;-blu-kote-pump-sprayreg;-4-fl-oz



RobertH

 

[KrisH]

Quote: We usually only saddle our horses

RobertH

 

[racinchickins]

Yes definitely. Im sure a video will help all of us that decide to try it.

Has anyone had any luck with turkey hens wearing a saddle? I was gonna order a few tonight.

X2. Would love to see a video of how to do this.