Fluffy_Butt
Songster
I have 4 male palm turkeys, almost 2 years old who live in a pole building-turned-coop with our chickens and goats. The pole building is split into 3 sections with cattle panels and the turkeys (although free-ranged) mainly hang out in the middle area and with the goats. Earlier this week, I went out to the coop and found 3 wild turkeys in the left side of the coop. They weren't bothering anyone (chickens were all peacefully roosted) but were quick to sneak back in after I shooed them out.
Questions:
1. Are these even wild turkeys or were they more likely just dumped? These guys act just like my one skittish pet turkey and are clearly comfortable going through doors (pole building openings have been fitted with normal 36" wide doors) and being in buildings. I'm a softy so I let them back in and they roosted like they belonged there the last two nights. Although maybe they were just trying to stay out of the rain and will wander off with better weather?
2. Will a vet even see a wild (?) bird and is it worth it? One of the new guys has kind of messed up feet. I was originally thinking really bad bumble since they looked swollen, but last night I could see that at least his middle toe had been broken. It's at almost a 90 degree angle to the side and the joint area is huge, but immobile, like it's an old injury that fused/healed out of place. He walks normally but has trouble roosting properly (he roosted on a workbench instead of the rafters). The other foot is also swollen and I didn't see any scab (I got pretty good at recognizing bumble before we covered the gravel around the coop with sand) but I'm not sure what the problem could be. I think he also has scaly leg mites so I gave him a first dose of ivermectin.
3. What I'm most interested in is if my turkey bachelor flock will possibly integrate with these guys? Mine are going on 2 years old and the new guys' beards are maybe 2-4 inches longer. Although free-ranged, my lazy guys never wander more than a few meters from the coop so I doubt they'd completely go wild, but there isn't really a good way to keep the newcomers away either. Is there likely to be constant fighting or just more of the face-wrestling that I already see amongst my own? I know they're hormone-crazy at this time of year, but so far each group has spent more squabbling with themselves than each other.
Questions:
1. Are these even wild turkeys or were they more likely just dumped? These guys act just like my one skittish pet turkey and are clearly comfortable going through doors (pole building openings have been fitted with normal 36" wide doors) and being in buildings. I'm a softy so I let them back in and they roosted like they belonged there the last two nights. Although maybe they were just trying to stay out of the rain and will wander off with better weather?
2. Will a vet even see a wild (?) bird and is it worth it? One of the new guys has kind of messed up feet. I was originally thinking really bad bumble since they looked swollen, but last night I could see that at least his middle toe had been broken. It's at almost a 90 degree angle to the side and the joint area is huge, but immobile, like it's an old injury that fused/healed out of place. He walks normally but has trouble roosting properly (he roosted on a workbench instead of the rafters). The other foot is also swollen and I didn't see any scab (I got pretty good at recognizing bumble before we covered the gravel around the coop with sand) but I'm not sure what the problem could be. I think he also has scaly leg mites so I gave him a first dose of ivermectin.
3. What I'm most interested in is if my turkey bachelor flock will possibly integrate with these guys? Mine are going on 2 years old and the new guys' beards are maybe 2-4 inches longer. Although free-ranged, my lazy guys never wander more than a few meters from the coop so I doubt they'd completely go wild, but there isn't really a good way to keep the newcomers away either. Is there likely to be constant fighting or just more of the face-wrestling that I already see amongst my own? I know they're hormone-crazy at this time of year, but so far each group has spent more squabbling with themselves than each other.
I also realized I did not know exactly how Avian Influenza was spread. So I did a quick google search and came up with this aimed at small flock owners: 
