As ours are barely 6 weeks, we have kept them indoors in an upstairs porch, so that they have adequate ventilation, space and stimulus (in the form of jangly CD's, golf balls, towers to stand on and boxes to hide in).
We left a responsible (or so we thought) person to house-sit while we went away, and thoroughly briefed him on how to care for them. Unfortunately, while we were away one died.
Apparently it looked miserable for a few days and then died one night. A few others were miserable looking too, but were put in a box with a hot water bottle and perked up a few days later. Not sure if cold was the cause though - after all, it is summer and they were indoors! (although it was chilly and wet we are told).We came back to find that there was a bully - the largest, who had been pecking the beaks of the other three. Two of them have just little scabs and look to be healing. We therefore separated the bully and put him in isolation, while we build a pen outdoors (a little early but they are well feathered and it is mild).
The third's mid-beak has been badly pecked (below the nostrils but not the tip)- as in it looks like a chunk of it has been removed. However, in itself it is fine - eating, drinking and movnig about OK. It scabbed over (once it was not being pecked by the bully) and was OK until this morning, when we noticed it was bleeding again and had been pecked again (by one of the other two).
Poor little turk, I hate to see it - I don't know how sensitive beaks are but it looks very sore and I am concerned about it getting infected (will stop on way home and buy spray from vet). Again though, it looks to be eating, preening and drinking fine and OK in itself.
What a drama! So we now have a turkey in the spare room (in a large wire pen on top of a tarpaulin and newspaper) and the one with the sore beak in the porch, and the other two in a makeshift run in the garden inside the pig ark!
I am hoping that once we create a run outside (this evening!) the added stimulus will distract them so that they do not try and eat eachother - otherwise I am at a total loss of what do to. I feel incredibly cruel keeping them in isolation (as they are flock birds) but even crueler leaving the little one to get injured by the others and the bully to injure the remaining two healthy ones.
I don't blame the housesitter - it was our fault for going away just having acquired five turkey chicks - which we didn't plan but the chicks were given to us at the last minute - we should have said no.
Has anyone had any experience of tukey cannibalism? Or re-integrating a bully into the flock? Or turkey beak injuries!?! I don't know how we can keep two in isolation forever. Does make you think about how intensive farms manage it - oh yeah, by trimming beaks with a red hot blade and keeping them in darkness so that they can't see eachother enough to peck!
Althoguh I am not going to feel much better about eating ours if we carry on at this rate!
