Little Will was my first trial in hatching. He was so weak and frail but was so strong willed to live. That was how he earned his name, Will.
His story started with a typical small turkey hatch. His sister, the only other poult to hatch came out as a strong and healthy girl. She grew up to be Sweet Pea, my red bronze girl. Will, on the other hand had a very hard time hatching. He hatched with some much needed help but was in serious trouble. In his shell, His umbilical cord was wrapped around his leg and every attempt that he made to move, he pulled his little yolk sack out. The first this we had to do was cut his umbilical cord from his leg. Most times, that would be enough and the yolk sack would be reabsorbed. Not in Will's case though. While he was resting in the incubator, he tried to stand up and ended up stepping on it and breaking it open. It was lucky that I happened to stop in and check on him. Still being new to hatching, I wasn't entirely sure what to do but I did know that he was bleeding out, quickly. The only thing I could think to do was grab some thread and tie off the remainder of the yolk as tight as I could. Amazingly, it worked! The bleeding stopped. I had to trim off what remained of his yolk sack and sprayed it down with blue kote to keep it from getting infected.
His story started with a typical small turkey hatch. His sister, the only other poult to hatch came out as a strong and healthy girl. She grew up to be Sweet Pea, my red bronze girl. Will, on the other hand had a very hard time hatching. He hatched with some much needed help but was in serious trouble. In his shell, His umbilical cord was wrapped around his leg and every attempt that he made to move, he pulled his little yolk sack out. The first this we had to do was cut his umbilical cord from his leg. Most times, that would be enough and the yolk sack would be reabsorbed. Not in Will's case though. While he was resting in the incubator, he tried to stand up and ended up stepping on it and breaking it open. It was lucky that I happened to stop in and check on him. Still being new to hatching, I wasn't entirely sure what to do but I did know that he was bleeding out, quickly. The only thing I could think to do was grab some thread and tie off the remainder of the yolk as tight as I could. Amazingly, it worked! The bleeding stopped. I had to trim off what remained of his yolk sack and sprayed it down with blue kote to keep it from getting infected.
Now this opened up new problems for Will. Any chick that hatches under normal circumstances would live for 3 days, without food or water, surviving on the nourishment of the yolk. Unfortunately for Will, he lost most of that nourishment and would need to start eating and drinking immediately but he couldn't walk. since his leg was twisted in his umbilical cord, it must have kept him from building any strength in that leg somehow because he just could not use it. for the first week of his life, he basically lived in a jelly jar, where he would have to use his legs to lift himself up. I fed him with an eye dropper, a concoction of vitamin E, Selenium, and Vitamin water 2-3 times a day. He also got scrambled eggs and little bits of feed. Every day he was getting stronger and eventually was able to join the other poults in the brooder for longer and longer periods. He was a lot smaller than they were but as he got stronger, he was able to keep up with them. He did still have issues with his leg though and every now and then, would get knocked over and couldn't get up. I checked on him numerous times a day to make sure that he was on his feet. He did still have to learn to eat on his own instead of being fed. I was thrilling the first time I saw him do it.
Will made incredible leaps and bounds towards recovery. At almost two weeks old, he was finally eating and drinking on his own. He no longer needed his vitamin mix and most times was able to get back up on his feet all by himself if he got knocked over. He had bonded well to his brooder mates and could keep up with them with whatever they were doing. It was such a triumph to see him succeed so well and power through all the complications. I still checked on him numerous times a day and almost every time I was checking, he was perfectly fine. |
But then there came a very busy day. We weren't home much that day and I couldn't get in to check on him. By the time we were finally home and I could check on him, it was too late. Poor Will had gotten knocked off of his feet and was unable to get himself back up. That in itself wouldn't have been too bad for him except that he was on the far end of the brooder, away from the heat lamp. He was still alive but very weak when I found him. Barely breathing. I tried to get him warmed back up but it was too late. He passed away within 5 minutes of me finding him. It was such a heartbreaking loss. He had so much desire to live and had gained so much strength but it wasn't meant to be. Little Will will always be missed but his strong little heart won't be forgotten.