Turkey chic mortality rate

[jamesrm]

Ok, so the first time I raised turkeys I lost a lot of babies early on. I contributed this to it being my first time, and having them at first in a near capacity brooder. This time, I only had 16 in a GQF tiered system so they had one brooder all to their own. 4 days into it I have lost 5. 2 just got sick and died, the others were found flat. They have good heat and are comfortable, active, eating game bird starter and doing well until one randomly dies. First batch was from McMurray this one is from Meyer. I am 35/35 on chickens, 19/20 on duckings and 9/10 on goslings all arrived at the same time. Is this something I am doing wrong, or just turkey specific? They are broad breasted bronze.

James

 

[onthespot]

I don't know james. I have just started hatching my own bourbon reds this month, and none have died, or even looked off. I have them in a cardboard box brooder with other chicks. I remove chicks that are big enough to trample the youngsters that i add, and I put paper towel down on the floor and I spread a thin layer all over the bottom of the brooder with Start n Grow that i have ground up finer in a blender. I change their water every day, maybe twice a day. I dip beaks if anyone looks sleepy the first day or so. I only have a few, so I don't lose track that much. Hope you get your problem solved. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[sandspoultry]

Here is a link to an article we wrote for Mother Earth news that may be of some help.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/The-Happy-Homesteader/Raising-Turkey-Poults.aspx

Sharon

 

[jamesrm]

Thanks for the article

 

[sandspoultry]

If you have any other questions we will be happy to help.

Sharon

 

[ldaziens]

UGH! I just started with poultry this Spring, with Murray McMurray. The week of March 15th, I excitedly opened my box of 28 layer chicks to find... 20 dead, 4 near death, and 4 okay. Only the 4 okay ones lived. The next day my 16 ducklings arrived with 1 that was not doing well out of the box -- despite lots of TLC, it died the first night. Then, a week later, another one suddenly got sick and died. 2 weeks ago, I got 10 goslings, and they are all doing well -- knock on wood. However, last Thursday I received 15 White Midget Turkey Poults, and what a freaking mess. 11 of them have navel issues -- Umphalitis -- which causes mortality starting after 24 hours until 10 - 14 days. 1 of them died today despite lots of TLC and hand feeding. So, not sure what you got from Murray McMurray, but check their navels. It's sooo frustrating and upsetting. I have the poults on medicated starter and Sul-Met, which is NOT how I wanted to raise them. I am DONE with Murray McMurray. I have large heritage Turkey's coming from Porters in July, and I have high hopes for them. I think Porters, Sand Hill, and Holderreads are the way to go -- well natural breeding is the way to go, but you have to start somewhere.

 

[longranger]

Turkeys are a little tricky at first but a few simple rules usually gets most of them through the first vulnerable weeks. The article written by Sharon and Steve is superb but a dumbed down version might be useful too.

I use turkeys for dummies--not a book. Just anecdotal experience. First off if you get a stressed batch of poults with weak immune systems often nothing helps. If you can, hatch your own or BUY LOCAL, even if it is more expensive. Porter and a couple of others are exceptions shipping superior robust poults but even they cannot control the weather, USPS etc...

Be ready for TLC immediately when they reach your home. Have all supplies including a quality turkey or gamebird starter feed with 28 to 30% protein ready. Have the brooder warm to about 95 degrees. Be ready to fill the waterer with warm water containg 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of apple cider vineger per quart. As soon as you put them in the brooder carefully dip their beaks in the water once or twice making sure not to cause aspiration. Line the bottom of the brooder with paper towels. Spread a little feed on the surface for them to peck at. Consider putting one or two newly hatched chicks or better yet several day old poults with the new poults for a couple of days. They will get the hang of eating and drinking by observation in no time. I don't use medicated feed but it is probably a good idea.

Last and most important rule keep your poults warm and dry. Even a brief wet chill can cause a strong poult to spiral down hill sometimes. All in all it is not as hard as it sounds in most descriptions. If you get a healthy strong group of poults following these few simple principles will minimize mortality.

 

[Blisschick]

I ordered 15 from Sand Hill and am expecting them on May 18th. I've never had poults shipped before, so I'm kind of worried about how they'll do. Poults are so much more fragile than chicks...I worry that they won't be warm enough, even though they told me they may ship some chicks with them.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Shipping is a big stress on poults, Longranger has the routine down. One other big thing is don't over crowd the poults. That's how some get pushed away from the feed and water and will starve out. I'm a big fan of raising them with chicks for a week or so to help them learn to eat and drink

One thing to look for to see if your poults are eating and drinking is look at their feet and legs. A poult that isn't eating or drinking will show shrunken almost dehydrated looking toes and legs. Look for the ones that always are on the outside and not growing as fast as the others.

Steve in NC

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
I got mine from Sand Hill last year. Being so far from Iowa I had to pay for express shipping and I'm glad I did. Had one dead in the box and the other nine are outside in my tractors right now. Tomorrow night the poults from their egg should start to hatch.

.....Alan.