Ailing poult - new to turkeys

Higher protein for one. 18% is way too low for turkey poults. If your can't get a higher protein feed right away try offering mashed up boiled eggs.

Also, I give all my chicks an electrolyte probiotic mix in their water. Similar to the little packets you can get at the feed store but I have a full size container.

i think my chick is saving my turkey.

would it be possible for you to section off part of the brooder with 2 or 3 of your strongest chicks/poults and that turkey, so it doesn't get trampled and has a good example of movement/eating habits? i don't know if it will help you or not, but what i did yesterday was cooked oatmeal in quite a bit of water, and drained off the water (it was milky looking and not quite as thin as plain water) and mixed the water with vanilla yogurt. oldhenlikesdogs said it probably needed carbs, so i thought the vanilla yogurt has sugar in it and the oatmeal has longer lasting carbs. it was liquid enough to go in a kids medicine syringe, and i fed that to the turkey. overall it probably got around 4mL of the stuff. i went out probably every 30 minutes to feed it. and then i mixed water with the feed crumbles to make mash and left that in there. the other 2 babies i have jumped on the mash, which showed the poult how to eat it, and that little turkey went to town on the mash after maybe 3 hours of syringe feeding and me thinking it was a goner. that's why i was wondering if you can isolate the poult with a few other strong babies. because with all of them in there, that mash will be gone in a second and the poult won't learn anything or get anything.

i'm really sorry you had to cull the one. i hope this doesn't go any farther than those two, and i hope you can get the second one healthy!

SunHwaKwon said:

Higher protein for one. 18% is way too low for turkey poults. If your can't get a higher protein feed right away try offering mashed up boiled eggs.

Also, I give all my chicks an electrolyte probiotic mix in their water. Similar to the little packets you can get at the feed store but I have a full size container.

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I've done that - they got electrolytes for the first few days after I brought them home. Also gave them the eggs. Working with my freed store on them having what I need in stock - I figured 18% would be ok for their first week. They hatched 5/17. I do have meat bird 22% on hand for my older Cornish flock and did put some of that mixed in with the 18%.

But, I don't think any of that caused this poult to go from appearing healthy yesterday to being so weak and seeming like it's gasping for air today. I rubbed a little Vick's vaporub under it's chin to help it's breathing - this technique has worked very well with my chickens when there is respiratory distress, so hoping it helps the poult as well.

I did just use a dropper to get some very finely ground oatmeal, 22% food and electrolytes into it. I hate force feeding because I always worry about causing more problems, but in this case felt it was more important to get liquids and energy into it.

i agree. i really dislike intervening for the most part, because nature is a good mother. but with chicks, we sort of intervened by taking away their mom and moving their environment, so i tend to be a little more gracious about stepping in. that was the first time i've ever syringe fed a bird, but its my only definite alive bourbon red (i've got eggs in the incubator) and i dont like having only 2 baby birds together at a time (we had more, we've had some ridiculous problems this past week). i think you are right about it being more important to get quick energy in, hoping that it gives the turkey what it needs to kick start it to take care of itself! it sounds like you are doing what you can, and i am hoping it pays off for you, quickly!

Well, that one didn't make it and a few days ago, I lose another one. Cross your fingers the remaining 6 stay healthy!

oh i am so sorry!! i hope your other 6 thrive! my one little turkey is getting better every day. there is definitely something sort of amiss, because it holds its wing feathers oddly too, but i'm hoping it also outgrows that. finger and toes are crossed for your turkeys!

thebulg said:

oh i am so sorry!! i hope your other 6 thrive! my one little turkey is getting better every day. there is definitely something sort of amiss, because it holds its wing feathers oddly too, but i'm hoping it also outgrows that. finger and toes are crossed for your turkeys!

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One of my turkeys is like that too (wings held funny) but I read it's just because the feathers are growing faster than what the wing strength can hold up. That seems like a good explanation because one of my keets just sprouted flight feathers and now she looks the same way. My other poult is lopsided, with one wing developing faster than the other lol.

They are sad looking as their wings are getting used to the extra weight of the feathers, they do get used to them after about a week.

well this little lady or sir is going on 2 weeks old! so hopefully it picks its little wings up! i'm telling myself it's a boy and he's practicing dragging them around

Mine turned two weeks on Saturday. The one that is bigger and filling out faster is starting to hold them in better. They are both practicing flying. Can you post a pic of yours? If like to compare how far along the feathering is, as my two are very different despite hatching the same day!