6 week old Turkey poults not eating/drinking

[TacticalChickenDad]

Picked up 2 6 week old turkey poults yesterday. Put out 3 feeders and a waterer for them, but have not observed them eating or drinking and feed/water levels look the same. How can I get them to eat and drink? I know turkeys can be dumb, but as these are my first ones I'm not sure how to help them out at this age. They obviously know how to eat and drink but just haven't done it in their new setup.

 

[casportpony]

Can you weigh each one to get a baseline weight, then weigh them every few days to make sure they aren't losing weight?

 

[Molpet]

Shinny marbles in feeders and waterers.... they peck shiny things, like eyeballs.

Tap the feeder and waterers if they aren't afraid of you.

 

[FloorCandy]

Dip their beaks in the water, if they’re super thirsty, and you back away quietly they may stay and drink, once one figures it out any others will learn from them. My turkeys are much younger, but I had to dip their beaks after they hatched because they weren’t drinking. They stood right next to it, feel the water but still didn’t drink, once I dipped their beaks and was able to see that one stopped struggling and swallowed some water, I set it back next to the bowl and it drank, you gotta make sure they stop struggling and realize what it is, it’s hard to describe, but you can see the realization when they finally understand. They probably had a different style drinker and don’t understand what it is. For food, you can try adding some meal worms wiggling on top, I’ve seen that entice confused birds before, once they get one they will look for more, other chicks will see them and assume they’re eating and will start to taste it. Turkeys are much more sensitive and paranoid of new things than chickens and quail in my experience, they’re my first turkeys, but they have to examine and consider everything for a long time before they decide it’s ok, my meat chickens exuberantly examine the world with their mouths, and quail have a very quick acceptance period for new things.