First Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon- Join us! Set Day: Easter

[Arielle]

I lost another poult today. There have been escapees from the brooder and I've awakened to hear soft, interested hooting from other rooms in the house. Nobody bothered any of 'em. As a result, I developed a false sense of security.

Somebody in the house, either Zorro or Lizbeth, "played" with an escapee poult while I was outside. (Dooley walks the other way from chickens, ducks and geese, tail tucked up safely between his short legs.) The poult had a torn abdomen with exposed intestines and other icky things...but still alive when I found it right next to the brooder bin. A really horrific injury. Zorro looked the most guilty.

I steeled myself and made the poult as comfortable as I could, then quickly cut off its head with kitchen sheers.

At least I know I can do it if I need to cull a chick someday.

Down to two poults, one I hatched and one from the feed store. The second feed store poult is the one that's gone.

Sorry for the loss, a difficult situation to deal with.

I have a total of 5 BR turkeys hatch over the weekend. One is having problems with throwing his head back over his back. Poly vi sol was $12--giving that a try and keep it isolated to prevent injury and chilling..

 

[yinepu]

You are right that hatch rates can vary for so many different reasons. I was thinking more in the vain of a commercial operation and the expectations under perfect operating conditions. Cinco de Mayo netted: 0/6 shipped and 0/2 my own; by yesterday I had 5/6 of my own hatch.

My girls are segregated and only with the old tom now and no other toms to bother them. I so think less fighting and agitation is better for fertility IMHO,

under perfect conditions?.. 90 to 100%

Very sweet!

X2

 

[debs_flock]

Cuter than cute!!!!!

Thanks dsqard, I forgot about doing that last time the site was broken.

Deb

 

[karimw]

I lost another poult today. There have been escapees from the brooder and I've awakened to hear soft, interested hooting from other rooms in the house. Nobody bothered any of 'em. As a result, I developed a false sense of security.
Somebody in the house, either Zorro or Lizbeth, "played" with an escapee poult while I was outside. (Dooley walks the other way from chickens, ducks and geese, tail tucked up safely between his short legs.) The poult had a torn abdomen with exposed intestines and other icky things...but still alive when I found it right next to the brooder bin. A really horrific injury. Zorro looked the most guilty.
I steeled myself and made the poult as comfortable as I could, then quickly cut off its head with kitchen sheers.
At least I know I can do it if I need to cull a chick someday.
Down to two poults, one I hatched and one from the feed store. The second feed store poult is the one that's gone.

That's too bad

So far that hasn't happened to me, but I know my girl kitty is a good hunter. I keep having sporadic hatches from the broodies in the coop and occasionally I'll find a chick wandering around in the midst of the flock. Yesterday it was a poult that one of my barn cats was keeping an eye on. Most of the cats that accompany me on my rounds know better than to mess with the chicks and Muddy is especially good to them. Apparently he was just following it around until I came to get it.

I know better than to trust any of them though, I'm sure I've lost some stragglers to the (former) Mama cats and wandering Toms.

The only truly successful clutches I've had in the flock were shared by two broodies. Last year I had a Cochin and an Iowa Blue team up and raise all 7 of theirs to adulthood. Must be better able to keep track of them that way.

 

[dsqard]

I have a total of 5 BR turkeys hatch over the weekend. One is having problems with throwing his head back over his back. Poly vi sol was $12--giving that a try and keep it isolated to prevent injury and chilling..

I hope you have better luck with yours than I did with mine. Poor thing. I tried the vitamins, baby parrot food, massaging the neck and even made a "cervical collar" out of foam rubber to try to train the neck muscles to stay straight. Nothing seemed to help. It got to the point where the poult just kept flipping over on it's back. I know sometimes wry neck can be helped with vitamins so I am keeping

for you and the poult!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THanks. THought it might be similar to chickens.

Quote:
My dogs and cats are funny. In the house nothing is touched. A nose pokes over brooder boxes and cats stroll by the dogs.Cats ignore the brooder boxes. Outside the cats are harassed by the chickens and they hiss and spat holding their ground. If a cat meanders into the dog pen, it is chased out. No injuries so far.

If a chicken meanders in, it rarely escapes.

I've added chicken wire to help the hens stay on their side of the fence.

 

[Arielle]

I didn't know what else to try, so I made the investment in the Poly Vi sol. Thanks for the good vibes, it might work. It's worth a try.

 

[HEChicken]

Arielle, I know some people have had good success with straight Vitamin E. Just take a capsule, nip the tip off and squirt the contents directly into the bird's mouth. For some, just one application seemed to be all they needed. For others they had to do it twice a day for several days until the poult stopped flipping.

 

[Arielle]

Arielle, I know some people have had good success with straight Vitamin E. Just take a capsule, nip the tip off and squirt the contents directly into the bird's mouth. For some, just one application seemed to be all they needed. For others they had to do it twice a day for several days until the poult stopped flipping.

THanks. I looked at the content of the poly vi sol and was not impressed. Mostly B vitamins and little else. Will look in my vitamin stash and see what's hiding.

 

[Arielle]

Found a bottle of capsules. First dose is in.