1.5 week old poult dropped dead?!

[Scottingitup]

I have..err had 12 poults in my brooder and 5 RIR. Feeding dumor 24% starter feed, and the first few days I gave them save a chic as well. Everything has been going great - I had one scare where a hole in my hardware cloth over the water porch caused issues -they all fell in and got wet- but I dried them by towels and hair dryer and all has been well. That happened around day 2 or 3.

Last evening I found one of them lying in the brooder dead. What gives? Everyone else is healthy and running around as far as I can tell. The bedding is due for a switch this evening but I scrubbed and replaced all feeders and waters last night and put save a chic in again.

The only difference is they are on a screen porch, I have been turning the brooder lamp off during the day and running a ceiling fan on low - it has been very hot 100+ for almost a week now during the day. The fan is not directly over the brooder either, maybe a few inches over 1 side.


So any ideas on what happened? I want to make sure I do not lose anymore.

 

[Lagerdogger]

I am definitely not a disease person, but I occassionally lose a turkey or two suddenly after a few days. Some turkeys fail to thrive and die, others look great one day and are dead the next. As long as its just one or two, I don't change anything. I think sometimes they just don't quite work right.

Some people will likely suggest undiagnosed respiratory problems, and that may be true. But as long as it isn't something that spreads through the flock, I don't worry about it. I wouldn't want to be treating 40 birds with antibiotics unnecessarily, and so far it has proven to be unnecessary.

 

[bigdawg]

i am treating a 6 week old for crd. he looked bad and i picked him up and clear mucus came flooding out his mouth. two shots of tylan 50 and he looks much better. if you have trukeys you beeter have a bottle of tylan ready at all times. at the first signs of sickness shoot them up.

 

[Lagerdogger]

...or let those birds predisposed to illness cull themselves from your flock. I am not criticizing those who go to great ends to save every bird, but my philosophy is to have a healthy flock of birds that don't need a lot of extra assistance. I tried hard to keep a hen going last summer. She lived through her initial illness with help from other on this site, but was never right afterwards and was so scrawny when I butchered that I just discarded her. Then hen and I both would have been better off if I culled her right away, as others on this site recommended. And I realize that the wrong disease could take a lot of birds. I'm just saying don't panic too early. I kind of agree with Joel Salatin that the more you rely on drugs and other aids, the more you will continue to need them.

OK Kuntrygirl...let me have it

 

[ColbyNTX]

If it were me, I would feed something in the 28% protien range. The 24% didn't kill the poult but they do a bit better on the 28% feed.