2 week old poult suddenly having difficulty walking and panting.

[SPAMcake]

The other poults are fine, and this one was too earlier today. Brooder temp is good, feed is 28% protein. This poult has been thriving until this evening. These are heritage bronze. Any help would be greatly appreciated as there just isn't very much out there on raising turkey poults.

 

[R2elk]

The other poults are fine, and this one was too earlier today. Brooder temp is good, feed is 28% protein. This poult has been thriving until this evening. These are heritage bronze. Any help would be greatly appreciated as there just isn't very much out there on raising turkey poults.

Saying the brooder temp is fine means nothing to me. What you consider fine may not be what I consider fine.

What is the bedding?

 

[SPAMcake]

Saying the brooder temp is fine means nothing to me. What you consider fine may not be what I consider fine.

What is the bedding?

I find thermometers to be unreliable, so I watch behavior. Poults are moving about the brooder freely, no huddling, no piling, not pushed to the side, and not directly under the lamp. That being said, my thermometer reads 99. The bedding is larger pine shavings, not fine.

 

[SPAMcake]

Saying the brooder temp is fine means nothing to me. What you consider fine may not be what I consider fine.

What is the bedding?

Just checked them again this am. Poult is no longer panting. It is preening and moving about, but with difficulty. Legs are too splayed. Feet partially turned outward.

 

[R2elk]

I find thermometers to be unreliable, so I watch behavior. Poults are moving about the brooder freely, no huddling, no piling, not pushed to the side, and not directly under the lamp. That being said, my thermometer reads 99. The bedding is larger pine shavings, not fine.

The temperature should be measured at the bedding level. If you measure the air temperature, the bedding will be hotter than the air temperature.

Brooder temperatures are not so critical that a thermometer that is off a degree or two is still okay to use. I measure the temperature at the bedding level and start my poults at 90°F. I also have a big enough brooder that there is also a cool zone. The food and water is kept in the cool zone. I would never keep poults in a brooder that the temperature is 99°F.

Poults like keets should not be kept on wood shavings until 2 weeks old. When they are on wood shavings, they need to have access to grit. They have been known to eat the wood chips. Without grit, they cannot digest the shavings and will develop blockage and most likely die.