Am I brave or stupid?

[boxermom]

I have 8 BR poults that are 6 weeks old. They were hatched by a chicken and she left them 2 days ago. They have been fine. All are healthy. I know they shouldn't be on the ground until they are 8 wks old. My question is, can I let them out of the brooder a couple of weeks early? The reason I want to do that, is I think they are too hot in there. Tonight they were peeping loudly. they weren't calling for food, water or "mom". They are in the barn with everyone else, but they are secluded and cannot go outside. We have been unbelievebly hot/humid lately. I have fans going in the barn, but the barn is brick and it isn't cooling off at night. I don't know which is worse. Trying not to let them get wet on rainy days, or keeping them hot. any suggestions? I don't have a seperate place to keep them, so my choice is letting them have run of the barn and free ranging with everyone else or keep them locked up. (It's cooler outside in the shade with the breezes.)

 

[HennyJenny]

Right or wrong - six weeks was about the time that I could no longer contain my BR. About two weeks after I set him out of the brooder he started sleeping outside on top of the run. He does seem to be bright enough to go inside the coop when it rains but seems to struggle with how to get back into the run when he gets out. He's about 14 or 15 weeks now and the yard boss. Predators aside - he really did pretty well with being "free" - other than one trip into the swimming pool when he was learning to fly. Hope this helps you decide.
Jenny

 

[terri9630]

Mine were outside in a 40x50 pen at 2 1/2 weeks when they out grew the brooder.

 

[pdpatch]

Normally I would say you should follow the 9 week rule, but for every rule you make there is exceptions. Heat can be as bad any desieses or virus they might get before their immune system is fully developed. So putting them out into cooler environment would be better, since they do need time to recover from hotter day time temps. The 9 weeks rule also helps eliminate many unknown factors when raising turkey poults.

But this year we put our BBB out at 4 weeks because of the heat, even though we have a large fan that blows a breeze on them in the brooder pens.

 

[thaiturkey]

After just two days they might still be missing 'mum' if she's out of their sight. If that's the case the calling should stop after another day or two.

Turkeys are curious and have a fixation with green coloured food so, if they can see out, they could be restless for that reason too. But you mention that the peeping is at night time so that might not be the issue.

If you can let them out where it's dry and safe from big feet why not try it for a couple of hours under your supervision?

Do you know the overnight temperature in the coop? If it's retaining heat that might be a good thing.

Are you feeding them the correct mix? They need more protein then chicks. On the information that you've given so far I guess that's possibly the problem. Try them with some lettuce leaf and see how they react but also make sure that the main feed has the correct balance.

Who is 'everyone else' in the barn, by the way? That might be significant. And what's on the floor where the poults walk? Do they have a low roost?

From my bitter experience, it's dangerous to let them get wet either from rain or from wet grass. They will chill within minutes.

Post whatever additional information you can.