Any advice??

[kjxoxo1]

Okay sooooo I just got 20 baby turkeys......bad news for me is that I have not done my homework PRIOR to getting them....good news is that Im reading up on it now. Any advice for me? I have them temporarily in a plastic bin with the base covered with paper towels and I have water of course and game bird feed....I noticed they got cold so I put in a light and they immediately kinda went back happy dispersing. I have raised chickens before but not turkey....oh and I just gave them a few bites of watermelon for the sugar--hope this was okay. I will accept all advice........of course I want to get them out of the house asap!!!!! are raising these the same as chickens??

Thanks in advance!

 

[mnferalkitty]

Don't give them treats yet they are too little, put electrolytes in the water, turkey poults are notorious for not being able to find food and water and can sometimes starve make sure you dip thier beak in the water and don't keep moving it around leave it in one spot. sprinkle some of the food all over the paper towel so they see food. They are also good at deowning themselves so make sure water dish is shallow and maybe place rocks in it even if it is a chicken waterer put the rocks in the dish part

 

[kjxoxo1]

oh wow!! Thanks so much!!! They tore up the watermelon so I gave them a little more before reading this!!!! We had to dip one in the water because he was the only one not going after the watermelon and after we gave him water he seemed to come around. I have food all over the place, I am wondering if I need to grind it up. they are now hovering together and I have them inside and we are burning up inside with a lamp directly on them!!! OMG!!! Arent they hot!!! They are so sweet....I actually may find this way more difficult when it comes to butchering....or maybe I will just keep them all. Two different ones tried to sleep in our hands when we cradled them...so sweet!!! I put a quail waterer inside the brooder just to make sure they wouldnt drown...I wasnt sure.
Thanks so much for the advice!!!

 

[TheJadeChicken]

You can use a regular chick waterer and put those glass marbles/pebbles. The shiny glimmering look is supposed to make them peck at it and get a mouth full of water. If your worried about the temperature of the light, you can always put a thermometer under it.

 

[frank53061]

Great to hear you got your Poults and it is a learning experience.

Are you feeding them game bird starter they need the higher protein that it supplies and if so it should be small enough for them to eat it.

I used a thermostat connected to a heat lamp to regulate the heat and I kept it at 95 degrees for 2 weeks before dropping it 5 degrees every week less concerns with temp problems.

Having 20 is good reference body heat they can bunch up or disperse depending on what they need.
I kept ours in a bath tub for 3 weeks before moving them to a outside brooder no drafts same setup with the heat till almost fully feathered.
it was around 6 to 8 weeks before I let them out on the ground and put them back in the brooder each night and not during any rain.

This was early in the spring and had some very cool nights.

What breed are your Turkeys I have Red Bourbons.

 

[kjxoxo1]

yes i have them on game bird started and today i used a blender to make it smaller because i was worried they couldnt eat it. the are white turkeys. i got them from ideal poultry. I had to revive two, i must have just got there in time as they were all huddled. i then separated them into 6s so they wouldnt pile up and they did gret thu the night. of ourse i was up all nigh but they did great. im getting attached!!! thats not good!!! but they are so sweet they fall asleep in your hands....chickens didnt do me that way. thnks so much for the advice

 

[zekii]

We start our poults on 28% protein nonmedicated turkey starter. Right out of the incubator we sprinkle the food on a paper towel floor in the brooder, we put marbles in their water. We also place some of the food on aluminum foil. Turkey poults have poor eyesight for the 1st 2 weeks of life, so you really need to intice them to eat & drink. We dip their beaks in the water & food 4 or more times daily for the 1st 3 or 4 days or until they are all drinking & eating. We also supplement their protein with a slurry of turkey crumble, egg yolk, plain yogurt, vitamin drops,warm water. Get them to eat this and your poults will take off to a good start. We also put apple cider vinegar, vitamin drops & maple syrup in their drinking water for the 1st week, again an added boost to their immune system.

 

[kjxoxo1]

zeki,
They are always huddled...even outside today and it is 95 degrees they were huddled...is this common?

 

[Frosty]

White turkeys from Ideal... do you know what kind of white turkeys they are? If they are Broad Breasted whites, they are the turkey version of cornish cross chickens. They aren't meant to live long. That being said, I feed mine to keep the growth slower. As babies they still get the gamebird starter, but as they get older I don't let them stay parked by a food dish.

I don't think the watermelon will hurt them, it's mostly water. Just avoid treats like mealworms untill they are a little older and have been eating grit.

By huddled, do you mean piling on top of each other or just laying together? I don't use a thermometer. If they are all staying right under the light, their too cold. Usually they are pretty noisy, too. If they are hanging around the outside edges of the light, they're too hot. I think when they are awake is a better guage than when they are sleeping. I pretty much raise them like I do chickens, but I started raising them long before BYC existed and they still managed to survive.

 

[chicken pickin]

zeki,
They are always huddled...even outside today and it is 95 degrees they were huddled...is this common?

Just a tip most people dont let their turkeys touch outside ground until atleast 8 weeks old. Mine didnt touch soil until a few days ago at 8 weeks old. Reason is they take longer to build up their immune system and they could pick up diseases from outside.