Are turkeys fragile or did I just get a run of bad luck?

[Unclebean]

Turkey poults do seem to require a lot of attention. I got a shipment of 15 from Porter's on August 4 and by August 7 I was down to 3. The timing was bad. We had a wedding on our property on August 6 and a family reunion on on our property on August 7. With everything going on I failed to take time to make sure the poults were eating and drinking. I showed them food and water a few times but I didn't remind them enough. It made me sick to look in the brooder and see 2 or 3 dead at a shot. As of this morning I still have 3 and they are eating and drinking so

. I'm not sure what I will do next, DW is not entertaining the idea of ordering more so.....

 

[lilchick]

Turkeys are alot of extra work to get started... I keep mine in large cardboard shipping container and use 250 watt red heat lamp. Start them on newspaper and scatter feed around on several spots.

Place vitamin/electrolytes or even plain sugar in the water first couple days. Place marbles in rim of waterer to encourage them to drink. They are attracted to the shininess and will peck them.

I take a shallow lid or pie tin container and make up wet feed batch for them also. They seem to love the wet feed!

The red light seems to keep them calm, allow them to rest yet find the feed and water. Another reason for newspaper versus pine shavings is they would eat the shavings! dummies!

I have also used a large rubber horse trough for a brooder but find the bottom will sweat more and encourages bacteria grown.

 

[yinepu]

I dunno if i would call them more fragile or more work..
I ordered 15 from Porter's .. they shipped 17 (this was in mid July when a lot of people I knew were receiving dead chicks through the mail due to excessive heat).. all 17 arrived alive and well.. i have only lost 1 (failure to thrive poult).. the rest are doing great. I did put marbles down inside their feed.. didn't need to with their water.. originally I had them in a large rubbermade tote with brooder heat... they are currently in a "super large" rubbermade type tote system (I took several totes cut them up and sectioned them together with a hardware cloth top).. without additional heat.. but they do have a light so they can see to eat... when they start outgrowing that then I will move them outside
As for feed.. they are on a 28% gamebird starter for now
in all honesty .. the only thing I have really seen about them that are different from chicks is that yes.. you do need to make absolutely sure that everyone is eating and drinking (the marbles do wonders with that). and they take up a bit more room.. and need higher protein feed... other than that I haven't ever found any difference between my turkeys that I have hatched or had shipped and with baby chickens

 

[chicmom]

I just got my turkey poults this year, and the breeder told me to raise them with chicks, because he said they are just not too bright. He told me they sometimes will just not eat or drink, and just die, so the chicks help stimulate them and get them moving.

I don't think they're dumb or anything, but they are like chicks in slow motion. I was very worried about mine at first. I bought two at a swap meet, and they were day olds. They were super slow at first and I was afraid they would die, but I watched over them like a hawk, and they made it just fine.

I use a rubbermaid storage container too, with a light and pine shavings. I put paper towels down at first, and then I sprinkle food on the towels to get them interested in pecking, just like I would with chicks.

I do think they're more delicate than chicks at first.....Raising them with chicks seemed to really do the trick!

Hope this helps,
Sharon

 

[Afghantzi]

Chickenzoo had a great point about dropping a chick in with the poults to show them how to eat and drink..
All of my poults this year were raised with chickens.. Only a total of 8, but the only turkeys that I lost were the two to a dog attack.

All of my turkeys came from Cackle but I have heard nothing bad about mcmurrays who I just started ordering cornish x's from.

 

[Lurkeygirl2011]

You do really need to watch turkeys to make sure they are eating and drinking. I always dip their beaks into their water when I walk by the brooder for the first day or so. But, I think shipping is really hard on turkeys, much harder than on chicks (in my experience). If it is too cold they can get pneumonia from shipping. It is probably a good idea to start shipped birds on some sort of medicated feed for the first bit. I started incubating my own turkeys, so I didn't have to get stressed out birds that would just die, and have had pretty good luck.

 

[longranger]

With turkey poults if they arrive stressed you are fighting an uphill battle to save them. If they arrive in good shape they will thrive if given high protein food, clean water and a heat source. Don't mean to oversimplify but that has been my experience.

 

[Thomasturkey]

Quote:
My 27 Porter poults that died the first week, were eating and drinking. They would be fine one minute and dead the next. Is that what your finding happened?

 

[longranger]

Thomasturkey there has to be a logical explanation for why you lost so many poults. It could be one of many things including bad food, a virulent strain of cocci, poults getting chilled due to a draft, etc.. As a general rule poults that are eating, drinking and unstressed do very well. My first thought would have to be the feed but that is strictly a guess.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:
My 27 Porter poults that died the first week, were eating and drinking. They would be fine one minute and dead the next. Is that what your finding happened?

Yes. I found that they would be fine and then overnight, I'd lose 3 or so at a time. I showed them food and water every day, but they seemed to have come out of the mail a bit woozy and brainless. Water was for trying to drown in, not drink. I even kept them inside in a temperature controlled hatcher with food and water and would wake up to dead birds. I don't know what more I could've done with those.

If I had put the second batch in the barn and lost them, I could see it. But I kept them in a controlled environment, free from contact with other birds in a disinfected hatcher.