Baby turkeys got them, never have had them before, help.

[PurpleChicken]

We raised 20 Whites last fall. We still have 2 in the freezer. The smallest
was 7 pounds, processed at around 14 weeks. The largest was 17
pounds, a hen processed at 20 weeks.

 

[briana1975]

One is finally going to the water on own the other is not. I keep dipping beeks in to show them where water is. Should I be worried that they are not drinking a lot yet. TSC got them in on Tuesday so they have been there for 2 days.

 

[deerman]

Raise them on wire for first 10 weeks, Also double check to make sure your feed is medicated. Not all of TSC starter feed is. Agree BB White most of TSC chicks come from Mt Healthy And they only hatch BB whites and BB bronze.

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Keep an eye on the one, hopefully it will start to follow the other to the water. Some people put colored marbles in the water tray to get their interest.

Steve in NC

 

[briana1975]

They are both eating and drinking well. I did put some purple stones in the water and they seem to like it. They are roaming all around the brooder and resting or sleeping near the light. Temp is staying between 90 and 95 degrees. After a week should I add high protien treats like scrambled eggs and meal worms sense they are only on the 20% protien starter?

 

[reveriereptile]

Don't let them over eat. I had some of the white meat ones. They were my first turkeys so I spoiled them and let them eat. They wouldn't get out of the food. Finally when they were big enough to move outside they had just started getting leg problems. We had to put two down earlier cause one had such a bad bow at the joint and would still try to run to the food I was afraid it was going to break. The leg was at almost a 90 degree angle. Had a hen that was heavy and twisted and broke her leg trying to get away from the chickens. Then the last male and female we had the male tried breeding and kept hurting the hen when he got on her cause of his weight. As long as they don't over eat you won't have any problems. One of the hens we ate almost didn't fit in the oven on the bottom shelf with the other rack removed. Legs came only an inch from the top of the oven.

Here's a picture of one of them I had. It is a tom and was to heavy it couldn't lay the wings flat against it.

 

[briana1975]

Thanks. I haven't read anything about the over eating. I keep searching "raising turkeys". I will keep an eye on that.

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
That's good they are eating and drinking! sounds like your brooder temps are fine, I couldn't even tell you what our brooder temps run, we just adjust the height by watching the birds. if cold they will be under the light and if on the outer edges of the brooder they are to hot. We don't feed ours anything "extra" until they are ready to go outside. Some do

Steve in NC

 

[deerman]

Quote:
I would look for a 24% medicated starter. the 20% would be fine after the first 6 weeks, I keep mine on 24% medicated starter untill 10 weeks. Try gamebird if you cant find turkey starter that high.

I also feed hard boil egg yolk, over the feed the first day to get them eating, but no longer.

 

[briana1975]

I called our MSU extension office today to ask about blackhead disease in our area. She said it is not a problem in our area. She did warn me about making sure the turkeys are always in their coop when it rains. She said she has heard of turkeys drowning due to looking up at the rain. Has anyone ever heard of this happening?