Back Into Chickens with Turkey on the Side

We tried to be chicken owners several years ago but since our house backs up to deep woods, despite two types of wire on their housing, various predators managed to eat them. We have a small hay farm in Upstate SC, Hampton Road Farms. After many varied and sundry life changes, my husband, a Gemini, decided he wanted Royal Palm turkeys and when we went to purchase them from a guy reducing his vast poultry stock, we came home with four RP's and 14 Heritage Rhode Island Red babies.

Unfortunately, our turkeys seemed to come home with a bug or something and we lost one after only two weeks before we were able to get meds and boosting vitamins started. Another of the four was puny but after some remedial efforts, he/she is seeming to rebound a bit (fingers crossed). As to the RIR's, (knock on wood) they seem voraciously hungry all the time, are growing quite rapidly and seem happy and healthy. I came here to learn more about keeping all kinds of birds successfully. We are fortunate not to have any zoning restrictions on livestock and room for them. My personal favorite chickens are the Orpingtons so maybe if we can successfully raise our small flock to adulthood and breeding and laying age without further illness or setbacks, I can add Orps to our small flock.

Joraines

 

Thank you all for the warm welcome's. If anyone can offer advice to me on how to keep my puny RP turkey alive, I am all ears. We lost the one and I have been adding an antibiotic, vitamins and electrolytes, have tried force feeding it yogurt with starter mash and egg yolks,, have tried adding red pepper powder and everything I can think of. Instead of having a pink/red head and legs, it is very pale, lethargic, hardly eating on its own if at all (I have seen it weakly pecking at the ground and half-heartedly eating a stalk of grass. I have been keeping it in a dog crate at night in our garage during the freezing temps next to the heat lamp over our baby chicks' cage. r I don't know exactly what is wrong with it. The other two seem to be healthy, normal poops, eating, etc. I am also going to post this on the a turkey thread if I can find that! I appreciate it again.

Joraines