chicks and poults

[korn19bread]

i have 2 chicks bresse/orphington cross that we hatched about 2 weeks ago. now we seen turkey poults at rural king were on sale yesterday. we bought 4 and put in same brooder as the chicks. should i feed them chick starter, or the showbird crumbles? or will the higher protein harm the chicks?

i also have a blue slate hen laying on a clutch of eggs, but also has 2 silkies who are with her (sharing responsability i assume). i just candeled the eggs and they were dark inside and looked like maybe hatching soon. should i take the silkies out and lock the hen in with some food and water? or leave the silkies in with her?

thanks for the advice and apologize for the lengthy book i wrote

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You are suppose to feed a higher protein to Turkey poults. I personally have raised many batches on chick starter and haven't really noticed a difference and will continue to do so for the convenience. You are suppose to switch feeds after the first few weeks to a lower protein anyways. I don't think you will have a problem either way, as many feed a higher protein to their chicks.

I personally keep my turkeys and chickens separately because I've had problems in the past with turkeys killing and harassing chickens. So I wouldn't let the silkies set with the turkey hen, but it's not my flock and I can't see the dynamics, so I would say follow your gut on that one.