Dumb chicks....again!

[R2elk]

I wish I could've snuck those turkeys under a broody, but the timing wasn't right and @ $14.99 each how willing would you be to turn them loose into the wild? After the last3 chicks that failed to learn to eat...I wouldn't have chanced it even if I had the opportunity. Seriously. $14.99 for a chick?

Turkeys are not chickens. Do not try to sneak poults under a turkey. If you want a turkey hen to adopt poults, place the hen in a pen with the poults. Watch carefully. If the hen is going to adopt the poults, she will call and plead to them. She will gather them all together in a corner away from you. If the hen starts pecking at them, get her out of there immediately. She won't adopt them. Not all turkey hens are good mothers. Some of them will even kill their own poults.

$14.99 is cheap for day old poults. Some places are charging $19.99 plus shipping for day old poults. Fancy varieties may be even higher priced.

 

[FloorCandy]

I read this and had to sit on it a while to digest what you're trying to tell me.
It's possible that you're showing off with all of the specific equipment you mention.
I'm not that Fancy. I still have to hand turn eggs in an old round galvanized metal incubator. I tried a new plastic one and it didn't turn the eggs...just slid them around.
My last hatch was out of 99 eggs, 10 were infertile and 84 Bob White hatched. So, I know a little about birds. And, their Instincts! Don't make me laugh. Most have been bred out so they could tolerate Humans!
Of those 84 quail I hatched I lost 10 on the 4th day. They didn't learn to eat. The other 74 did, so Instinct or did I teach 74 quail and failed 10? You're the Expert, you tell me.
I will agree with you on these turkeys...They like me. My chicks like me, too! They run out of feed or the water gets clogged with shavings they call and, I can tell the difference in their peeps..and I go tend to them. One gets accustomed to happy chatter and the OTHER sounds that require attention. Not my 1st Rodeo, nor my 1st species, but I can always learn more!
So, although I found your post patronizing at best, I did find some value in it and appreciate you sharing your experience with me. I'll do my best not to let the turkeys Imprint on me because FFS who needs turkeys as Stalkers?!? The Lavender Orpington is Way more stalker than I need! ) I swear she's sweet, but she always sees something on my leg!
And, I hope you don't find this offensive. It's not the spirit that I mean to convey. I AM constantly learning even at my age.
But, I don't feel that I'm incorrect in saying hatchery birds have little to no instinct left in them. My free range chicks brought up by a Broody have them, but their Mom was a Broody hen which most breeds are not. I wish I could've snuck those turckys under a broody, but the timing wasn't right and @ $14.99 each how willing would you be to turn them loose into the wild? After the last3 chicks that failed to learn to eat...I wouldn't have chanced it even if I had the opportunity. Seriously. $14.99 for a chick? You know I'm not raising them for the meat!

It’s funny how everything is subjective, you said $14.99 and I thought man that’s cheap, I hope to get $25 for mine. Turkeys are more expensive because they’re harder to raise and much more sensitive. If the store has an acceptable amount of loss, such as chicken chicks arrive dead or sickly, it’s probably 4-5x that amount with turkeys. Stores probably buy chicken chicks in bulk and pay cents for them, and there’s a decent amount of loss in shipping, but selling for a couple dollars makes up for the loss. Having raised turkeys from hatch in an incubator, I’ll say that if stores receive day old poults, I wouldn’t be surprised if half that were shipped arrive dead. I had a chick that was several days old, wander out of the heat while I cleaned the brooder, and in 4 seconds, no exaggeration, she keeled over and nearly died. I grabbed her up and rubbed her under the heat until she was moving again, but I’m serious, I’ve raised a lot of birds and 4 seconds from fine and running around to barely breathing and comatose is really fast for a bird with several days under its belt. Once they’re off heat tho, they’re among the strongest bird youngsters I’ve had. If someone raises a turkey til they’re off heat, they should get a fortune for it lol.