EXCITED! Just ordered!

[KatyTheChickenLady]

well, I kinda went against all the rules because I didn't know them. Figured I had pretty much signed their death warrents after I got on here and read up on Turkeys . . .
so I don't know if what I did is what you want to do. BUT all mine lived and are doing great (except for Ned who was invited to TDay). I just threw mine out with the chickens, they had flock raiser from the start and it's all they have had. they ate fine, drank fine and seem extremely hardy. I don't really like birds I have to coddle; quit feeding medicated feed and/or treating for cocci over a year ago & have lost far fewer birds to it ever since.

 

[NYRIR]

lol...yeah, I do things impulsively too.I really never thought too much about turkeys til this year...and BOOM! Ordered 18...now I'm thinking the same thing...death warrants.The posts on here can scare you..."Help! Turkey poults DYING!! I just figure I'll try my best and hope for the best.I really do tend to my chicks rather obsessively so if watching temps,food,humidity is the big thing I should do ok.The biggest worry for me is the blackhead thing...watch my property be the only one in the state with it

Any idea how to go about testing the soil?Who would I call?

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
The protozoan that causes blackhead isn't in the soil itself, it's only there if previous birds had it and it gets picked up by earthworms. Chickens can be carriers with no symptoms, and wild gamebirds can have it. They poop, the worms eat the poop, then more birds eat the worms.

I do 'coddle' my turkeys by feeding gamebird starter because the higher protein is more like their natural diet (they eat a lot of bugs in nature). I don't feed medicated feed to anything and have never had problems that would make me think that I need to. I start them in a brooder box under heat, as soon as they are feathered and outgrow the brooder box, they are moved to a pen outside. I don't have them on wire at any point in their lives.

After reading everything here I can come to the conclusion that I'm doing everything wrong, but it appears to work for me. I have a peachick that was hatched under a chicken hen, after hatch I put them in a small pen outside that I can move around and left them together, on the ground, with non medicated feed. Everything was done 'wrong', yet somehow my little peachick is alive and thriving.

Bottom line in my opinion, there is no right and wrong, it's whatever works for you. They can be started on regular chick feed, just keep in mind that although they will eat seeds and other things (they love grapes and apples), they are primarily bug eaters in nature and a higher protein diet is more in line with that. I love free ranging them if I'm not having a predator problem, they do a really good job of knocking back the grasshopper population and we have far fewer ticks around

 

[NYRIR]

Ok,so really you don't know until you try? Unless you separate them from the start? I plan on keeping them in until fully feathered which to my understanding is about 8 weeks?Then I will have a temporary play pen so the chickens can get used to them...after that I'd like to free-range and lock 'em up at night.Sound good to all you turkey people?

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

The last place they feather out is in the breast area. When you put them out keep a close eye on them and don't let them get wet. Cold/wet poults don't last long.

Steve

 

[arabianequine]

You can grind up what ever feed you are gonna use for a week or two....I used an old food processor. You can use a clean coffee grinder or mill. You can also wet the food with warm water to make a mash before or after grinding.

 

[megshenhut]

Have fun with your new poults. They are a blast. I think they are much more inquisitive than chicks, and oh yes, much noisier.

 

[Dogfish]

Quote:
This.

 

[NYRIR]

well if they are more inquisitive than chickens....OMG! mine are sooo nosy!
Ok,more questions...
How do you make a "mash"? I heard somewhere that the water should be luke warm? and one more question...would it benefit them protein wise to give them some scrambled eggs in addition to the gamebird starter??I usually have extra eggs

 

[arabianequine]

@NYRIR I grind up my feed with a food processor then add luke warm water to make the mash not much liquid though I keep mine pretty thick so its moist but crumbly for the little guys.

I don't see how the eggs could hurt.