feeding chickens and turkeys

[roanymacaroni21]

I am babysitting some chickens and turkeys for a friend while they have a long weekend.
My background is lived on farms and had livestock for well over half my life so I kind of know what I am doing. Unfortunately these people know nothing about what they are doing. They relocated from city life to rural so wanted to raise their own chickens and turkeys so brought a mixed bunch of about 20 around June 1st. They did well with the cornish x's but lost 2 when they put off butchering. After the cornish x were gone ( except for 2 hens they want to get chicks from next year) they decided the commercial feed was too expensive so bought a barrel full of shelled corn.

They throw a little shelled corn in but basically the fowl are fed windfall apples and maybe a quart of garden trimmings and they are watered when ever they think about it which isn't too often.

So this weekend I go over, mud in the water dishes; the turkeys crowd me at the gate to get water and they have sharp breast bones with no meat at 3 months of age. I picked several of them up and they weigh what a bag of feathers weighs that would be the same size. They are expecting to have a huge feast of organic turkey at Thanksgiving; it might happen if they want to have a bird per person.

I am very PO'ed about the situation but any time I have explained to them what these birds need they know best so don't listen. I had to take over my own ( creative) watering things. All they had was the one quart chick waterer for all of those birds.

I hate to have animals/birds slowly starving to death. What would you do?

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

That is awful!Plain corn and apples is definitely not a healthy diet... though both have a place in a healthy diet. Unsanitary water and lack of water sounds even worse. Can you try to convince them to get a better watering system? Even just that would be a big help. It seems there is little you can do though.

You could try locating contacting an avian specialist/veterinarian in your area who might be able to convince them...

Animal control is a measure that is a last resort but if the animals are suffering/dying, than maybe you could contact someone to get the animals legally removed/rehomed.

However, I am not there (obviously). You see what is going on and are a better judge in the situation.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Go get the birds some turkey finisher and after the weekend have a real talk with your friends. It's unacceptable to raise birds under those conditions. There seems to be this attitude that birds should range and shouldn't be given much feed and honestly there isn't much you can do about that unless they are not provided some range but to not provide adequate water is abuse plain and simple. Having a serious talk with them being your friends will suck but it needs to be done. If they were neighbors and not friends I'd call animal control.

 

[roanymacaroni21]

I actually took over a bakers dozen of sweet corn ears ( not cooked) that I had bought for myself. That was gone in five minutes. The idiots ( sorry but that is what they are) had taken a small galvanized tool box that I had taken over for water and put it in the shed to put corn in and then never put corn in it so I grabbed it out and filled it with water.

I told them a long time ago to just let the turkeys free so they can forage bugs and whatever they want but they have them penned with the chickens in about 12x15 foot and it has not one piece of grass or anything.

They are too cheap to buy anything bigger than that quart chick waterer but they can buy smokes and MJ and they are way overweight so they aren't shorting food for themselves.

I actually am the girlfriend of the dad. He invited this daughter and her husband ( late 40's) to move in since they couldn't make it on their own. Worst thing he did in his life.

I will bring it up with the dad although I have a few other times. I am sure this time he will say no more birds for you if you can't take care of them.

The chickens look pretty decent but there is nothing to the turkeys; they are twice as tall as the 2 cornish X's and weigh half.

We are about 10 miles from the MN border so it gets really cold here and I told them quite a while ago that if they want to keep birds over the winter they have to have some kind of heat; they looked at me as if I were on drugs! My geese and turkeys had access to several warm barns if they wanted it. These guys will have nothing.

Wish I could take them but I live in town.

Thank you for your replies.

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

The whole ordeal makes me very sad... It sounds like legal action should take place if they don't do something to properly care for their animals... Animals should not have to live like that...

 

[Mountainwalker]

That is pure animal abuse, I would report them to animal control if nothing changes.