I never use medicated feed.. have had the chicks and poults together since day 1 and haven't lost any..For those of you losing poults, are you feeding medicated feed? I know they are very sensitive to digestive trouble and medicated starter is recommended by some. Also my hatchery friend says she can't brood her poults and chicks together without the poults dieing for no apparent reason. I have never had a problem with it but there it is. Maybe after the first couple of training days it would be better to separate the chicks from the turkeys? May depend on the organisms you have in your environment. I also don't feed the medicated starter but I do give them clumps of dirt and grass and it seems to help them get the beneficial organisms they need. Haven't lost any yet.
I have one batch together that range in ages from 3.5 weeks to 4 weeks
another batch that hatched out last week
the main reason the poults get sick and die is from chilling
edited to add.. i suppose I should clarify that
most poults which die in shell die from either low oxygen levels (carbon dioxide poisoning), high humidity during incubation, low humidity during hatch or temp swings during incubation
poults which die within 5 days after hatch usually die from not getting enough to eat or drink.. they start acting weak then keel over within a day or so... if you see a weak acting poult make sure you get something like save a chick in them ASAP and force feed if necessary.. sometimes they are too far gone and even force feeding won't bring them back
older poults usually die from getting chilled.. they can easily develop a respiratory infection (if you see an older poult hunched over it's more than likely respiratory) .. sometimes their body temp drops too suddenly when they get chilled that they just keel over and die and you have no idea why since they looked fine a few hours before.. they aren't like chickens where they can just be put outside when they are feathered out (unless they have their mom to snuggle up to).. so they need more time in a brooder type situation where they are gradually acclimated to the great outdoors...
another tip for healthy poults is to always make sure that very young birds get WARM water to drink... I make sure all of mine under 3 weeks of age always have lukewarm water when I change out their water since cold water can chill them too much
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