Got my first turkeys!! Pics Added

[simplycreative]

i finally got my turkeys, i ordered 10 burbon reds and 10 slates along with 15 broiler crosses. they all arrived safely on the 3rd of june and are beded down in a 2 x 4 brooder. The chicks are doing amazing, growing by leaps and bounds. most of the turkey polts seem to be doing good. im having some problems with failure to thrive with the burbon reds though. The slates thankfully seem to be doing well but i have lost 2 burbon reds and if i am reading the little flock right, it looks like i have one more that will not make it. They have a heat lamp, there was 2 but alot of the chicks and polts stayed down at the other end so i believe they were to hot. i put vitamin powder in their water and they are all eating the high protein chicken and turkey starter. is there anything else i can do that may perhaps help the turkey polts do better?



simplycreative

 

[Aframechickens191]

Congrats on your first turkeys!

Not sure if I can offer a LOT of help, but i would make sure the babies have relatively high humidity. the humidity levels can never be disregarded! if its too low you may get uncomfortable or dehydrating polts, and some chicks too. try putting a wet towel over one side of their enclosure so it is at least present and providing moisture. After they start growing new feathers you can take it out. Also change their water often and make it cold; ive found that all kinds of poultry will like the water more and drink more of it if it is cold and refreshing that way! Dont worry; losing a few out of that many is normal...it just works that way i guess

Best of luck to you!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Hard boil a couple eggs and feed them the yoke, once they get used to eating it they after it like sharks. You don't want to give to much or they will quit eating the feed.

Steve

 

[OmaBird]

Are you feeding your broilers and turkeys the same feed? If so you can't do that. You will kill your broilers or stunt your turkeys. Are the 35 birds all in the same 2X4' brooder?

I am one that hates the vitamin/electrolites. It has killed some of my poults before. I won't use it. Just a sugar water if they are stressed. Thats usually just the first day.

How far in inches is your lamp from the bottom of your brooder? What size lamp is it? You need to adjust the heat so the birds are scattered evenly across the brooder. Look to see that they are not panting or being noisy. Happy cheaping now and then is all you want.

 

[simplycreative]

ok, ill up the humidity in the brooder, we got a new Heat pump last week and that pulls the humidity out of the air in the house, so probably not a good thing for the birds. ill put some wet towels in there for them.

yes, right now all the birds are eating the same food..... i will run down to Tractor supply store and get some food for the turkeys if they have some, i know they need high protein, i thought the same starter would be fine for them. The broilers are doing great and growing like weeds, the turkeys not so good.

i was going to seperate them next week. I was looking at them this morning and thinking that i should maybe seperate the them now since the chicks are getting HUGE!!!, so i will get a large tub when i go out to get the food for the broilers.

they are not panting and the lamp is 15 inches from the floor of the brooder with a 60W bulb in it.


simplycreative

 

[simplycreative]

im watching the poults and they just are not eating........ they peck at the food, eating here and there, but no concentrated effort to EAT. could the whole group be failing to thrive?

ive read several different things on their feed, and it seems that broilder/turkey/gamebird starter 20% protein should be fine for them with a little extra protein added here or there. I dont think the feed would be causing this, everything else seemed fine, they were not crowded in the brooder, no panting, no loud desperate chirping, drinking water.

Sighs, i wish they had given me a choice on delivery dates, i have to go away for 4 days and have someone else take care of them. im not happy about that at all.


simplycreative

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

20% protien won't kill them they just won't grow as fast as they would on a higher protien feed. Have you tried the hardboiled eggs? If they are starving out they will drop one by one.

Steve

 

[OmaBird]

I have never heard the humidity thing in the brooder. I live where our humidity goes down to 4%. Mine are fine with that.

The main thing with your broilers is you should not be free feeding them. Did the hatchery give you instructions? I can get you the information if you need it. Broilers grow way to fast and are to messy and wet to be with turkeys. You have way to many birds in a small area.

Can you take a picture?

 

[simplycreative]

i have lost 4 of the burbon reds, none of the slates. i didnt realize i shouldnt free feed the broilers, they have been growing at an amazing rate. no instructions came with them. The broilers were not that messy nor made it really wet in the brooder, it stayed fairly dry. What i did was put a pie pan under the waterer so that it contained any spills, and rocks in the little ring so they couldnt walk in it. Those things helped to keep the brooder nice and dry.


I cooked several hard boiled eggs and gave them to them yesterday..... now trying to get them eat it is a different story. I contemplated dying it red or green to get their attention but i am not sure that the food dye would be harmfull to them or not.


i am going to move them this afternoon. i am taking the broilers and putting them in a large 3ftx8ft cage with a light and then the poults will go back into the 2ft by 4 foot brooder alone, there are 16 of them right now. i will take some pictures and try to post them.

 

[OmaBird]

I think this might help with your broilers. http://www.welphatchery.com/cornish_rock_care.asp