heat stress

[greyartist]

Are turkeys at high risk to die from heat? We are having the hottest day so far here in NC and I'm worried about my 6 turkeys. They are 11 wks old in a coop with some lattice panels laid over top to make some shade.

 

[longranger]

With shade and plenty of fresh water they should be fine. Mine get hot and pant much of the hottest parts of summer days. Drink about twice as much water as normal too.

 

[ziggywiggy]

I live in Southern Az. and like the previous post said make sure they have lots of clean fresh water. My Rhode Island Reds are the ones that seem to have the most problems with the heat. Last week we had 4 days in a row 108 degrees in the shade with winds at 15 MPH. The RIR's and garden had a rough time but, the turkeys seemed to handle it well.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We are in Eastern NC and have never lost a turkey to the heat, shade and lots of fresh water. Seems the worst time they have is about this time of day in the afternoon when the air gets still and sticky. Our Cochins quit laying for the summer but they do ok

Steve

 

[OmaBird]

We had a heat spell where the temp got to 115. I had a few hundered turkeys at the time. I let mine run loose so they could go under the trees and bushes. I put misters in the trees and wet everything down to keep things a few degrees cooler. I did not lose any turkeys. I did lose one huge Cochin Rooster. It looked like he had a heart attack.

We have dry heat here. No humidity.

My girlfriend also has a few hundered birds. She left hers in shaded cages and coops. She lost about half her birds. It was a sad day.

 

[ivan3]

They love water (takes them about two minutes of standing in fresh, cool, water, on 90°+ days, before they stop panting).

Change out twice a day (broody hens on a quick turnaround will poop in it). A plastic jug filled with water and frozen, added to the hog bowls will keep it cooler, longer.

Lots of trees and cheap window fans here, as well. With 11wk. olds I'd probably use a fan in the area just to move the air around.

 

[paintsavvy]

We have plenty of heat and humidity in Nebraska too. If they seem extremely stressed we give them a little gatorade. We started doing this when my kids were showing poultry in 4H, it is very effective and the birds really like it. The only drawback is that they drip it down their necks and ours ended up with red streaks from the color of the gatorade. Maybe use clear gatorade? The vet should also have an electrolyte mix that is similar but I think more expensive.