HELP - found wild turkey chick, what to do??

[horsecrazy]

Yesterday at my school there was a wild momma turkey and she had a chick with her, somehow they got seperated, the chick was caught by a teacher and I took it home because there was no one to take care of it.
I don't know how old it is, but it has a few feathers on its back and most on its wings. 4 or 5" tall. I am keeping it in my insisde chicken coop with a heat lamp, shavings, ground up lay pellets, and water. it walks around and cheeps, runs if I try to grab it, looks pretty perky but he seems lonely and I don't think he has eaten yet. I dipped his beak in water a couple of times yesterday because he seemed very hot and dehydrated (it was in the 80's yesterday).
I have never raised a turkey before, am I doing the right thing? should I force feed him a little wet chick start or something?
Thanks so much for the help. Any name suggestions are welcome too.

 

[jjrabbit2]

I would give it chick starter because the lay mash has to much calcium in it. Keep doing everything else until it feathers out. I would maybe give it a stuffed animal to snuggle with to cuz its used to being with mama and other Poults

 

[Struttn1]

That poult was already imprinted to it's wild mama and it is not going to eat. It should have been left where it was caught. It is peeping trying to call it's mother. If you don't get it to a wildlife rehabilitator it will probably not make it.

 

[lilchick]

Do you have any young chickens to put with it for company and help it eat? My turkey babes will watch the chickens and peck their bills taking the food away from them..
I also make wet feed and dip my fingers in it and they peck it off.
Hope you get the turkey settled in...

 

[jbowen9]

Dont forget wild turkeys need alot of protein in their system so just normal chick starter wont do it they need a 26 or 28 percent protein to live

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

You should have left it alone, they would have gotten rejoined, that is why the poult peeeps loudly to call for another.

It is illegal also to capture wild life and keep it for any reason !!!!

It will need to eat high protien gamebird 27% or so and it will probably not eat much of the feed at first as it has never seen it before, probably should give it back to a wildlife refuge or it will not make it more then likely, plus you will never get it tamed down to keep as a pet.

 

[horsecrazy]

oh no!!!

I guess I will run out and try to get some gamebird food. I do not know if there are any wildlife rehabers around here, I will do some research and find out!

I hope I did the right thing, but the kids were running around everywhere and I really doubt that momma turkey would have come back.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

ps I don't have any chicks to put in with it for company, my youngest chickens are pullets.

 

[enola]

You need to get in touch with the DNR officer in your county. It is illegal to keep wild birds. The fine if you are caught is really stiff.

 

[Mahonri]

You can only imagine that the momma might have already lost other chicks if that was the only one, and I agree, it probably wouldn't have come back for it.

Get it some protein and see if you can get it some companion birds.

Good luck!

 

[Struttn1]

Wild mothers do not abandon their babies. Humans just assume that since the mama is not right there visible that the baby has been abandoned. A baby wild turkey is naturally programmed to lie flat and still when the mother gives an alarm putt. That poult could have been carried into the woods in the direction the mother went and she would have came back for her baby as soon as she felt it was safe to do so. That baby knows her voice and she knows her babies. The hen also has a natural instinct to survive which requires her to flee immediate danger. They always return for their babies.

An exception to this is a baby who is weak and cannot keep up with the flock. Wild mama's will leave a weak or sick baby behind if it cannot keep up. Nature will not let her sacrifice her entire brood by trying to stay with a weak or defective baby.