HELP! Turkey poults refuse to eat, can I force feed them?

[SarahGfa]

My neighbor dropped off some turkey poults that her daughter bought at the feed store. They could not get the poults to eat or drink and they were fading fast. 1 died before they got to me, and another one died at my house.
I have had them for 2 days. There are 4 poults left. here is what I have tried:

• wet crumble (30% turkey starter) on aluminum foil
• dry crumble on paper towels
• wet egg yolk
• crumbled cooked egg yolk
• Nutridrench
• dried mealworms
• live mealworms

NOTHING WORKS. They have eaten a few live mealworms and nothing else. I saw them pick up a chick crumble, but they drop it without eating it. There are shiny marbles in the water dish and I keep tapping at the food with a popsicle stick.

I believe they are too scared to eat. They stay in the darkest corner of the box (beneath the heat plate) with their backs turned, and refuse to come out. They are not peeping. It is 95 degrees on the floor beneath the heat plate. I have no idea how old they are, maybe a week old by now? they are skin and bones, the size of day-olds.

Can I tube feed them or anything? I tried syrnging a few drops of nutridrench into their beaks but it freaks them out and it's not enough nutrition to sustain them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@R2elk

 

[R2elk]

@casportpony

 

[Molpet]

Does anyone have a chick you could get to teach them?

 

[SarahGfa]

Does anyone have a chick you could get to teach them?

Tractor supply have baby chicks but minimum purchase is 4 chicks. I don't want 4 more chicks right now.

The poults like dark corners so I covered the whole brooder with cardboard except a small crack. One is starting to pick at the food and water. Can anyone tell me how old they are based on feather development? I don't know what temperature they need right now. It looks like they have grown some wing feathers but they are soooo skinny.

 

[R2elk]

Tractor supply have baby chicks but minimum purchase is 4 chicks. I don't want 4 more chicks right now.

The poults like dark corners so I covered the whole brooder with cardboard except a small crack. One is starting to pick at the food and water. Can anyone tell me how old they are based on feather development? I don't know what temperature they need right now. It looks like they have grown some wing feathers but they are soooo skinny.

They might be a week old. They look like they are cold. They need a much bigger brooder. If they were mine, I would have them at 90°F measured at the bedding level.

The brooder needs to be big enough so that there can be warm and cool zones. The feed and water should be in the cool zone. They need to be able to go back and forth from the cool and warm zones.

They do not look any skinnier than normal poults of a similar age. They are old enough that they should be eating well.

 

[SarahGfa]

They might be a week old. They look like they are cold. They need a much bigger brooder. If they were mine, I would have them at 90°F measured at the bedding level.

The brooder needs to be big enough so that there can be warm and cool zones. The feed and water should be in the cool zone. They need to be able to go back and forth from the cool and warm zones.

They do not look any skinnier than normal poults of a similar age. They are old enough that they should be eating well.

I taped up 3 boxes to make a long narrow brooder. The heat plate is at one end (temperature is 95 degrees below the plate). Food and water on the opposite end. They were refusing to come out from under the heat plate until I put cardboard over the whole box to make it dark.

I don't think they are eating that much At least not when I am looking. Any way to get them to eat more?

 

[SarahGfa]

They look like they are cold.

How can you tell? It is only 75 degrees on the food side, where they are standing in the picture. Should I put a blanket over the box ?

 

[R2elk]

I taped up 3 boxes to make a long narrow brooder. The heat plate is at one end (temperature is 95 degrees below the plate). Food and water on the opposite end. They were refusing to come out from under the heat plate until I put cardboard over the whole box to make it dark.

I don't think they are eating that much At least not when I am looking. Any way to get them to eat more?

Measure the temperature at the bedding level. If the air temperature is 95°F, the bedding temperature is much hotter. They don't start going through a lot of food until they are older.

 

[R2elk]

How can you tell? It is only 75 degrees on the food side, where they are standing in the picture. Should I put a blanket over the box ?

Just what it looks like to me. I would not put a blanket over the box.