Help

[abankes17]

Help! I have a new baby turkey. Not sure male or female, or really age. Still a baby baby though. We set it up with a heat lamp, a gave it a little house to hide in, mash and water. The poor little thing is clearly confused, But once it lets me hold it, it almost instantly falls asleep, and peeps loudly until I’m around, but when it sees me, it runs almost in a zigzag in It’s container. This morning I went to check on it, and it was chirping loudly, I went to pick it up, and at first, it was still scared, but once I had it, it calmed down and started to go to sleep. Then perked up and started chirping loudly again. It’s now asleep in my sweatshirt, and this is the calmest it’s been since we took it in. Any advice for a newbie?

 

[sourland]

It sounds as if it is imprinted on you. I'd provide a mirror for 'company', or better yet get two more poults.

 

[Molpet]

Needs friends, poults about the same age would be best

 

[Coops Dad]

I had ONE turkey egg out of 18 hatch; I immediately went out and bought two more day old poults for company. Then a momma chicken brought her progeny out of the weeds, brand new chicks, but a few flock members jumped on the easy pickings and there were only two survivors. So I ended up with three poults and two chicks as brooder-mates. The chicks literally showed the poults how to scratch, eat, drink, strip seeds off grass heads, catch bugs... poults are ridiculously unprepared for life.

They are intelligent and very social and really seem to like being around people. Mine come running when I call them. These are my meat birds in their pen when they were about 3-1/2 months old. All I did was walk to the fence and yell "hey, girls!"