hen raised turkey questions

[Old McDonald 27]

HI! My royal palm hen is due to hatch her first poults on monday!! I am still pretty new to turkeys....so i have questions!! Since they are being hen raised do I still need to keep them off the ground? What do I need to feed them....and do I need to put molasses in the water?? Anything else I need to know or any tips??? Thanks in advance! Jessica

 

[kingmt]

Hope someone comes along to answer.

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

NO if you let the hen hatch them she will take care of them, just make sure that the water and feed is able to get to by the new poults

Keep them in a pen by them selves mom and new poults for the first few days and make sure that you put the tom in his own pen or he might harm the poults.

The hen will know what to do as far as taking care of them just make sure they have food and water and are in a safe place at night and then they should be fine with momma

 

[Old McDonald 27]

Thanks! They are in a small coop by themselves for now... I thought that I would move them to a bigger area (still away from the tom) when they are about a week old? Is that to soon? I have chick starter. Is that ok or do I need special food for them? Thanks, Jessica

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

First time turkey hens can be very poor mothers unless she has been hatched by a hen herself. Keep a close eye on her and the poults at first, young poults chill easy and need to be kept dry. It's best to keep the hen and poults in a small area for at least a couple weeks until the poults start growing well and can get around and keep up. If they go in a larger area to soon sometimes they will get lost or can't keep up and get left behind.

You need a higher protien feed for the poults - we use a 28% medicated game bird starter for our poults. Raising them on the ground keep a close eye out for cocci.

Steve in NC

 

[Struttn1]

I have an incubator hatched and hand raised Royal Palm who hatched her 1st brood this year and she has done great. She is very attentive to them. She was our lap pet until she hatched these babies now she wants nothing to do with us.

By all means seperate the gobbler away from the hen and little ones. I found half a hatch that the gobbler had crushed last week. If you don't have an extra pen put the gobbler out to free range. He is not going anywhere if the hen is still in the pen but he will kill those poults.

 

[Old McDonald 27]

Awwww.... Your babies are so cute! My hen is in a small 10x10 coop right now. I didn't want anyting to disturb her while she was setting. I will leave her there for a few weeks. The tom is in the small goat pasture. I will move her and the poults to the big goat pasture when they are ready. My TSC doesn't have the 28% medicated feed. The had (I think) 26% not medicated. If they don't have the 28% at the CO-OP will the other do? The last time I looked she had 12 eggs but she didn't start setting till a couple of days after that. I know this is a stupid question, but I don't know. I only have the one pair. And I want to keep some of the poults to go in my front pasture. Can I breed a tom and hen out of the same hatch or do I need to get a different tom?? I had a reallly hard time finding the royal palms in my area. I finally ran an add in a local buy/sell paper that I wanted to purchase some and then I only got one response and bought the only 2 that the people had. The point to that whole long story is that I don't know if I would even be able to find another tom. Thanks, Jessica

 

[Struttn1]

You can inbreed them but I prefer to add new blood as often as I can. If you were closer I have an extra young Royal Palm tom that I would love to sell. If you are able to locate another flock in your area perhaps you could do a tom swap with somebody.