How do I get these turkey chicks to eat?

[WVchick71]

This is my first time hatching turkeys and I got 2 chicks out of 5 eggs. doing well except....they dont eat or drink. If I dip there beaks in the water, they will drink what gets on it but they havent touched it or the food on their own and im starting to get a bit worried! HELPPPPP

 

[Dogfish]

Go buy a few chicks from the feed store. They'll learn to eat that way.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Turkeys aren't the brightest crayons in the box. They need to be taught how to eat & drink sometimes. Like Dogfish suggested, get some chicks to teach them, or try pecking at the food with your finger. Sometimes this can get their curiosity up enough to investigate the food, & get them to eat. Dip their beaks in the water a few more times, & they should get the drinking part down. Good luck!

 

[ColbyNTX]

Be sure you have feed all over the ground for them. You can dip your finger in water and stick feed on your finger then offer it to the babies. I always hatch guineas with my poults to teach them to eat and drink.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I had the same problem. I have been having to take the poults from the mama hens because the eggs are hatching in an unsafe place. I noticed that when I took the first hatched poult out of his brooder box and let him walk around the house, he fell in love with this large area room rug in my bedroom. It had been 1 1/2 days and he still had not eaten. He started pecking at this rug over and over. So, I ran to get some feed and sprinkled feed in about 4 different spots on the rug. As he was pecking at the rug, he pecked at the feed and got some feed in his beak and continued to peck at the small mounds of feed. I also noticed that when I put marbles in the water, he pecked at the marbles and reflection from the water, so I put some marbles (3 or 4) in a small bowl with his feed. He began pecking at the marbles in the feed and came up with feed in his beak again. I also did as ColbyNTX suggested. I spread feed all over the bottom of the brooder box that he was in.

I was lucky that I didn't have to put in little chicks with the poults to teach them how to eat. When the oldest poult learned to eat, he then showed the other ones how to eat when I placed them in the brooder box with him. He also taught them how to fly out of their box and poop on the bedroom floor but that's another story.