I got 18 poults yesterday and 3 have died alread.

[r4eboxer]

I know turkey poults can be hard to get raised up. So I am wondering what I can do to save the other 15 I have. When the poults arrived one was already dead and this morning 2 more have died. I have seen them eat and drink but I can't be sure all 15 left have eaten and are drinking. I tried to save 2 of the poults by putting them in the incubator and giving chick saver but it didn't help they died anyway. I have them in a large brooder in the garage with a 250 watt bulb. I am going to get red bulbs and add one light for a total of 2 250 watt bulbs on them. I see no signs of runny poo or mucus around the eyes or mouth/nasal areas either. It did take 2 days for shipping and I'm wondering if this is why my poults are dying. The place I got them from did not offer me overnight shipping and sent them priority mail. It did get pretty cold here on the days they were in route via USPS.

 

[SeramaChick]

How far did they travel from? Losing a few in transit is sad, but can happen with shipment. I'd say as long as they are eating & drinking with sufficient heat, the rest should be fine. I give my new arrivals sugar water when they first arrive and use a 100 watt red bulb to keep them warm. I feed them 26% non medicated turkey crumble. You can add Durvet Vita-Mate, a vitamin & electrolyte supplement to their water if you have some on hand. Are the remaining poults eating & looking lively? Chances are, you'll be fine!

 

[Glenmar]

Keep them warm and feed medicated feed. I am new to turkeys, but I heard that they are very susceptible to cold.

 

[nickie]

A few tips I received:

Give them warm water when you change their water, hopefully less of a shock to them after the stress of shipping.

Keep the temp just a hair higher than you would with chicks, I don't know why.

High protein feed 28% is great.

Accept that losses happen, turkeys don't handle shipping stress as well as chickens do.



Out of 15 I lost 3 in the first three days. Now, two weeks later I have 12 still and getting bigger by the minute. I have also heard that if at all possible to hatch a few chicks at the same time since they are a bit quicker on the uptake than turkey poults.

 

[r4eboxer]

Two more poults are dying right now. They look fine are running around and then I go back to check on them again and I have new deaths. I just put another light on them. So now I have one 250 watt red light and one 250 watt white light. I contacted the place I purchased them from to tell them I have lost 5 in less than 24 hours. Turkey poults are not cheap!! I am feeding game bird starter 28 percent protein. Argh I've been waiting on these poults since I ordered them in December and now they are all dying.

 

[nickie]

Who did you order from, and where did they ship from? I ask only because after my turkeys arrived did I find out that they shipped from across the country when I ordered from a hatchery fairly nearby. If they took a cross country trip during a cold spell they may not have been able to handle it. Not saying you did anything wrong or criticising your ship date (remember I got mine 2 weeks ago during a warm spell, thank god), but this may clue you in as to what is going on.

Also, are you using a medicated feed, sometimes (I have read) turkey started contains an antibiotic to fight salmanella in young turkeys.

 

[teckkev]

I posted my turkey deaths last year after I bought 15 and all 15 died. After being asked for hatchery name and responding, I was notified with verified facts that the hatchery had a samenola outbreak at the same time I purchased my turkeys. This year, I bought 6 from the local feed mill. 1 died and the other 5 are doing great so far. Still in the house though I am taking them outside during the peak of the day for highest temp. Kinda breaking them into the outdoors. Turkeys are funny. When I lost all 15 last year, they were fine running around, eating, drinking and the next time you look within the hour... you'll see 1 dead. Agreed, turkeys are not cheap, it sucks in too many ways to see them die. I know others here told me next time to have a concrete slab for the flooring in the turkey house.

Good Luck,
Kevin

 

[kuntrygirl]

Sorry to hear about your poults. It's so hard raising poults.

 

[mkcolls]

sorry about your losses.

We have set five turkey eggs so far this year, one was not fertile, one died during incubation, one was killed by her surrogate Mama hen, one surviving is with the Mama hen, the other is with other chicks in our brooder pen. The one in the brooder pen rarely moves from the heat source, unlike the chicks she is with. We brooded 15 poults last year, lost 5 to raccoons, butchered 5 and still have the remaining 5.

We love the turkeys, they want and seek our company. They provide the best stories from the farm, supervising the house painting, roosting in the trees near the house so that they can see and talk to us when we are inside, walking the barn roof ridge, cutting the electricity to the barn by roosting on the electric wire, setting at the side of the road (a state route), and having people stop thinking she is hurt when all she is doing is counting cars.

Hope your remaining poults thrive and provide many stories for you.

 

[Frosty]

Who did you order from, and where did they ship from? I ask only because after my turkeys arrived did I find out that they shipped from across the country when I ordered from a hatchery fairly nearby. If they took a cross country trip during a cold spell they may not have been able to handle it. Not saying you did anything wrong or criticising your ship date (remember I got mine 2 weeks ago during a warm spell, thank god), but this may clue you in as to what is going on.
Also, are you using a medicated feed, sometimes (I have read) turkey started contains an antibiotic to fight salmanella in young turkeys.

I have never heard of turkey starter containing an antibiotic, the medicated feed has a coccidiostat.

How 'dead' was the DOA? I got a shipment once that had one dead that just reeked. The box smelled like a dead animal to the point that I had to dispose of the dead baby before I put them in my vehicle. I was losing a few a day until I just had 2 left. I have always wondered if the DOA made the others sick.

As far as the lights go, let the turkeys tell you if they are comfortable. If they are gathered under the light and noisy, they are too cold. If they are all out at the edges of the light. it's too warm. You wanted them scattered throughout the area and cheeping quietly, then you know they are content.