What an insane 3 days it has been! I posted not too long ago about mat heating in addition to the heat lamp. For background, I ordered 30 turkey poults from Ideal and there was an issue with an oncoming storm where the birds were in an unheated mail truck for several additional hours during the storm before they arrived at the post office on Thursday morning. 4 were deceased out of the order when it arrived and 2 died shortly after by the next morning (Friday morning). Also, less concerning, I realized I only got 29 birds as there was one missing from one of the breeds (does this typically happen with Ideal?).
Everything evened out and day 2 (Saturday morning) there were no overnight mortalities, so I thought we were in the clear. I purchased the electrolyte powder for the water - before I was just adding honey to the water. I am thinking I can add molasses if the electrolyte water isn't good for them? I put a digital thermometer at the base of the brooder box and it reads anywhere from 91 - 96 degrees F throughout the day, so they don't seem to be too hot or too cold.
The food is New Country Organics turkey starter mash. The water is refreshed at least 1x a day. But, starting last night, some of the poults started looking sick. They would wander around the box looking exhausted, but not lay down like the other turkeys when they want to sleep. 1 died before I went to sleep and that's how I realized they were sick and not just tired. I separated the others showing the same symptoms from the rest last night and by the time I came downstairs this morning, the two I had separated died and another I didn't realize was sick had passed as well. Even now, I have spotted another one showing these symptoms - trying to sleep standing up, not laying down or going near any of the other turkeys almost as if they're lost and tired in the brooder box.
I'm at a 35+% mortality rate within the first 3 days, which feels insane to me. This has been a deeply traumatic experience and I really never want to order via mail again. I am stuck under snow, so I cannot go out and purchase any medications, as well.
My questions are:
- What could be causing these deaths and is there anything I can do about it from the house? It feels like an illness because of the symptoms and I got 3 breeds (10 each Bourbon Red, Narragansett, and Chocolate) and the Narragansett are fine. Like, outside of one that died in transit, the other 8 are trucking along - fingers crossed - with no issues. I separated them into a separate box in case this is illness to keep them away from any issues since they all seem to be fine. This was the breed they sent me 1 too few of. But, the chocolate were just devastated within the first 24 hours. 4 died within a day and 1 last night and the 1 I spotted now with an issue is Chocolate. 3 bourbon reds died last night, though. So, I'm just holding my breath. They wander around with their eyes closed as if they're trying to sleep, but never lay down before just perishing.
- Ideal says they have a replacement policy and told me to send a pic of any that died in the first 48 hours and they'll replace them. But, I haven't found any information on that. Has anyone used Ideal and been through the replacement part? At this point, I don't know if I want to put any poults through this journey again. We are quite far away from Ideal in New England.
- Has anyone experienced this high of a mortality rate before? Is this typical for mail order hatchlings? This is my first time ordering through the mail and I literally never want to do this again. This is truly awful. I can't stand just waiting for another to pass. It feels awful.
Everything evened out and day 2 (Saturday morning) there were no overnight mortalities, so I thought we were in the clear. I purchased the electrolyte powder for the water - before I was just adding honey to the water. I am thinking I can add molasses if the electrolyte water isn't good for them? I put a digital thermometer at the base of the brooder box and it reads anywhere from 91 - 96 degrees F throughout the day, so they don't seem to be too hot or too cold.
The food is New Country Organics turkey starter mash. The water is refreshed at least 1x a day. But, starting last night, some of the poults started looking sick. They would wander around the box looking exhausted, but not lay down like the other turkeys when they want to sleep. 1 died before I went to sleep and that's how I realized they were sick and not just tired. I separated the others showing the same symptoms from the rest last night and by the time I came downstairs this morning, the two I had separated died and another I didn't realize was sick had passed as well. Even now, I have spotted another one showing these symptoms - trying to sleep standing up, not laying down or going near any of the other turkeys almost as if they're lost and tired in the brooder box.
I'm at a 35+% mortality rate within the first 3 days, which feels insane to me. This has been a deeply traumatic experience and I really never want to order via mail again. I am stuck under snow, so I cannot go out and purchase any medications, as well.
My questions are:
- What could be causing these deaths and is there anything I can do about it from the house? It feels like an illness because of the symptoms and I got 3 breeds (10 each Bourbon Red, Narragansett, and Chocolate) and the Narragansett are fine. Like, outside of one that died in transit, the other 8 are trucking along - fingers crossed - with no issues. I separated them into a separate box in case this is illness to keep them away from any issues since they all seem to be fine. This was the breed they sent me 1 too few of. But, the chocolate were just devastated within the first 24 hours. 4 died within a day and 1 last night and the 1 I spotted now with an issue is Chocolate. 3 bourbon reds died last night, though. So, I'm just holding my breath. They wander around with their eyes closed as if they're trying to sleep, but never lay down before just perishing.
- Ideal says they have a replacement policy and told me to send a pic of any that died in the first 48 hours and they'll replace them. But, I haven't found any information on that. Has anyone used Ideal and been through the replacement part? At this point, I don't know if I want to put any poults through this journey again. We are quite far away from Ideal in New England.
- Has anyone experienced this high of a mortality rate before? Is this typical for mail order hatchlings? This is my first time ordering through the mail and I literally never want to do this again. This is truly awful. I can't stand just waiting for another to pass. It feels awful.
