Lone turkey (day old) + 2 wk chicks

[MuthaCluckas]

I need help! My neighbor was trying to hatch a little over ½ dozen turkeys but only 1 made it. They were intended for my MIL but she refuses to raise chicks & she (my neighbor) was under the assumption Id be the one doing it. I just picked up the little one about 20 mins ago. I dont have a seperate brooder set up.. little one is definitely getting picked on but is also doing it's best to defend itself. Id like this to be as less stressful as possible.
1) Should I set up a seperate 'emergency' brooder?
2) Can I use the medicated chick starter on this turkey too?
3) Should I take the "weakest- link" chick to keep it company?
Any& all advice welcome, this is my first for both.

 

[R2elk]

I need help! My neighbor was trying to hatch a little over ½ dozen turkeys but only 1 made it. They were intended for my MIL but she refuses to raise chicks & she (my neighbor) was under the assumption Id be the one doing it. I just picked up the little one about 20 mins ago. I dont have a seperate brooder set up.. little one is definitely getting picked on but is also doing it's best to defend itself. Id like this to be as less stressful as possible.
1) Should I set up a seperate 'emergency' brooder?
2) Can I use the medicated chick starter on this turkey too?
3) Should I take the "weakest- link" chick to keep it company?
Any& all advice welcome, this is my first for both.

1. Immediately. A day old poult needs warmer temperatures than older chicks need.

2. No. Chick starter is not appropriate for poults. It needs a high protein turkey or game bird starter that has the higher levels of lysine, methionine and niacin it needs for proper development.

Unless you have a coccidiosis problem, you shouldn't be feeding medicated starter to chicks either.

3. You can but it really is best not to brood chicks and poults together because of the problems that occur later due to imprinting.

 

[Molpet]

Most people who post about leg problems in poults fed chick starter. They have different nutritional needs. I feed everyone the higher protein game bird or turkey starter.
Get a couple more poults if you can. They do better with turkey friends. They imprint readily and I loose a chicken every so often to turkeys.not understanding they are different.

 

[MuthaCluckas]

Most people who post about leg problems in poults fed chick starter. They have different nutritional needs. I feed everyone the higher protein game bird or turkey starter.
Get a couple more poults if you can. They do better with turkey friends. They imprint readily and I loose a chicken every so often to turkeys.not understanding they are different.

-The leg problem one is a chick. I dont know if its actually a "leg problem", but rather what I noticed her doing. She does stand on them firmly
-I wasnt planning on having any poults at all (my MIL has one tom & wanted a few more to add from my neighbors flock specifically )

1. Immediately. A day old poult needs warmer temperatures than older chicks need.

2. No. Chick starter is not appropriate for poults. It needs a high protein turkey or game bird starter that has the higher levels of lysine, methionine and niacin it needs for proper development.

Unless you have a coccidiosis problem, you shouldn't be feeding medicated starter to chicks either.

3. You can but it really is best not to brood chicks and poults together because of the problems that occur later due to imprinting.

1. Will an angled heat plate still work the same? Like, can I lower one corner for it I do have another heat plate I can use separately but only asking bc the poult & my 'weak' chick arent much different in size.
2. Noted ️ Thank you!
3. Could you give me some examples? My MIL has a pen for turkeys that Im sure I can integrate this one into (theres only 1 tom).. I dont know the liklihood of me being able to get anymore poults though, is it okay to have it alone?

 

[R2elk]

1. Will an angled heat plate still work the same? Like, can I lower one corner for it I do have another heat plate I can use separately but only asking bc the poult & my 'weak' chick arent much different in size.
2. Noted ️ Thank you!
3. Could you give me some examples? My MIL has a pen for turkeys that Im sure I can integrate this one into (theres only 1 tom).. I dont know the liklihood of me being able to get anymore poults though, is it okay to have it alone?

1. A day old poult needs the temperature measured at the bedding level to be 90⁰F for the first week. Ideally the brooder is big enough to have the heated zone and a cooler zone.

3. We don't always have ideal situations to deal with. If the poult is going to be kept with turkeys as an adult, the imprinting shouldn't be a problem. If it is going to be kept in a mixed flock the imprinting can end up causing injured or dead chickens due to the disparity in adult size.

 

[MuthaCluckas]

imprinting can end up causing injured or dead chickens due to the disparity in adult size.

That makes perfect sense. I understand. While Ive been reading other forums, I came across someone cautioning from turkeys imprinting on humans too? If I decide to keep the poult seperate, should I interact with it less frequently [other than obvious welfare & maintenance] to prevent that as well?

 

[R2elk]

That makes perfect sense. I understand. While Ive been reading other forums, I came across someone cautioning from turkeys imprinting on humans too? If I decide to keep the poult separate, should I interact with it less frequently [other than obvious welfare & maintenance] to prevent that as well?

I keep my interaction with poults to a bare minimum to avoid human imprinting them. All of the human aggressive turkeys that I have had to deal with were ones that someone had human imprinted.

 

[Molpet]

1. Will an angled heat plate still work the same? Like, can I lower one corner for it I do have another heat plate I can use separately but only asking bc the poult & my 'weak' chick arent much different in size.

I raised my 2 BBB and a couple CX together under a mama heating pad. This was before heat plates were widely available. One end was lower.