Lost Poults After 6 Days

[rochesjourney]

I hatched my first batch ever of turkeys 6 days ago. I had 3 survive hatch. 1 had a bad navel and passed within the first 24 hours. Yesterday at 6 days I lost my other 2 poults. I noticed that since hatching they were very "clumsy", I thought it was from their big feet. I had them in a brooder between 88 and 93 degrees average. They were both fine until yesterday. They were eating and drinking. They became very "sleepy" and less active and started flipping to their backs. They both died within 12 hours of displaying this behavior/symptoms. Is there something I did wrong with them? Too warm, too cold? Is there a supplement they need that I don't know about? I was feeding them game bird starter and I had no slip surface in the brooder. Thanks for any help/thoughts you may have.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry. Did you actually observe them eating and drinking. I often have to encourage mine to eat during the first week by tapping at the feed with my fingers. I brood turkey poults a bit warmer initially, about 95, so yours might of been too cool. I also add a teaspoon of brown sugar to a quart of water during the first few days to give them some instant energy.

Newly hatched poults are a bit clumsy, but if they are flipping over it makes me wonder if they were eating enough.

 

[rochesjourney]

Sorry. Did you actually observe them eating and drinking. I often have to encourage mine to eat during the first week by tapping at the feed with my fingers. I brood turkey poults a bit warmer initially, about 95, so yours might of been too cool. I also add a teaspoon of brown sugar to a quart of water during the first few days to give them some instant energy.

Newly hatched poults are a bit clumsy, but if they are flipping over it makes me wonder if they were eating enough.

Yes, they were eating and drinking. I assisted the first few days until I saw them doing it on their own. I had also given them some plain yogurt and Pedialyte until I was satisfied they were eating well. Like I said, it was my first time with newly hatched so I don't know if I was missing something. I have raised others from about 10 days of age and had no problems. The heat stayed pretty consistent around 93, but did catch it down to 88 a few times. I received a heating pad for my brooder today that I can set at a certain temp so hope that will do better in the future. I've been using heat lamps up to this point. They were Bourbon Red poults.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm not sure if I would use a heating pad with poults. Sounds like you doing things right. Could have been something wrong in their development, you said the one had a bad navel which could indicate temperature fluctuations during incubation. I haven't had any troubles raising poults. I don't know what else it could have been.

 

[rochesjourney]

Let me add that I wasn't real pleased with the hatch. I locked down 7 eggs, started with 10, Of the 10, 2 were clear and 1 quit early. At hatch 3 eggs didn't hatch. 2 of those had internally pipped. 4 others hatched. The 2 I lost yesterday hatched on Day 27. The other 2 hatched on Day 28 and didn't survive. 1 had a bad navel and the other one bled out when it pushed out of the egg. My humidity during incubation was 55% and during hatch was 70%. I am at an elevation of 2000 ft, hence the slightly higher humidity. These numbers have worked great for my chicken eggs. However, these poults were hatching sticky which makes me think the humidity was not ideal for them. I have set new eggs and this time I have set incubation humidity at 45%- 50% and will do hatch at 65%. Also, these were shipped eggs and my multiple thermometer/hygrometers have been calibrated recently.

 

[rochesjourney]

I'm not sure if I would use a heating pad with poults. Sounds like you doing things right. Could have been something wrong in their development, you said the one had a bad navel which could indicate temperature fluctuations during incubation. I haven't had any troubles raising poults. I don't know what else it could have been.

I'm pretty sure this is just a matter of more practice/experience issue, just wanting back up that I'm not missing anything. It is just sad and frustrating.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I hatch all my turkey eggs under broody bantam cochin hens. I always think about using an incubator but they seem so complicated. Seems chicks or poults that aren't formed correctly die within the first week, so that's what I would think. Your brooding seemed right.

 

[rochesjourney]

I hatch all my turkey eggs under broody bantam cochin hens. I always think about using an incubator but they seem so complicated. Seems chicks or poults that aren't formed correctly die within the first week, so that's what I would think. Your brooding seemed right.

Thanks. When I get a broody hen, I will definitely try what you do. Right now I'm just getting set up, so its incubator or purchase chicks/poults. You are correct about chicks/poults. I have found that I lose them within 24 hours of hatch if there is a problem and between 6-8 days if something is wrong and these were 6 days old so right in that time frame.