New turkey mom questions

[mraab]

I give up.

These turkeys just are not catching on to the nipples. I’ve been doing a bunch of research, and I found at least one site that said that their beak/eye coordination deteriorates with age. So maybe they just can’t manage the horizontal nipples.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Turkeys also will stand in water if available when it's hot, so a pan or bucket is best to water them with. Dump daily. I was wondering if they would catch on. They can be stubborn birds that want what they want.

 

[mraab]

I wonder if the vertical nipples would work. I have some of those lying around that I could try...

 

[mraab]

So.

I tried the vertical nipples. And although I immediately remembered how intensely I hate them because they *always* drip no matter how much I fiddle with them, the turkeys seemed to pick it up pretty intuitively.

It’s probably worth it to see if I can get some gaskets and some food grade sealant and get rid of the drips. If that will buy me a closed water system like I’ve got for my chickens, it’ll be well worth it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have no clue what the difference is between them, but I'm glad they are using them.

 

[mraab]

These are the vertical nipples. They hang straight down. The poultry pecks at the silver trigger to let the water flow.

These are the horizontal nipples. The chickens are great at pushing the silver trigger sideways to get the water out, but the turkeys just could not manage it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thank you for explaining them.