Omg, omg, omg, they hatched! early!

[Sonia]

We have sustained so many losses this year that I was convinced we would have NO luck if it weren't for BAD luck. Wellll a friend gave me four indy blue peacock eggs to put under my turkey hen after her nest got flooded...I didn't expect anything to hatch and if it did I wasn't expecting it for at least two more weeks. In fact I ordered eggs to put under her that should be here today or tomorrow. So anyway I went out to check on her (bourbon red turkey hen) and feed her and found not one, not two but three beautiful fuzzballs. I have those three in a brooder now and left the last egg with her just in case. Wow...just wow &uestions: do I need to do anything differently with peachicks than I do for chickens? Same feed or no? I should have done more reasearch but honestly these eggs were 'extras' that wouldn't fit in my friends incubator and we were using them as placeholders.

 

[Sonia]

 

[critters]

first let me say I am not an expert and have no peachicks (yet)
but my research leads me to believe 28% game bird feed is good for them...
don't think it matters if it is medicated or not....
but if you have guineas by any chance,and you use medicated, it can be
harmful to the guineas....

hopefully, someone that really knows their stuff will chime in and give
you an educated answer..

good luck and congrats on your new babies!!
thanks for the picture of the cuties too!

 

[Yoda]

Congrats!! You can use medicated chick starter crumbles on them without any problems. I use it for all my birds even Guineas without any problems. I do not know about the game bird feed as I cannot get it regularly here where I live. Raised all my peachicks on medicated chick starter and all are healthy.
Here is a link that I started it has my setuop and a couple other member's setups.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/704066/ill-show-you-my-setup-if-you-show-me-yours-heavy-pictures

 

[Sonia]

Thanks, since I didn't know any better I set them up just like my other chicks and they are doing great all I have is nonmedicated 20% chick starter. I can give them egg if they need more protein. Please advise.

 

[Yoda]

Medicated chick starter prevents Coccidia in poultry, it is the best to use for chicken chicks and for peachicks. Medicated game starter prevents blackhead disease and is best for turkey chicks and can be used for peachicks. I use medicated chick starter to help boost the immune system in the chicks cause most deaths are a result of Coccidia. There are some people here that have lost chicks to blackhead and will feed their chicks the medicated game starter. Whichever you choose is yours to make but I will not use a non medicated food unless the chicks are off the floor/ground and have a wire floor for the poop to fall through. Chicks do not know what "poop" is and you will see them all taste it at least once - thus medicated is best

 

[Sonia]

Sorry but I don't medicate unless there is an actual problem. I am dilligent about keeping the brooder clean. There are pros and cons to every approach. From what I'm hearing though, basically, I'm to treat them the same as chicken chicks correct?

 

[zazouse]

I don't use medicated feeds either but I do not have a problem with coccidiosis in my area nor has anyone around here with birds had a problem with blackhead.

 

[Sonia]

We don't have any issues with blackhead here either, I have had turkeys and chickens running together with ducks and geese for about three years with no issues. We DID have an outbreak of cocci in one grow out pen. Lost every chick due to not being able to obtain corrid in time. (I have it now just in case) these peachicks still have many weeks of brooder time before they will hit the ground and I will build their pen well away from the 'sick' pen.

 

[Yoda]

Sorry but I don't medicate unless there is an actual problem. I am dilligent about keeping the brooder clean. There are pros and cons to every approach. From what I'm hearing though, basically, I'm to treat them the same as chicken chicks correct?

Sonia,
A lot of people do believe in what you state but pea chicks are pros at hiding illnesses. Most of the time when you "notice" illness in you pea chick it is usually too late and they end up gone. Prevention to me is more important then "waiting for it to happen". You are only giving the chicks the medicated starter for the first 5-6 months then change them to a regular feed. I do not understand how medicated feed will get the brooder anymore dirtier then non medicated feed? Isn't poop just that, poop? I do not wait for my dog to get rabies, parvo or distemper to give it treatment, I give them shots to prevent it from happening. That is what medicated feed does for the chicks it prevents them from getting it and/or helps them to recover from it quicker. I stated it was "your choice" to feed them what you wish and that I recommended the medicated. I have raised many pea chicks and all are healthy and breeding for me right now, so I must be doing something right. I am sorry but I do not understand how to take the above statement? You asked for my advice and it reads as if you threw me to the curb. Just because you have not had any issue yet does not mean it isn't there. Coccidiosis is known to affect almost every species of animal on earth so if you have it in one pen it is most likely in all your pens.
This is what I found on blackhead:
Poultry (especially free-ranging) and wild birds commonly harbor a number of parasitic worms with only mild health problems from them. Turkeys are much more susceptible to getting blackhead than are chickens. Thus chickens can be infected carriers for a long time because they aren't removed or medicated by their owner, and they don't die or stop eating/defecating. H. gallinarum eggs can remain infective in soil for four years, thus there is a high risk of transmitting blackhead to turkeys if they graze areas with chicken fecesin this time frame.

Have you had turkey chicks running around without any problems? I do not know much about blackhead as I have never seen it yet (knocking on wood), doesn't mean it is not there in my yard. A wild bird like a sparrow can eat a worm and poop inside your pen and spread blackhead and do the same for coccidiosis. Again it is your choice to make.