Questions for experienced Turkey enthusiast

[kuntrygirl]

Excellent topic.


I have never lost any poults but at the same time, I did and continue to do extensive research and read other's experiences and I gain more knowledge as well that empowers me to provide excellent care to my poults.


Here is what I do that I feel that keeps all of my poults alive.


1. After hatching in incubator, leave the poults in the incubator for 2 days so that they can fully dry off. Transfer to brooder after 2 days.


2. Have brooder ready to include making sure that the heat lamp has been plugged, turned on and the thermometer that you must have in the brooder is reading at least 99 degrees.


3. Have high protein feed ALREADY purchased and available. We all know that it takes 28 days for turkey eggs to hatch, so there should be no excuse as to why food has not been purchased in advance and waiting on the poults.


4. If you choose to raise poults and not allow the hen to raise them, you should be FULLY prepared and knowledgeable on how to teach the poults how to eat and drink.


5. I always have colorful marbles on hand to place in the shallow water dish so that they see the reflection in the water to prompt them to drink. I always place food on aluminum foil so that they peck on the foil to come up with food in their beaks. This will help them to eat. Do not have deep water dishes or else they may fall in and die. And DO NOT let your poult ever get wet. A wet poult is a DEAD poult.


6. Monitor the temps and their behavior. If they are huddled on top of each other, they are cold. You must increase the heat. Huddling will cause death because they are cold and they will suffocate and kill one another. If they are sleeping far away from the lamp, they are too hot and they can die as well. If they are under the lamp and spaced out, they are warm and happy.


7. DO NOT assume that your poults are eating. YOU MUST see them eating and drinking. Failure to see them eat and drink will cause assumptions and you will wonder why they are weak and moving slow. It is because they are starving and thirsty and they WILL DIE!


8. You can also place a couple of baby chicks in with your poults so that the chicks will teach them how to eat. Be careful when placing someone else's chicks with yours because their chicks may be sick which will cause your poults to get sick and die.


9. Keep your poults inside until it is warm enough to bring them outside. Being too excited to bring them out will KILL them because of the cool temps and harsh elements.


10. Keep your poults off of the ground for as long as you can, so their immune system and body can get strong enough to be able to handle what is in the ground and what is in their environment.


11. I like to place towels or sheets or old t-shirts on the floor of the brooder. I do this so they have a firm area to walk in with no slipping or sliding which can cause toe, foot and leg problems.


These tips are what I do. This works best for me and my poults. Everyone's situation will be different. I hope that this helps a little.

Love this! thank you! I recently obtained what I believe to be 4 turkey poults (about 3 weeks old at this point).
They are with a few, healthy chicks. Neither have touched outside yet. I am trying to figure out what feed to get that will be good for them. Will water supplements be adequate? In my area, there are not many feeds to choose from. Purina flock raiser?
I have printed this out for a few friends of mine that are curious as to why their poults have died! The marbles worked wonders! I have also noticed they are very friendly birds, and curious about everything!

You are welcome. Glad that it worked and glad that you are sharing this information with others.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Love this! thank you! I recently obtained what I believe to be 4 turkey poults (about 3 weeks old at this point).
They are with a few, healthy chicks. Neither have touched outside yet. I am trying to figure out what feed to get that will be good for them. Will water supplements be adequate? In my area, there are not many feeds to choose from. Purina flock raiser?
I have printed this out for a few friends of mine that are curious as to why their poults have died! The marbles worked wonders! I have also noticed they are very friendly birds, and curious about everything!

We followed Kuntrygirls advice and had great success

as for food We use Purina Game bird "Startina"  game bird starter at 30% protien for at least 3 months, then switch to "Flock Raiser" and for the flock raiser we use the pellets not crumbles unless we don't have a choice.  MUCH LESS waste with the pellets.

If there is a local mom and pop feed store, they will usually get what you ask for if they can.  I prefer the family stores for service, and it helps the local economy too.

RobertH

Glad that you have had success. And I love the Purina Gamebird 30%.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I added an explanation to my post #2 (bottom) in reference to explaining why we should keep our poults off of the ground. This came up on another thread and I thought that I should share this information with others on this thread.

 

[jksranch]

I always add a couple of chicken eggs to the incubator timed to hatch when the turkeys hatch that way they are all the same age. Teach one chick where everything is (food and Water) the turkeys will usually follow the leader. puppy piddle pads for the bottom of the brooder till they are up and growing then add pine shavings on top on them. Purina game starter is the best for mine then they get the flock raiser as adults.

 

[luluann]

I am so glade I found this. Dbf has been wanting some Turkey and I was just going to go out and buy them. I figured they was like chicks. Clearly I was very wrong. I have never owned poults. But I do have a question. I own a barn, a giant barn at that. It has one small room in it. Is it possible to house them in it when they are little? It has a dirt floor which I can either raise or do a sand bottom. I am considering making it a chick house. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I am so glade I found this. Dbf has been wanting some Turkey and I was just going to go out and buy them. I figured they was like chicks. Clearly I was very wrong. I have never owned poults. But I do have a question. I own a barn, a giant barn at that. It has one small room in it. Is it possible to house them in it when they are little? It has a dirt floor which I can either raise or do a sand bottom. I am considering making it a chick house. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

It depends on your temp and if your barn can accommodate a heat lamp without any breakers tripping and shutting down the heat lamp. Constant heat is mandatory. At the first sign of them getting cold, they WILL die. As long as the room is safe, secure, well ventilated with minimal to no possibly of them acquiring any type of respiratory related issues caused by heavy dust or other soil based issues. Their little bodies can only take so much while they are growing and building up their immune system. The room that you are speaking of, what was in it before? What is in the soil? I would not recommend putting them on that soil

 

[luluann]

i am not sure what the barn was before we moved in. I know it has held our junk for a few years. I think the whole thing was for tobacco. I can not be positive. My barn is open got the most part. It is dusty in it so it may not work. I can always build a enclosure for them. I just can not keep anything in the house anymore. I have been sick since I brought the chicks home so I kicked them out.

 

[kuntrygirl]

i am not sure what the barn was before we moved in. I know it has held our junk for a few years. I think the whole thing was for tobacco. I can not be positive. My barn is open got the most part. It is dusty in it so it may not work. I can always build a enclosure for them. I just can not keep anything in the house anymore. I have been sick since I brought the chicks home so I kicked them out.

Ok. From what you describe and if it were me, I would NOT keep them in the barn. The reason is because it is dusty in there. With them inhaling the air borne problems, will surely cause sinus issues. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

 

[farm-gal91]

Thank you all! Wonderful advice for first time turkey owners. They are all doing well, eating and drinking great, and I finally found the Purina Startena today after searching and searching. I have one problem with one, it has had a "funny" looking beak;snout. Here are some photos of it. It is doing wonderfully and this doesn't seem to slow him down at all, but what could it be? Ever seen it?

 

[ShelterFarm]

Excellent how-to thread. Thanks!