Sick Turkey!!!! HELP

[missypie255]

We have 3 white haolland turkeys (very young); 2 of them are growning just fine..... but the third one is... well... not growing. Could this be a disease?

I caught him (i assume) this morning and put him in a small, well protected cage. I gave him him 20% chick feed and clean water. I put a splash of apple cider vinegar in his water to get rid of worms, if he has some.... And then he seemed lonely so I gave him a pal; I put a young chicken in with him to help him find food and give him incouragement.... Was this the right thing to do? Whenever the chicken gets close, he pecks at her..? But I think this is just because they are both in a new space and everything.... Another thing that bothers me is the fact they have not touched the chick feed, is it because they are not at ease in their enclosed area yet? The turkey (teddy) is very very skinny, our big turkeys did not let him eat I guess.... Should I put something in his food to help his stomach when he eats?? I'm really worried.... please give me any suggestions and information!!! I hope he will be OK...

 

[chicmom]

Cayenne powder is good for turkeys. You just sprinkle it into their food very generously. It also helps with Blackhead disease (or so I've been told). If he's skinny, he could possibly have worms, so a good wormer might do the trick. Valbazen is a good choice, because it works on so many different things. You give it to them with a syringe into their beaks.

I'm no expert though, by any means, so hopefully you'll hear some other opinions, but when chickens "go light", if often means they need a good worming.

So sorry you're having trouble! Good luck!
Sharon

 

[ColbyNTX]

How young is very young? If they are under 12 weeks then they should be on 28-30% feed. After 12 weeks they should be on a 20% for life. If you are feeding scratch or corn, limit that only to a treat once or twice a day. It is like feeding candy or any other junk food to kids. It could have just been bullied and couldn't eat but also could be wormie as chick mom said. ACV will not deworm!

 

[ivan3]

ColbyNTX wrote: If they are under 12 weeks then they should be on 28-30% feed. After 12 weeks they should be on a 20% for life. If you are feeding scratch or corn, limit that only to a treat once or twice a day. It is like feeding candy or any other junk food to kids. It could have just been bullied and couldn't eat but also could be wormie as chick mom said. ACV will not deworm!

x2

Also, if you can't get Something like Purina Game Bird Starter 30% protein, right away, start augmenting diet with crushed hard boiled eggs and meal worms. Check the droppings regularly (smear one on white paper - frank blood will be obvious).​

 

[missypie255]

Ok thanks!! It hatched 6/10/11 and I'm feeding it 20% protein.... And we have herbal de-wormer that i think I'll sprinkle in his feed. But he has not eaten anything yet

...... i had the food on top of a milk crate and moved it to the ground a few minutes ago.... Thanks for all the good information!!

 

[Lagerdogger]

I agree that protein levels sound low. But another tought has occurred to me. Do you think the difference is size might just be that you have two toms and a hen? They stay about the same size for the first 6-8 weeks or so, then the toms grow faster than the hens, and the hens can be substantially smaller. Just a thought.