Sudden heat - Should I take special precautions with my finished BB's?

[SIMZ]

Hi! We've had an amazing summer with near-perfect temps in the high 70's and low 80's. Yet this week it looks like we're going to have summer. My BB turkeys are 16-17 weeks and we're planning on processing them next weekend. The next few days will be in the high 90's with heat indexes in the 100's because of the humidity.

I know meat chickens would struggle in that - what about the turkeys? Will they muddle through or could it kill them? I'm most concerned about my BBW tom. The idea of somehow holding them in a cooler place is not something I really want to try unless they are truly in danger of dying.

Thanks!

 

[iwiw60]

You need to make sure that your turkeys have a LOT of shady areas. Also with that kind of heat (same here about 2 weeks ago) I ran a sprinkler on low where it just 'hit' inside their run area. They loved the coolness provided and even got wet some days...they loved it. Also you might put out some gallon milk jugs with frozen water in them and they will lay next to them. Do you have access to a mister? They're great, too. Best of luck!!

 

[SIMZ]

Thank you so much! They do have lots of shade and I have lots of watermelon and frozen treats ready for them. I also was thinking that I'll stay away from them as much as possible to keep them from getting up and following me around (and the tom puffing up). It shouldn't be too hard to set up a sprinkler-type thing for them, too.