they have hatched, now I have a few questions.

[taraann81]

Okay 7 of my belts have hatched so far. A couple more have pipped but haven't made much progress. They weren't even due until tomorrow so its not a lost cause yet.

My question is, I was told that the poults fair better raised with chicks. My Chanteclers are 6 days old and I plan on putting the poults in with them at first. How do I go about that introduction?
Do I just put the poults in the brooder and keep an eye on things?

Thanks everyone.

 

[taraann81]

Well Taraann81 I personally have no experience with turkeys either BUT I would say yes that is probably the best was to go about it.

Good luck

 

[taraann81]

PHEW! Thanks for answering! I was really starting to worry.

 

[taraann81]

No problem. I hope it helps. Let me know how it goes!

 

[favoritekitty]

I thought I should reply so that you dont have to talk to yourself LOL

If you have more than one or two turkey poults I dont think I would put them in with chicks. If you are good about helping them eat and drink they should do well alone. I keep reading about this dreaded blackhead disease and that worries me.

I would wait for more answers because I have been a turkey momma for less than a week

 

[taraann81]

thanks! I think I was starting to lose my mind! Talking to yourself is one thing but answering yourself is a whole different ball game

By teaching them to eat and drink do just dip their beaks in the food and water? Also how often do you do that?

Thanks

 

[favoritekitty]

Yes, ma'am, just dip. I felt guilty doing it because they fought me about it, but I told them too bad! After just one or two times dipping the end of their beaks in the water they caught on. I put some pretty stones in the waterer because I read that it catches their eye. I also keep their water and food bowl close to where they like to sit so they dont have to travel far looking for food. They caught on with drinking before eating. When I wasnt sitting there staring at them they decided to hop in the food bowl and peck. I had a seperate container with warm water mixed with some of their food, too, in case they liked it that way better. I did this with chicks I hatched and the chicks always seem to want to eat the warm, wet food before the plain, yuck kind.

They must be like chicks, whereas they dont need to eat within the first day or two, right experts?

 

[mekasmom]

I haven't raised a lot of turkeys, but over the years, I have found that mine do better alone rather than with chicks. Of course, I always have more than one at a time. I have done it both ways, but they just seem to do better alone-- less competition. And they are worth so much more than chicks, you wouldn't want one to die simply from the chicks smothering it accidentally.

You just hold their head down in the water momentarily a few times to get them to drink. Same with the game food or whatever food you choose to use.

 

[ChanceRider]

I hatched out 6 poults 2 months ago and kept two 2 - 3 day old chicks with them for the first 48 hours or so. I also had brightly colored glass stones in their waterer and tossed in on top of their food. Every few hours the first day I kept dipping their beaks into the water. Don't know if the chicks helped them or not, but all did well and are strong and healthy 2 month olds now.

I have 14 BR eggs in the Brinsea right now and will put a couple 2 day old chicks in with the poults when they hatch. (See? thinking very positively that poults WILL hatch from this batch also!)

Good luck with your turks... they're so much fun to raise!

 

[koryan]

Keep turkeys and chicks separate. Turkeys do not have the same immuities as chickens...esepcially black head. They will also need to be fed differently in pretty quick order in order to maximize the turkeys nutrition for optimal growth.