Too soon? turkey chicks on grass

[justpiddling]

I have some 4 day old turkeys that are in a cardboard box under a lamp with starter food and water. I layered the bottom with grass clippings for bedding which they are now eating ferociously. Are they ok to eat the grass?

 

[ivan3]

Get rid of the grass and use old towels or shirts (just change out once a day). They need to focus on eating the Starter. If you want to feed them a treat - meal worms or small, live, moths are appreciated. Any stringy vegetative material is more like a potentially clogging filler - little nutrient value with potential for creating crop issues.


Try a slighty larger box: Poke a hole in either side, near the end furthest from food and water, about six inches from bottom and run a small branch through - they'll start roosting almost immediately (gives them something else to do). Also, place some hardware cloth over top of box - if warm and active they can't really `fly' but they'll try and sometimes clear the prison walls - kinda like fluffy popcorn popping.

You might find this reference useful: http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/resources/internal /turkey-manual

 

[justpiddling]

Thanks for the advice. I threw the grass out right after and they are doing fine. I have them on straw feeding them grower feed and moving them out onto grass every day for a couple hours.

For other interested viewers information; I did loose two bourbons within the first 3 weeks. A third bourbon fell sick for a day around four weeks but pulled out. All others seem to be fine. Initially I had four each bourbons, blue slates, chocolates, and royal palms.