Turkey poult eating question

[carlaashdown]

New to turkeys - how long after hatching is it okay for poults to go without eating or drinking? I know with chicks, a couple days is okay. These turkeys are making me nervous

 

[R2elk]

New to turkeys - how long after hatching is it okay for poults to go without eating or drinking? I know with chicks, a couple days is okay. These turkeys are making me nervous

I remove my poults from the incubator the day after hatching unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Mine normally start eating within minutes of being placed in the brooder.

Turkey poults naturally peck at things on the ground. I use sand in my brooder for the bedding. I sprinkle the turkey or game bird starter on the sand an they find it very quickly. It may take several days before they realize the stuff in the feeder is the same food. I keep sprinkling some on the bedding until I see them eating from the feeder.

 

[carlaashdown]

Thanks for the quick reply.

This one is about 24 hours old. I have her with 4 chicks. She follows them out to food and water but just sits there. I figured she’d learn from watching them. She seems active and fine otherwise.

I have feed out on a paper towel. I’ve dipped my finger in water then food and she pecked but didn’t eat. I’ve dipped her beak in water.

I will work on other methods today. Might give a little egg yolk and vitamin water.

 

[Finnie]

Oh my gosh I thought something was eating your poults! Had to look at the title again! I can sometimes be a little dyslexic and I read “turkey eating poults”. (We did have someone post recently about their tom eating chicks like they were crickets. I think my brain went there too quickly )

Sounds like what you are doing ought to work. It’s very possible that the poult is eating and drinking when you are not looking, but eventually you should be able to observe her doing it.

 

[carlaashdown]

Oh my gosh I thought something was eating your poults! Had to look at the title again! I can sometimes be a little dyslexic and I read “turkey eating poults”. (We did have someone post recently about their tom eating chicks like they were crickets. I think my brain went there too quickly )

Sounds like what you are doing ought to work. It’s very possible that the poult is eating and drinking when you are not looking, but eventually you should be able to observe her doing it.

I’m thankful it’s not that!

she’s still not eating or drinking. I’ve dipped her beak many many times. She hates it, chirps, and runs back under the brooder plate. I keep trying with food too. I put some feed in the blender and ground it up smaller and put it on the paper towel and on a plate too. She pecked at the feed a few times but didn’t actually get anything.
I tried dipping her beak in watered down egg yolk with some poultry cell. She didn’t like that either. So, she got about 1/4 ml by syringe in drops in her beak.
Ive been hovering, so I don’t think she has.
Maybe she’s just not ready, but I really wish she’d at least drink.

Otherwise, she seems fine. She is moving around and standing upright.

 

[Finnie]

Give it a couple of days. You don’t need to hover, and I wouldn’t force feed her anything. They do have the remains of their yolk sac to live off of, so she may just not be hungry yet.

 

[carlaashdown]

This is so stressful. Chicks are way easier. Ive hatched and raised many chicks, and the first week or so is so easy. Nothing like this.

 

[carlaashdown]

Give it a couple of days. You don’t need to hover, and I wouldn’t force feed her anything. They do have the remains of their yolk sac to live off of, so she may just not be hungry yet.

Thank you. I hope so.

She hatched a full day earlier than the second egg. Now that the second one is in there with her, she’s just staying under the brooder plate with her. I just kept reading that turkeys should be drinking by the second day, and they get dehydrated quick. So I’ve been stressing. Thank you for the reassurance.

 

[R2elk]

This is so stressful. Chicks are way easier. Ive hatched and raised many chicks, and the first week or so is so easy. Nothing like this.

Turkeys have different instincts than chickens. Don't expect them to behave like chickens.

I dip the poult's beaks in the water once when I first put them in the brooder. I sprinkle a high protein turkey or game bird starter on their sand bedding. I leave them alone. Mine have not shown any problem with starting eating and drinking on their own without me interfering.

You may have noticed that a good turkey or game bird starter has bigger particles. This is so they can more easily recognize it as food. It is not instinctive for them to try to eat a powder.

 

[Finnie]

Thank you. I hope so.

She hatched a full day earlier than the second egg. Now that the second one is in there with her, she’s just staying under the brooder plate with her. I just kept reading that turkeys should be drinking by the second day, and they get dehydrated quick. So I’ve been stressing. Thank you for the reassurance.

How is the poult coming along now that it’s been a few days?