Turkey Poult Mortality

[elkinsacres]

Howdy, folks. I've done quite a bit of reading here, and I see that maybe I'm not in such a small minority with my turkey poult losses. However, I also see that several of you are far more successful. That tells me I can improve processes...

We have Narragansetts and Blue Slates. Breeding groups are housed outdoors in 25' by 25' pens (4-5 birds per pen). They have shelter, water, food and are healthy - even in the summer heat we're now experiencing. Egg production has been about an egg every other day from each hen - consistent with what should be expected.

We incubate eggs in a GQF Sportsman 1502. It took us a bit to dial in the humidity - and learn to only open the incubator when absolutely necessary! To start, we were adding eggs daily. That was fine until the first ones started to pip. The humidity would drop, the inner membrane would dry up and the poults would get shrink-wrapped. Outside of 'normal' issues with incubating eggs, we are getting a good hatch rate (80%+).

I am using 4'x'4' black plastic pallet boxes for brooders. They are used in warehouses to ship manufactured goods or produce. The sides collapse and fold down flat. They are about 75-100 pounds, but they have a lot of space and can be pretty easily cleaned and sanitized. For bedding, I have some corrugated PVC panels on the bottom with a few inches of fresh grass/hay (before that, we used pine shavings, learning the hard way that turkey poults will eat them and cause gizzard ruptures...). Temperature is no problem as I have some clip on lamps with 75W bulbs. Poults are usually bedding out from under the lamp so they are not suffering from cold.

I am now feeding Dumor Starter, 24% protein. I was using Nutrena, but I felt the granules were a bit large (more on that later). They have access to multiple waterers, and I raise turkeys alongside guinea fowl. The keets are dang near bullet proof, they REALLY work over the bedding for bugs and they make sure the poults know where food and water are.

We have had a LOT of losses over the last few months. At first, I wrote them off to 'normal' attrition rates. Knowing that some folks have virtually no losses has made me more closely examine things...

1. We had several losses at first due to pine shaving ingestion. After half a dozen dead poults, I finally cut one open to find the gizzard was nearly black. A quick incision and I found that the gizzard was jammed with indigestible pine shavings. We immediately moved to hay bedding.
2. We had several losses due to trampling. Poults would be found in the corner, nearly flattened. Moving them into the larger boxes has stopped that from happening.
3. Our most recent losses (which are now getting rarer), all seem to have the same problem. If we lose a poult (or keet, chick, duckling, whatever), I perform a layman's necropsy. We recently lost two guinea keets - our first ever losses of these fowl. Cutting them open, I found VERY hard lumps in their lower intestine, just before the gizzard. They had eaten pieces of bailing twine that must have been in the hay bales. I'm policing the bales MUCH more closely now. As for the poults, all three of the most recent losses had obviously enlarged gallbladders. I can post pictures if requested, but they were roughly half the size of the liver - way bigger than they should be.

Hoping someone will see this and have the answer for me! If not, well, I have learned so, so much from simply joining this forum that we have reduced our losses to single digits. Such a great resource!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I use pine shavings in my brooder, I cover it with paper towels the first week than remove it, they eat a bit, but not enough to kill them. The thing with turkeys is they are curious, and are wanting to learn, they also get bored easily, and peck at things more, crowding is not good for them. You didn't say how many birds are in your boxes, or how long before you move them somewhere bigger or even out on some grass. My poults are four weeks old and spend most days outside, but I am only raising six of them. I have never lost a poult. They start out slow, but then you need to provide them with something to do all day or there will be problems, I guess I think there's something wrong in your set up, it sounds like you are raising a lot of birds.

 

[elkinsacres]

I have been raising the poults along with keets, mostly because the keets are more active and keep the poults moving. However, in the interest of allowing more space, I have separated them out quite a bit. I am also much more carefully keeping poults of varyin sizes (rather than age) separated. Since doing this, my losses are at virtually nil.

The only real losses now have been a lamp going out. Needless to say, I doubled up on my brooder boxes so I have a back-up in each one.

Thanks for the advice, oldhenlikesdogs!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Happy to hear things are improving, sometimes it takes a while to figure out what works for you, good luck with the rest.

 

[Noellereagan]

I use pine shavings in my brooder, I cover it with paper towels the first week than remove it, they eat a bit, but not enough to kill them. The thing with turkeys is they are curious, and are wanting to learn, they also get bored easily, and peck at things more, crowding is not good for them. You didn't say how many birds are in your boxes, or how long before you move them somewhere bigger or even out on some grass. My poults are four weeks old and spend most days outside, but I am only raising six of them. I have never lost a poult. They start out slow, but then you need to provide them with something to do all day or there will be problems, I guess I think there's something wrong in your set up, it sounds like you are raising a lot of birds.

I gave mine, at 13 weeks, children’s blocks that are hollow so they’re able to grab them and run and play and sometimes milk jug caps and they do the same thing. What do you give yours to keep them occupied?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I gave mine, at 13 weeks, children’s blocks that are hollow so they’re able to grab them and run and play and sometimes milk jug caps and they do the same thing. What do you give yours to keep them occupied?

I put them outside on the grass to dig and scratch as well as giving them roosts to hop on and off. I didn't know they played with stuff.

 

[Noellereagan]

I put them outside on the grass to dig and scratch as well as giving them roosts to hop on and off. I didn't know they played with stuff.

Mine do big time. I call it turkey rugby. I have a purple milk jug can I only let them have now and then to entertain guests so it’s like a new toy. I get their attention withit and throw it. The first one to grab it runs and the others chase him until someone steals it away and it starts all over. People just die laughing if they’re not used to birds. I ask- want to see my turkeys play rugby? And they look at me like I’ve lost my last marble. Then I show them. They’re always like- how the hell did you teach turkeys to play rugby?!? Little do they know, the little monsters will grab anything you toss! Non bird people don’t know that. I wish I could find a mini rugby ball (if that’s what you call it?) anyway- try it. I’ve heard they see red Best. Maybe a red milk jug lid. (I use this because as poults thEy cannot swallow it and it’s got a lip/ ledge on it where they have a place to grab it good). It’s hilarious. Try it!