Baby turkey not eating

[LittleDuckies]

Last night I found an abandoned baby turkey taking shelter in my duck coop, I looked around for momma or any babies but there were none to be found, the baby had clearly gotten separated. I took the baby inside and set it up with food and water as well as a heat lamp. But the baby refuses to eat, i tried to poke at the food to mimic how momma would peck at it but it didn't work. The baby is refusing to eat and drink. I was thinking maybe it's because the baby is all alone? Would getting it a friend help it start eating and drinking? Please any tips to get it to eat and drink are appreciated. Or any tips on raising turkeys in general. Thank you

 

[R2elk]

Last night I found an abandoned baby turkey taking shelter in my duck coop, I looked around for momma or any babies but there were none to be found, the baby had clearly gotten separated. I took the baby inside and set it up with food and water as well as a heat lamp. But the baby refuses to eat, i tried to poke at the food to mimic how momma would peck at it but it didn't work. The baby is refusing to eat and drink. I was thinking maybe it's because the baby is all alone? Would getting it a friend help it start eating and drinking? Please any tips to get it to eat and drink are appreciated. Or any tips on raising turkeys in general. Thank you

Is this a wild turkey poult?

 

[LittleDuckies]

I found an abandoned poult taking shelter in my duck coop last night and I bright it in have it food and water but the baby isn't eating. I thought maybe it's because the baby is all alone? Would getting it a friend convince it to start eating and drinking? The baby is already very attached to me, I tried poking at the food and water to imitate how the mom would peck at it but it didn't work. Please any tips on getting it to eat and drink is greatly appreciated!!

 

[LittleDuckies]

I believe so, but it was clearly abandoned or seperated from it's mom

Is this a wild turkey poult?

 

[R2elk]

I believe so, but it was clearly abandoned or separated from it's mom

It is illegal to possess a live wild turkey. Turn it over to your local game warden or DNR agent or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

 

[LittleDuckies]

Oh I was unaware of this, thank you

It is illegal to possess a live wild turkey. Turn it over to your local game warden or DNR agent or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

 

[LittleDuckies]

I checked with some neighbors, one of the poults they just hatched went missing. This one must be theirs when they tried to give it back to the mom she just ignored it so they have the baby back to me. So it is indeed a domestic baby.

It is illegal to possess a live wild turkey. Turn it over to your local game warden or DNR agent or a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

 

[R2elk]

I found a turkey poult taking shelter with my ducks last night. Initially I thought it was a wild poult and planned to hand it over to a wildlife center but after checking with my neighbors I was informed they had three poults go missing yesterday evening. When we tried to reunite the baby with the momma she ignored the baby completely. I offered to care for the baby since the mom clearly wasn't going to. I purchased 30% protein game bird crumbles but the baby refused to eat and drink. I plan on trying to give the baby some sugar water but I'm unsure how to make it eat. Does anyone have tips? Again this is in fact a domestic baby.

Turkeys have different instincts than chickens. They naturally peck at things on the ground. Sprinkle some of the starter on the ground and it will peck at and eat it.

To initiate drinking, I dip a poult's beak in the water once and then leave it alone.

If this poult was being raised by the mother it likely will do better if you leave it alone as much as possible. It is best not to human imprint them.

Post pics of the poult so we can see how old it is.

 

[R2elk]

I checked with some neighbors, one of the poults they just hatched went missing. This one must be theirs when they tried to give it back to the mom she just ignored it so they have the baby back to me. So it is indeed a domestic baby.

It may or may not be a domestic. If it did belong to that hen, she would have talked quietly to it and not much more. But not all hens are good mothers.

 

[casportpony]

Can you post a picture of it?