Turkey poults constantly crying

[appychick]

My 3 Midgets (2M,1F) were with Dutch,cochin,EE Bantams. I first removed the 8 Dutch as were the smallest when the pen was ~ 3 weeks old. The male turkeys had a fit. Then I added 4 gold sexlink pullets of similar age that I had gotten just for the turkey companions as thought they would "be more durable" than the bantams. The turkeys immediately tried to peck & stomp the new chicks so had to remove them even though they had similar size/colored chicks in their pen. That was the final straw. The turkeys now are living a lonesome turkey only life & pouting today..........I never noticed any aggression until ~3 weeks of age when they started showing sex characteristics & the males started acting protective.Next time I will try to raise them with standard size chickens instead of bantams from the start.GUESS i goofed when I removed the RIR at ~ 1 week of age as they out grew the turkeys at the start & was afraid they would hurt the midgets. The midgets were slow to start,but once they decided to grow-can almost watch them grow....I was afraid the cockerels might hurt the turkeys as they are starting to get rowdy also so time to split them off once they can be sexed.Possibly if my group had a larger pen,they might have acted differently-but confined to smaller quarters until they no longer needed heat......So would be interested to hear if anyone has had one or a few turkeys as companions to another type/sex of poultry successfully as adults.

 

[popsicle]

The only reason I have the poult with the chicks is that I only have the one. I ordered more poults, but they will be two months younger than the current turkey, so it will be a while yet before I would even attempt introducing them.

I would just make your poults adjust to not having chicken companions. I separated ducks from my chicks/poults after a week together, the ducks were sad, but there were at least two, they eventually got over it.

Another idea for getting the lonely poult to stop crying, maybe make it dark at night. It's easy for me since I have an EcoGlow, and turn off the light at night so this might not be possible for everybody.

 

[SunKissedFlock]

Ack! My son got a poult on Saturday and yesterday he started crying whenever my son left his side. now he is in school and the poult is driving me crazy with his whining! Our cat, being curious nestled next to the crate and he quieted down, trying to get to her but as soon as she moved away, he started up again. I tell him i am here and he stops for a brief second... Should I just ignore him? I am nervous he was traumatized yesterday morning when he was choking on a piece of food that looks to have been to big for him. After about 10 minutes of giving him water, the food dissolved but since then he just CRIES when he can't see you!

 

[R2elk]

Ack! My son got a poult on Saturday and yesterday he started crying whenever my son left his side. now he is in school and the poult is driving me crazy with his whining! Our cat, being curious nestled next to the crate and he quieted down, trying to get to her but as soon as she moved away, he started up again. I tell him i am here and he stops for a brief second... Should I just ignore him? I am nervous he was traumatized yesterday morning when he was choking on a piece of food that looks to have been to big for him. After about 10 minutes of giving him water, the food dissolved but since then he just CRIES when he can't see you!

This is normal for a human imprinted poult. You can try turning a radio on for it.

 

[SunKissedFlock]

This is normal for a human imprinted poult. You can try turning a radio on for it.

So far nothing other than holding him is quieting him (and the cat right next to him). My son told me he didn't want me holding him because he doesn't want the poult to like me more! But I am worried he is tiring himself out! The 2 times i have held him he calms down and instantly starts to fall asleep but then he has cried so much he takes a stuttered breath and wakes himself up to cry for a second... He looks to be burning too much energy.

 

[R2elk]

So far nothing other than holding him is quieting him (and the cat right next to him). My son told me he didn't want me holding him because he doesn't want the poult to like me more! But I am worried he is tiring himself out! The 2 times i have held him he calms down and instantly starts to fall asleep but then he has cried so much he takes a stuttered breath and wakes himself up to cry for a second... He looks to be burning too much energy.

The more you respond to the poult's cries, the worse it will get. It really isn't a good idea to try to raise a single poult by itself.

 

[SunKissedFlock]

The more you respond to the poult's cries, the worse it will get. It really isn't a good idea to try to raise a single poult by itself.

My son has been wanting to raise a turkey from poult for the last 2 years. It is through school to sell at the county fair next year. My son has raised 2 the past 2 years but they have been 6 wks at the youngest because no one has newborn turkeys in September. He saw Shepplers had bronze poults and was insistent. We cannot have turkeys were we are and he can only sell one animal. Hoping this little guy will get along with the chickens until he can go on the school farm but i had no idea how needy he would be. Of course my son has spent every waking moment with him and now that he is in school the poult is NUTS. Right now I have him wrapped in a towel and he nestled in the crook of my neck and is finally sleeping but if he thinks I am moving to leave him he wakes up and starts the loud chirp cry.. I just feel so bad because he is alone but maybe I am making it worse!

 

[R2elk]

My son has been wanting to raise a turkey from poult for the last 2 years. It is through school to sell at the county fair next year. My son has raised 2 the past 2 years but they have been 6 wks at the youngest because no one has newborn turkeys in September. He saw Shepplers had bronze poults and was insistent. We cannot have turkeys were we are and he can only sell one animal. Hoping this little guy will get along with the chickens until he can go on the school farm but i had no idea how needy he would be. Of course my son has spent every waking moment with him and now that he is in school the poult is NUTS. Right now I have him wrapped in a towel and he nestled in the crook of my neck and is finally sleeping but if he thinks I am moving to leave him he wakes up and starts the loud chirp cry.. I just feel so bad because he is alone but maybe I am making it worse!

You are making it worse.

 

[bonjourbunnie]

I have had success keeping my poults happy using mirrors and radios. Less pacing, no crying for me (unless the radio loses signal ), and more time being turkeys doing turkey stuff together. I would think the mirror would be especially helpful in single poult situations, as it will create the illusion of another turkey around. If you are using a mirror and a heat lamp, I'd make sure the mirror is not being directly struck by the heat lamp at all, or maybe just not use one. Refraction makes fire happen.

Adding roosts and activities has also decreased their interest in me, not to say that they still don't want to occasionally sit with me when I'm out with them. They are still very keen on warmth, after all, lol.

 

[Finnie]

Just because your son can only sell one animal, doesn’t mean you can’t raise a couple more with it and sell those yourself on Craigslist. Just an idea, if it helps. If you raise 2 or 3 to go with the first one, whoever buys the 2 or 3 won’t have to worry about theirs not having friends when they buy them.

I don’t think you should have any trouble selling turkeys on CL. You can also try (cryptically) on a Facebook poultry group. But not on Marketplace.