Turkey Poults in Heat Wave

[tremayne]

My daughter is raising four turkey poults as an FFA project. It's our first time with poultry of any kind. The poults are 5 weeks old and have done really well so far. They're getting too big to have in the house any longer, but we're in the midst of a major heat wave here in central California. It'll be 100 degrees plus until next week, then the temps are supposed to go down into the high 90s. Still very hot, but that's our summer weather here.

We've had the poults in the house since we got them and my worry is that they'll die if we just take them out to the school farm without a gradual adjustment to the heat. The school farm has a chain link enclosure for them, but no fans or misters to help cope with the heat.

Any ideas on how to get the poults ready for life in the outdoors? I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks for any help, in advance.

Anna

 

[ColbyNTX]

I guess they are still under a heat lamp, if so they should be able to go right out. I live in Texas and it has been that hot here and I havent had any problems. Just make sure they have good shade and water. You could put a fan where they could get in fromt of it and out of it if they need. Just watch them and see if they look stressed as it heats up.

 

[tremayne]

The poults haven't been under a lamp for several weeks now. They've gotten used to the cooler weather in the house, which is what causes concern.

I've moved them to a room in the house that's warmer by about 7-10 degrees warmer than the room they were in before and maybe I can find a way for them to be outside for a couple of hours a day while the temps are lower. It's going to take a while to get them acclimated.

It's just too funny with these giant birds in a homemade turkey playpen in the family room.

Thanks for your help. I'll look into getting a fan.

Anna

 

[mbnewby]

they should do just fine to the heat we gett majour temp swings her the other day in washington state 97 in the late afternoon and then down to 70 by midnight and the next day we was abck up to 80 then down to 65 the enxt day and they didnt even flinch

 

[thaiturkey]

If they overheat you will see them gasping. That's the time to move them to somewhere cooler. As has already been suggested, keep them outdoors with shade and heat but watch for the gasping. The other thing to look for with poults in hot weather is rain and a sudden drop in temperature. If they get wet and cold it can be fatal. Always make sure that they have shelter from rain.

 

[pdpatch]

Sound like it would be difficult to take them out for a little bit each day to help them adjust.

Make sure the School farm has shade, we have a large piece of a tarp put up for our poults, it blocks the sun from about 11:00 in the morning till sunset. There cage or pen should be on dirt, and under shade, when the sit down they get some cooling from the ground. Make sure they get plenty of water and feed. They will pant and hopefully hold there wing up to help them selves cool down, it's normal for them to pant in hot weather, but not to much. Although some people use small wading pools to help cool them down I would not with young poults as when they nap there heads droop down and the could drown. Cool night help them recover from the stress, they need this recover period so they can grow.

If there is no or little breeze you can use battery operated fans, if there is no electricity near by, to help. You can also place a block of ice in front of the fan to get more cold air.

Tom