turkey trouble

[OsirisO]

Hello everyone. My name is Erich and this is my first and hopefully successful endeavor into chicken keeping. I started about 2 months ago. Im a Canadian living in South Spain. Ive redently moved from the night life of Mallorca to a finca(farm) here on the mainland. I have started a cornfield on my 2 acres and have constructed a 50' × 50' enclosure for the chickens. There rooofed house is 15' x 10'. I have 20 laying portals and room for around 40 chickens. I have made various perches fot them to hang out on. So far I have 24 chickens of various age and 2 turkeys. M chickens are of various local breeds. My turkeys are bbb's. As of a couple days ago one of my turkeys can not stand up. As he is only around 3 months old I am undecided if I should process him or try and keep him fed and watered and moved every few hours. I have him in a seperate enclosure now Nd have been trying my best. He eats and drinks and poops accordingly but his quality of life is deminished. Any thoughts out there? Will he be content to grow till christmas? Should I cut my loses and enjoy him now? On the lighter note, my chickens are doin well and give about 3 to 6 eggs a day. Some are still young but I assume he number will increase over the next 4 weeks. Anyway thanks for reading and hope to see all around backyardchickens.com.

 

[wellstongirl12]

here u might need this:
Turkey poults love heat. They will be happiest if you keep their brooder temperature at 95-100 degrees for the first week, then lower the temperature by about 5 degrees per week until they are fully feathered, approximately 6-8 weeks old. They will still appreciate a heat lamp at night for a few weeks after this period if the nights are cool. You can tell if they are comfortable by the way they arrange themselves in the brooder: all clumped under the heat source, they are too cold; all far away from the heat source, they are too hot; spread all over the brooder, they are comfortable. They will also cheep if they are cold or ill, and will be fairly quiet if they are happy. Always make sure they have room to get away from the heat.
Turkeys need higher protein than Chickens. The poults will need a 28% protein starter for the first 6-8 weeks. After that you can change them over to a feed with an 18% protein. Never feed them layer pellets, as the calcium level is too high for growing birds. When they are about 3 weeks old, you can start sprinkling a little chick grit on their feed. Do not give them scratch until they are at least 8 weeks old, then you can give them a little as a treat. When the hens begin to lay they should have free choice access to grit and oyster shell. They will appreciate greens, bread, garden trimmings and other treats as well.Keep them clean and dry. Pine shavings or rice hulls make good bedding. Never brood them on slick surfaces like newspaper. Never give a turkey poult cold water, as it can kill them. (Cold water can be deadly to turkey poults) The water should always be lukewarm, and it is a good idea to add a vitamin and electrolyte supplement to their water. You can also get them eating and drinking well by placing shiny colored marbles in the feed and water to get their attention. Change waterers daily or when they get dirty.
Hope your turkey feels better

 

[OsirisO]

Thank you for all your great info.

 

[Champion Farm]

Hi we have had many poults we actually hatch them royals and bourbons but when they are not standing give them 2 weeks tops and if they still aren't doing well I would say it is time to take them out. We put down a male who broke his leg but I am against eating turkey meat so we buried him. I think even if he is young in two week if he is not getting any better it's time to brochure him. If he shows any signs if starting to get better within those 2 weeks then give him some more time he might be starting to get better slowly. I hope I helped! Good luck i hope your turkey gets Better!

 

[neverbdone]

My experience with BBBs is once the go down they do not get up. I have fed and watered one and moved him twice a day for 3 months till processing day, but it is a lot of work when they get big. And, the bad leg dressed out half the size as his good leg. It was a tough life for him, but he seemed happy. I have had several others go down that haven't survived but a week or two. I now only feed BBBs straight chicken feed. No extras or corn and no high protein. They have done much better and I haven't had any go down for several years now. Hens are around 30 lbs and Toms 40ish by Thanksgiving. Good luck.

 

[OsirisO]

Thank you for all your feed back. I cut my losses and processed him. I found even with moving him twice a day a putting new bedding he was starting to get sores. Anyway I'm all the wiser now and have changed my yard to accommodate both the chickens food needs and the turkeys. The female turkey that came with the male is still walking and growing and i have put her on the 18% protien food along with three new ones I purchased. The new ones are 6 weeks as that seems to be the youngest I can find to purchase in town. I think getting them a little older is better for me as the mortality rate goes way up after 5 weeks, or so I have read. The only Turkeys available are the BBB and one I will insert a pic of. As my Spanish is not so great The only description I get is "turkey white" and "turkey black". If you know the breed please let me know.