Two week old poult no growing like others

[Baybrio]

I have five two week old turkey poults one is lagging behind the others in growth and has been since I got them from the commercial hatchery.

My question is for people that have had a "runt". Did it make it too adulthood. Was it just smaller in adulthood? I understand if there is something actually wrong, like it's not able to process food it eats that at some point it will likely go down hill.

They are in a brand new brooder with new waterer and feeder. It's poop is normal. It eats with the others, no pushing it out of the way. The only difference I can see is it spends more time under the heat. Not a lot more, just a bit more. Not surprising since it's smaller.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

They are in a brand new brooder with new waterer and feeder. It's poop is normal. It eats with the others,

Of course it could just be a difference in genetics which also includes gender.

Since I don't know your experience level I ask what are you feeding? Is it a gamebird/turkey starter feed? Many have mistakenly fed chick starter. Have you introduced a source of grit to the brooder yet?

My only runty experience may be with chickens and very few at that, and I would say no they never caught up and were harvested/culled from breeding stock.

It is also entirely possible for a different breed to have gotten mixed in from hatchery.. say a heritage or small white instead of a broad breasted.

Hope it continues to thrive despite slower development!

 

[Baybrio]

Of course it could just be a difference in genetics which also includes gender.

Since I don't know your experience level I ask what are you feeding? Is it a gamebird/turkey starter feed? Many have mistakenly fed chick starter. Have you introduced a source of grit to the brooder yet?.

My only runty experience may be with chickens and very few at that, and I would say no they never caught up and were harvested/culled from breeding stock.

It is also entirely possible for a different breed to have gotten mixed in from hatchery.. say a heritage or small white instead of a broad breasted.

Hope it continues to thrive despite slower development!

Thank you for giving me some ideas. I really appreciate the input!

I am feeding them game bird starter which is 30% protein for this brand.

I have not added grit. The starter indicates it has grit. Maybe this poult needs more.

I hope it's not gender - that would mean out of 5 it's the only female.
Maybe the males grow slower-that would be better, 4 female and 1 male.
These are Narragansett poults, I should have mentioned that. The only poults it could have been mixed up with would be heritage or broadbreasted bronze. I've only raised Narragansett, I'm not familiar with the different growth rates. I would guess different growth rates among the heritage varieties would depend on genetics of the parent stock. The heritage bronze should finish a bit larger than the Narragansett but that doesn't mean their growth rate is the same.

So far so good. It's not lagging behind any further than it was. My fingers are crossed.