WATERY DROPPINGS

[mightymax]

I am currently raising 2 turkey poults. This is the first time that I've tried raising them. They're about a month old and all has been going well while I've been brooding them in our spare bathroom. Until today. Today they flew down to the tile floor and released only what I can describe as watery brown puddles of what I'm assuming to be fecal matter. Is this normal? There wasn't a lot of it, about the size of a silver dollar and it only occurred twice. My question is...do they excrete urine like that or are they sick? They eat and drink plenty of water, aren't fluffed up and appear alert. I have only seen their firmer feces before, but since they are still in a brooder, with shavings, I may have overlooked these droppings before. I worry, because it seems that everything I read tends to make me believe that turkeys don't have very good immune systems. Any help as to what to do or what it could be will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[ivan3]

You probably overlooked the soaked up (gee, I want to get alliterative here) `fecal matter'. Since they are otherwise `alert & oriented' don't worry too much - just keep a closer eye on the poop.

 

[mightymax]

Thanks, but here have been a few more"episodes" since my first post. So right now I have them on a tarp on the bathroom floor so I can monitor them more closely for this issue. Hopefully, it will turn out to be just like you say. But what if it's not. I always like to be cautiously prepared and not be surprised when it comes to my animals health and well-being.

 

[ivan3]

Have you had them outside on the ground? Changed the feed?

 

[mightymax]

I haven't changed their feed, but I did just start putting them out on a clean, fenced in area of grass two days ago. And it's been in the 90 here, but they had shade and water. Did I mess up?

 

[ivan3]

Nope. Probably grass & the occasional bug added to the GI tract. You could keep them inside for a couple of days to see if the droppings return to `normal' and they remain in fine fettle. If so, return to `grazing' daily.

If the droppings do not return to normal, or if droppings become smellier, post that up.

 

[mightymax]

Thanks Ivan3!!! I was planning on doing that anyway (keeping them inside for a few days), but it's always nice to have someone else with more experience confirm my judgement. I'll let you know if they get worse, otherwise I'll give an update in a few days. Thanks for all your interest and help.

 

[Koeyohte]

My BRs would get watery matter when they were moved, or went somewhere new (moved from my closet into the living room tile). The urine is actually the white stuff in the firmer droppings. It could be what was mentioned above, could also have been "stress," related (surprise, elevated interest and concern at being in a new place).