We will call her "Surprise"... if she lives!

[MamaBear46]

How is Surprise doing?

 

[HEChicken]

I've just read this thread for the first time and found it very interesting. I want to get some turkeys at some point! I'm curious about your frequent mentions of scratch - it sounds as though you use it as a staple part of their diet. It really shouldn't be much more than a treat, as it is a sort of "candy" for chickens and if it is too high a portion of their diet, they can end up malnourished due to not eating enough of their layer food. In three years, I've bought just one 25lb bag of scratch and doled out a handful once a week or so to give them something interesting to peck at. When that bag ran out, I've never got around to getting any more. By the sound of things, you are feeding quite a bit of scratch and you might want to consider cutting down. Probably the best diet for a Mama Hen is to just let her eat the chick starter, or give them both a grower formula. She doesn't even really need the extra calcium that is in the layer feed at this point, since she is not producing a daily egg. Since your "chick" is actually a poult and the best diet for turkeys is turkey starter or gamebird starter, (higher in protein than chick starter), I would put out a bowl of that for both of them, and call it good.

 

[debir1966]

MamaBear46: She is doing well, thank you so much for asking! She is so dinky but I only have the broad breasted whites to compare her to, but I think I see that she has grown, a little bit! LOL

HEChicken: Hello! Thank you for your input, every bit of advise is very appreciated! We do feed scratch almost daily to our hens, we throw a handful out on the ground when we let them out of the coop in the morning, probably 4-5 days a week. They have free choice access to laymash, but they do not eat much of it, even on the days we don't feed scratch, they are free-ranging and spend most of their time eating "other things" LOL (they spend alot of time in the horse pen!). I also give them produce scrap when I have some, which also gets thrown out on the ground in the morning when I let them out. If I have produce scrap to give them, I don't give them scratch that day. I haven't read up on not giving them scratch, my Mom always threw out some to her chickens.

The Momma Hen and poult have a bowl of high protein starter and I have thrown out a small handful of scratch to them a couple times. They didn't even clean it up, there is still some where I threw it the last time so I have not given them anymore yet. Our laymash is not the typical crumble or pellets, it is a feed-mill grind they make at a small mill we buy our food at, it has everything in it they need, including oyster shell, and looks quite a bit like the scratch (with corn and wheat, etc). I will be sure to ask them about the scratch feeding as they raise their own turkeys, chickens, meat chickens, etc and I have learned alot from them already. Thanks for the heads-up!

I will try and get another pic tomorrow morning... I would like to catch her and get her used to handling, but I don't like to stress Momma Hen or the poult too much.

 

[debir1966]

Just wanted to pop in with a quick update for anyone who may be curious I have not been able to get any good pics yet, either I forget my camera and they are out running around or I remember my camera and the poult is tucked in under Momma Hen!

But they are doing great! The poult is about 2 1/2 weeks old now and eating well. I am going to keep them in the small run for a few more weeks, until I feel more confident that the poult will survive free-ranging. Momma Hen is very attentive and is being a great mother. I am just tickled with how our first fostering has gone, especially considering all the circumstances!

I will post pics as soon as I get some, and post updates occassionally. It is nice to have a record of all that has happened starting with 22 turkey eggs!

Thank you everyone for your interest, well wishes and comments! It is great to have a place to go for support and ideas when facing something new.

 

[MamaBear46]

I am so happy for you! would love to see pics when the pair decidethe baby is ready to show off

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Hooray, congrats- remember your part momma too! Will check in from time to time to see a pic!

 

[debir1966]

I finally remembered the camera on a day that the poult was out and about Didn't get great pics, Momma Hen was keeping the baby behind her pretty much the whole time (she is such a good momma!).
It took forever but I can definitely see that the little dude(tte) is growing!

 

[MamaBear46]

They look so wonderful! I am happy for you all!

 

[debir1966]

Well, Surprise is doing surprisingly well No clue still as to what breed she might be, or if she is a mutt Any guesses would be fun!

 

[debir1966]