Raising Poults
(baby turkeys)
By; Susan Gardner

Whether you plan on buying hatched poults or hatching your own, here are a few "ground rules" that might help your experience to be a rewarding one. Hatching eggs: Turkey eggs do not ship well, so if you plan on purchasing eggs to hatch that will need to be shipped, keep in mind that your hatch rate most likely will be much lower than what is usual for your incubator. Incubate them as you would chicken eggs, keeping your temperature at 100E, humidity relatively high, (60% relative humidity, up to 65 - 70% on hatching day) turning them 3 - 4 times a day (stop turning 3 days before hatch.) Turkeys hatch in 25 - 28 days. Mortality: Whether you hatch eggs or buy poults, baby turkeys tend to be pretty fragile during the first 3-4 weeks of their lives, even more so than chicks, since they are especially susceptible to chills, malnutrition, and who knows what sometimes. Signs of trouble are listlessness, drooping wings, constant peeping, or trouble walking or standing. When they get sick, they often die very quickly - within a few hours of the first signs of trouble. Do the best you can for them, but don’t beat yourself up if you lose some. Heat requirements: Newly hatched poults should be kept in a brooder for a minimum of 3 weeks, or longer depending on your geographical location and conditions. For the first week in the brooder, the temperature should be kept at about 100E, after that the temperature should be lowered 5E each week until they are old enough to leave the brooder.  Poults cannot stand to be chilled, so watch them carefully for any signs that they are cold, such as constantly huddling close together, shivering, or wings starting to droop. They also should not be overheated, either. You can tell that they are too hot when they move away from the heat source, or start panting. Feed: Poults need a higher protein starter feed than chicks, so turkey starter should be used if it is available, otherwise game bird starter is fine, and it should be available to them at all times. However, the main problem you will encounter won’t be finding the right kind of food, but getting the little poults to figure out that they are supposed to eat it. (Poults are definitely not intellectually "gifted".) I would strongly recommend putting a couple of chicken babies in with them as soon the poults go into the brooder, preferably chicks that are close to the same age as the poults. The chicks do a wonderful job of keeping the poults headed in the right direction and interested in the food. If it isn’t possible to put chicks in with them, then shiny objects of some sort should be placed in the feed dish and the water dish, such as shiny silver marbles, or even coins. This will get their attention, but you will still probably have to tap repeatedly on the dishes to get the poults to peck at them. You will need to do this very frequently if chicks are not provided, otherwise the poults just may not eat enough to thrive. (That’s why I absolutely prefer putting chicks in with them, since I usually am not available every 10 minutes or so to keep tapping on feed dishes!) Water: As with any poultry, clean water must be available to your poults at all times, and use a container that will be difficult for them to spill and that they cannot drown in. Again, put shiny marbles in the water dish to get their attention and encourage them to drink. Bedding: Because of the considerable weight their legs will have to bear when they are grown, a non-slip surface is essential for all baby turkeys. To prevent leg problems, newspaper alone should never be used as a bedding, and the poults should not be allowed to walk on linoleum or hardwood floors. Their bedding must also be as dust-free as possible, so hay should be avoided since it has dust that will irritate their eyes and sinuses. For the first several days, I use a towel laid on the bottom of the brooder, and shake it out and clean it as often as necessary - at least daily. As they grow and that starts getting too messy, I put cedar shavings / bedding in their brooder. (I usually don’t use the shavings with the turkeys until they are nearly a week old because I have found them to be a little more likely to eat them than other poultry, which can cause impaction.) Sand can be used also. Leaving the brooder: Once they are old enough to leave the brooder, the poults are still not old enough to be left alone outside to free-range, since they are still young enough to fall prey to virtually every kind of predator - cats, rats, snakes, hawks, crows, dogs, possums, raccoons, skunks, other poultry, etc. Therefore I usually have a small, secure yard for them, separate from older birds, where they can scratch around and enjoy the outdoors without as much threat from predators. They should not be left outside at night until they are old enough to fend for themselves - around 3-4 months. Until then, they can be kept in a warm cage or crate at night and allowed back out in their yard during the day. While all this may sound complicated, I hope you won’t be discouraged from raising turkeys, since what it really boils down to is using common sense, keeping them safe, warm and well fed, and they in return will reward you ten times over with their quiet affection and humorous antics. Enjoy. This article was written for educational use only on The Gander Gab sites. For further use of this article contact Turkey's Rule : [email protected]