Must Do's for Healthy, Thriving Turkey Poults
- Shaneen Smith
- Nov 1, 2021
- 12 min read
Caring for turkey poults is both rewarding and stressful. Constant feeding, watering, making sure they are happy, checking on them when they are chirping loudly - loosing sleep - it is close to the equivalent of raising a human baby.
There is so much to learn. Raising poultry is both a confidence builder and breaker. Every situation is different. This is not a step by step guide on how to raise poults. We have learned from our mistakes and we are documenting them here for our future reference, and who know's maybe the experiences and knowledge we've gained could help others too. If at anytime you need professional guidance, please check with your veterinarian.
We found it very helpful to join a community like www.backyardchickens.com/forums to speak with other like minded poultry enthusiasts for tips and advice. They sure have helped us alot!
Animal Health Centre for Disease Testing
If you have a mortality within your flock and you are at a loss as to why, it is helpful to have the bird tested. The fresher the carcass the better. You can send them frozen however, it is always best to send a bird that has just passed. I highly recommend going this route to take out the guess work of what could be making your birds sick or causing mortality.
Insidious Coccidiosis
Alot of people have the idea that raising poults with an unmedicated feed is a great option! And it really is - but your animal husbandry better be top notch. If you choose not to offer them protection with a medicated feed be sure you can recognize the signs of the insidious coccidiosis.
Amprolium (AMP)
If you choose not to feed your birds a medicated feed, it might be a good idea to have some on hand if coccidia takes hold on a weekend when you cant get ahold of your vet!
Why would you need AMP? Coccidiosis, it is everywhere literally, you can't run from it. Your brooder may be exceptionally clean, but once you you unknowingly track coccidia into your brooder or your babies touch dirt, coccidiosis will take hold - but if you were prepared and took preventive precautions with a medicated feed, you should not need Amporlium.
Symptoms of Coccidiosis include drooping wings, standing with head down or hunched and looking fluffed up, bloody manure, lethargy. The mortality rate with coccidiosis is high in baby poults. Some young poultry can survive it and will become stronger with resistance. The most widely used treatment for coccidiosis is Amprolium, which blocks the parasite's ability to uptake and multiply. Amprolium is an organic chloride salt used for the prevention of coccidiosis in poultry. It has a role as a coccidiostat.
This medication should not be used as a substitute for good animal husbandry.
Learn more about Amprolium
Learn more about Coccidiosis
Vitamins
Are they necessary? The short answer 'yes'. The long answer: Common illnesses and issues with small home raised flocks typically relate to poor feeding programs which lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Vitamins and minerals are very important components of a poults diet. On a large scale, commercial growers formulate their own feed tailored to their flocks to avoid deficiencies. If you are not large scale formulating your own feed, using a product such as Poultry-Vite added to water is quick, easy and effective. I use Poul-Vite as soon as I put my birds into their brooder from day one (do not to over concentrate Poul-Vite).
You can find these products at your local feed store, and you can easily find them online for purchase.
1 - 14 Day Old Poults
Housing: We raise our poults in the house for 14 days. You want to avoid temperature fluctuations at all costs!
Heat / Temperature: An area for them that reaches 95 Degrees Celsius, with a Heat Lamp or Brooder Plate so they can zip in and out from the heat source as often as they please. Every week lower the "hot spot' by 5 degrees until they're off heat.
Bedding: Use puppy pee pads for bedding for the first 3 days. The reason for this is so they do not eat shavings, and the pad texture offer good grip. If their footing is slippery they could develop spraddle leg.
Food: Use 25% Chick Pre Starter, do not use shortcuts in regards to their food. Ask your local feed store if they can bring in organic or non-gmo chick starter if you choose.
Water: Fresh water at room temperature with Poul-Vite added. We add marbles into their water dish so there is no chance they will drench or drown themselves. Show each poult where their water is. I dip their beak into water, then put them near their food.
Space: Ensure each poult has a 10" x 10" space.
Tips & Tricks: Introduce pine shavings on day 3. Add shavings on one side of their brooder, keep food in a bare area with little to no shavings (otherwise it gets mixed into their food and water)
14 - 21 Day Old Poults
Heat: 90 Degrees Celsius in a draft free room.
Bedding: Use large flake pine shavings. At this stage your poults are less likely to eat shavings (that could cause crop impaction). Stir the shavings one to two times daily, ensure their litter is always dry and cleaned as often as necessary.
Food: Continue to use 25% Chick Pre Starter, do not use shortcuts in regards to their food.
Water: Fresh water often, Poul-Vite once a week in water.
Space: Ensure each poult has a 12" x 12" space and gradually increase the area the live in so they are not over crowded. Crowding can cause pileups and raises the chances of disease.
Tips & Tricks: Raise food and water to 4 to 6 inches - this will help keep their water clean.
21 Day Old Poults
Heat: 85 Degrees Celsius in a draft free room is preferred.
Bedding: Pine shavings. Stir pine shavings twice a day and change as often as needed. Keep litter clean.
Food: 20% protein feed.
Water: Fresh water often, Poul-Vite once a week in water.
Tips & Tricks: Raise food and water to 8 to 10 inches - this will help keep their water clean.
Be prepared for illness or injury.
Have one main pen for healthy birds
Have one separate pen for birds that are injured or sick.
Towels
Heating pad (if you have one) - if you need to wrap a sick poult.
Flashlight just incase
Syringes
Turkey are very social birds. Aside from what you may have heard, they are incredibly smart, curious and full of character. They make excellent additions to a farm. For those of you experienced with brooding day old chicks, the primary differences in brooding poults are:
Poults are slower to learn where to eat and drink, so help them out!
Poults are more apt to pile up in corners and smother each other - ensure the brooder temperature is ideal.
Poults are more easily frightened, try to reduce stimuli.
Poults get 'chilled' easily - no drafts, no wet litter.
Poult Behavior
For the first week of raising turkey poults, you’ll notice they sleep for hours at a time. Sleep will be followed by short periods of time of brisk activity, and then more sleep. Happy, healthy poults will be active when awake and will tend to move a short distance away from you or your hand as it enters the brooder. Young toms are usually bolder and will be the first to stand their ground or to peck at a new object.
Keep an eye on illness!
Poults that are lethargic usually are suffering from something such as too little to drink, too little to eat, a bacterial infection (in the case of a poult whose navel do not seal up completely prior to hatch), too little warmth, or a brooder disease like coccidiosis.
Brooding Area
When raising turkey poults, have a building clean and ready for the poults with brooders up to temperature and running for a minimum of 48 hours to ensure their living quarters are optimal.
For baby 'day olds' ensure thleir brooder is centrally located in your house/coop/or whenever you have chosen to brood them, just ensure there are no major drafts and temperature fluctuations.
Pile Ups & Suffocation
Having the brooding area rounded (no corners) will help significantly reduce pile-ups. Use of a round barrier, shaped into a ring around the brooder, made of cardboard or wire, is important to keep the poults near the brooder, feed, and water for the first week. The brooder ring can be moved back gradually as the poults grow — each week the ring is enlarged so as to give the poults more room and they are encouraged to spend more time outside the brooder by moving the waters and feeders further out as well.
Brooder temperature should be 95 degrees Fahrenheit and the poults should have the ability to move away from the heat source to prevent overheating. The general rule of thumb is to reduce the temperature of the brooder by 5 degrees (F) per week, though many producers maintain one brooder temperature and simply give the poults more space away from the brooder. The heat source for the brooder is usually suspended, often 18 to 24 inches above the bedding material. Care must be taken to ensure the bedding is not over-heated as fire can result. When brooder temperature is ideal for raising turkey poults, they will spread out with some under the brooder, some outside it. When too hot, the poults will tend to lay in a ring as far away from the brooder as possible. When the brooder temperature is too low, the poults will lay in a tight group under the brooder.
Feeders and Waterers
The brooder should contain more than one waterer and feeder, and these should be spread out evenly so that all poults will have equal access to food and water. Waterers should be placed on platforms of screen or slats nailed to a wooden frame to raise the waterer above the shavings. Waterers should have a narrow lip containing the water; this style of lip prevents the poults from becoming wet and then possibly dying from chilling. Open water containers should not be used as poults can drown in open water bowls and pans. Newspapers should be placed around the feeders to prevent the poults from eating shavings.
Pay Close Attention!
For the first few days of a poult’s life, there are a few things we need to pay close attention to.
we need to worry about dehydration, chilling, crop impaction, wet litter, and pile-ups. These are the issues that most often lead to complications and death.
#1 Dehydration
It is the #1 killer of poults in the first three days! Be sure to dip each poult’s beak in the water as you place them into the brooder. Some poults will learn to drink and then will teach the rest. Check your poults every few hours for the first three days. Any that seem sluggish should have their bills dipped in the water to be sure they are drinking.
#2 Chilling
Ensure your brooder is set at the proper temperature. Pay close attention to your poults every few hours the first three days to ensure that they all spend time under the brooder; if you find a few resting away from it, move them under the brooder by hand.
#3 Crop impaction
Crop impaction is a result of eating the bedding, usually comprised of pine shavings, instead of the feed. To help prevent poults from mistaking shavings for feed, it is a good idea to place newspaper under the feeders for the first week. Some producers use boards or cardboard under the feeders for the first week or two. The idea is to prevent feed from spilling and mixing with the shavings so that the poults do not accidentally eat shavings.
#4 Wet Litter
The care of the bedding material is probably the single most overlooked aspect of good husbandry during the brooding phase of a poult’s life. Wet litter in a brooder is simply a “No-No.” The brooder area is warm and the addition of moisture leads to the perfect conditions for the breeding of disease-causing organisms. Moisture and warmth also cause the bedding and accumulated droppings to release ammonia. Wet bedding can cause poults to chill from their breasts as they lay even while their backs are warmed by the heat source. The simple act of stirring the litter helps the carbon of the bedding material trap gasses, like ammonia, and decreases moisture buildup. Stir the brooder litter more often.
#5 Pileups
Pileups are the result of the poults’ natural instinct to huddle together to stay warm or seek security. Pileups occur during brooding when the poults are too cold, when the brooder is too hot and poults cannot get as far away from the heat as they would like, and when they are frightened by strange people, dogs, predators, loud noises or brightly colored clothing. Use boards or cardboard to “round out” corners in the brooder/brooder house as a part of pile-up prevention. Rounding out the corners gives fewer locations where a turkey poult can become trapped. Light is helpful as a preventive as poults tend to pile up more frequently in the dark.
A Few Helpful Tips
Shallow Containers for Feed and Water
Place feed in low containers such as a shoe box lid, a paper plate, or even a pie pan. Glass marbles are an excellent tool to use, their shiny appearance will attract the curious poults and cause the natural behaviour of pecking, and thus eating and drinking. Place marbles in their feeders, on top of the feed, and in the waterers. Remove the marbles once the poults are about 7 days old. Be sure to disinfect the marbles between batches of poults.
Use Baby Chicks as Helpers
Chicks can be used as teachers for poults. Chicks from a disease-free source, and which have not yet been exposed to soil, cannot infect your turkeys with a disease. But they can be used to help the curious young poults learn what is good to eat and where to drink. When it comes to raising turkey poults in multiples, you may add a poult that is two or three weeks older than your day olds to act as teacher poult. The day old poults will see such teachers as surrogate mothers and will tend to follow their lead.
Leave the light on!
Poults need a great deal of light. Keep a 100 Watt bulb on in brooder room for the first week day and night, to help the poults find food and water. Light stimulates the thymus gland, causing hormone production, contributing to both good health and proper growth in young birds. Light can be an aid in preventing pileups.
Roosting
Poults should be encouraged to roost at an early age. From the first week on, most producers will provide access to a low roost so that poults can fly up to explore and to satisfy their natural instinct to roost. A roost also has the benefit of reducing the feeling of crowding by reducing the number of birds actually on the floor at any given time. Plan to allow a minimum of 4 inches of roosting space for each poult. Important is to keep the roost low, maybe six inches from the floor, to start and as the poults’ grow their wing feathers, raise the roost to a foot or more.
Maturing Poults
Poults become strong and large quickly by the end of the first three weeks. Be prepared to change to large, harder to knock over feeders and waters. Anticipate this need and their increasing quantities of food and water.
By three weeks juvenile flight feathers will have fully emerged. At this time you will know that you have passed one of the major points in a young turkey’s life. The next period of concern when raising turkey poults is when they reach eight weeks and are first introduced to pasture. To give the young poults more space and more fresh air, many producers used to use sun porches in conjunction with their brooder house. Poults should have their first, full set of feathers before letting out onto the sun porch — they should be roughly 4 weeks old or older. A sun porch for turkeys is an outdoor area enclosed with wire on the sides and roofing, and with a wire floor to raise the turkeys off the ground. Use a sun porch at least the same size as the house at this time and encourage the poults to use it.
After eight weeks, poults may be fed a ration lower in protein. Grains can be fed along with the same higher protein mash, but in different hoppers so as to prevent billing out mash to get to the grain.
Feed Oats
Oats and corn are excellent grains for turkeys. Oats, in particular, are excellent and help turkeys grow strong bones, thus prevent bone deformities, as well as prevent feather picking.
From Brooder to Pasture
Since turkeys take some time to develop their immune system, we strive to keep them off the ground for the first twelve weeks. The best way to being raising turkey poults to pasture is to fence an area adjoining the building the poults are in and open a door to give them access. In this way, the poults still have the security of their brooder house and the warmth of the brooder available as needed. On day two, place half of their waterers and feeders outside to help encourage them to explore. On day three or four, place a movable outdoor roost into this fenced area. By day five, most of the poults should be spending considerable time outside; move the remaining feeders and waterers outside and from this point on, move some of them a little further out each day. By day five you will begin to see poults roosting at night outside — this is perfectly all right unless unusually cold and wet weather arrives. If the roost has a roof, and the poults have hardened off, then it is ideal to let them decide when to live outdoors instead of in. Usually, within a week or so, all the poults will be sleeping outside. At this point close the door and slowly begin your pasture rotation.
Conclusion
The first three weeks of raising turkey poults is the most challenging. Empty and refill the waterers twice per day.
Stir the litter in the brooder at least once a day. Each time you visit, remove heavily soiled litter and replace with clean shavings. Success with turkey is dependent upon mastering good brooder husbandry.
Observation is the key element to good husbandry. Watch your turkey, often, and spend time with them. Learn their natural behaviors. Identify odd behavior — such as a lone turkey standing by itself, possibly in a corner. If you can raise your turkeys past the brooder stage up to the period of moving them to pasture, then you have passed most of biggest challenges to raising turkeys.
Our goal is to raise of our animals ethically and offer them the best lives possible. We choose to learn from our mistakes, document them for our future reference, and who knows, maybe our blog can help others in their farming journey!
~ Cariboo Blue Farm
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