Raising turkeys is a little trickier than chickens, they seem to be better at doing themselves harm. They need a heat lamp like chicks do, but their feed, water and bedding are all quite different. To really grow into top quality table birds, it is best to feed turkeys on turkey crumbs that have a protein content of 27 - 28%. This is really hard to find, most feed merchants supply crumbs with only a 25% or 26% protein content. I have had to buy organic feed at great expense. In terms of water, obviously clean water is clean water but turkeys need really clean water. Young birds make such a mess in their water, poop and muck and feed etc. Quill do these waterers that hang from the roof of the brooder and have little nipple type things, that are metal and shiny and so attract the birds to peck at them, when they are pecked at a few drops of water come out and so the bird drinks really clean water. I was quite sceptical at first, I didn't think that an animal that didn't suckle would have the instinct to drink in this way, but they all do. It is so much easier than having to empty, clean and re fill the traditional water containers.
With bedding, turkey poults up to around 9 weeks can't be bedded on straw or shavings because they eat it and it stuffs up their digestive systems, which can be fatal. One evening we were moving bales of straw in the garage and a small piece of straw wafted into the turkey brooder. Sure enough, a little turkey picked it up and I watched in horror as it ate it whole. "Its eaten some straw" I shrieked. Anyway, it obviously takes more than one piece of straw to kill a poult as it is still fine.
They are actually bedded on corrugated cardboard, the uneven surface stops the birds legs from splaying and they do not seem keen on eating it. The only problem is, whilst the cardboard absorbs some of the moisture form the turkeys, their poo does seem to get stuck to their feet. The heat lamp is keeping the temp so warm in the brooder (around 90 degrees) that the poo drys on their feet and sticks there. I'm not sure whether to soak it off or not, I'll keep an eye on it in case any one of the turkeys had poo stuck right round one of their claws, because this may cause it to drop off and become infected.
Apparently the first 2 weeks of their lives are crucial. We are just going into week 2 so lets see how this week goes. We had a power cut in Furneux Pelham one evening this week and by 9pm I was getting seriously worried about the turkeys; they were all trying to lie on top of each other to keep warm because the heat lamp had gone off. I was concerned that they would be too cold over night without the lamp and also that they may end up smothering each other in an attempt to keep warm, so we decided to put them into small boxes in groups of 6 and bring them into the house to sleep in front of the gas fire. We had just finished boxing them up when the power came back on, but in doing so we counted 26 poults! I only paid for 25, a little bonus turkey!
xx
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