Turkey

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Turkey

Posted : 4/29/2007 2:27:09 AM

well.... almost. its a turkey baby... chick.. what ever you call them.
my mom bought some day old turkey chicks a few days ago and
for some reason all but one died..... and he looked like he was on
his last legs today. i decided to take him to my place. i felt so bad for
him being all alone. he was shivering and covered in food and water.
they arent known for being the smartest creatures. its always been
said that if its raining, a turkey chick will stare up at the sky till they
drown.
Well, today i took him along with me on a day trip and before we got
to our destination he had stopped the shivering and was acting lots more
lively. he even managed to escape three times. My mom told me that if
he lives then i could keep him..... so that makes for two ducks (also hers,
they ended up at my place because the heating in her house stinks and the
temps kept dropping) and Now i have a baby turkey.... i dont know anything
about them except for the drowning part.... my grandad used to have
three pet turkeys. they were mean too! he had two hens and a tom
that strutted around the place. they didnt like anyone except him.. maybe
because he raised them. i dont know. anyway....
i have to come up with some way to help this little fella survive.
when i first saw him i was devistated.... my mom bought the chicks from a local
feed store, and this isnt the first time she had gotten birds from them that didnt survive.
i think she has finally learned her lesson now. but then again i dont want to blame the
feed store. my mom has a bad habbit of biting off more than she can chew. she tends
to get animals before she has a place to keep them... as was the case with the ducklings.
I have them in a dog crate on my front porch with a shower curtain thrown over the top.
before that they were in the guest bathroom..... my husband came in one day, walked into the
bathroom, then turned around and walked out with a funny look on his face.. asking me :
"WHY are their DUCKS in our bathroom!?" he has since gotten over that shock...
and now he is not the least little bit surprised that there is now a baby turkey in our house.

i know we live in the country, but i never EVER thought we would become one of those
people that has livestock coming and going throughout the house..... i might as well dye my hair blond and
insist people call me Elly May.....

anyway.... anyone here with turkeys or experience? he's doing much better but i need to come up
with some source of warmth....i figure a lamp will do well enough. also i'm worried about
giving him a water dish. i know he NEEDS water, but that was the source of trouble to start with.
all she could figure was his siblings all drowned... but the dish was shallow. he was soaking wet when
i decided to take him with me.... [8|] tell me...i am a glutton for punishment arent i?

Ratsicles

Posted : 4/29/2007 9:50:47 AM

Did the chicks have a heat source? If not, that's most likely why they died. They need temperatures of at least 90 degrees CONSTANTLY for the first few weeks of life. Otherwise they chill very quickly. They also can't digest their food without heat.

Go to Petsmsrt or another pet store and get a reptile heat lamp. Put a 100 watt light bulb in there and hang it over the top of the brooder. Make sure to hang it only on one side, so he can get away from the heat if he wants.

He should have constant access to Gamebird Starter feed, which you can get at any feed store. He should NOT be able to sit in his water, ever, until he has all of his feathers- he'll get wet and get chilled very easily otherwise. At the feed store, you can pick up a gamebird waterer that'll alow him access to water without sitting in it.

Here are some examples of brooders I've used for chicks:

Also, the drowning thing is a huge myth.[

] I've known a few turkeys, and they're far from stupid. [

]

DumDog

Posted : 4/29/2007 1:32:46 PM

i'm sad to say it but the little guy didnt make it. i checked on him before i went to bed (just after i made this thread around 3am) when i got up at seven to take care of babies i checked on him and he was not doing so good. i didnt know what to do for him, he was doing the death stretch and trying to breath, but he finally gave up. God that makes me so sad....
i think you're right though. he needed the heat badly. i dont think a lamp was going to do any good.

Thanks for the advice though, i will most definitely pass it on to her OR just tell her if she must buy birds to just bring them to me. i'm going to take down my thirty gallon fish tank anyway. i only have two fish in it and a turtle (who is getting too big for it anyway) so i might as well convert the tank into something more useful. she has raised birds before but not day old chicks. she grew up on a farm where the hens did the work of keeping babies warm. she has a good set up as far as feeding and watering but no time for the up keep, nor the space to be honest. she also has a bichon mix that wants to terrorise the babies. My mom is trying to make a little farm for herself and us, wanting to grow her own food, but she has to take care of her mom and that is a 24/7 job since my grandmother cant be left alone. i have my own kids to look after or i would be more than willing to do the work around here.

Thanks again, and i wish i could have done more for him or gotten this info sooner.... what you said explains why he perked up when i took him with me. it was considerably warmer in my car, plus my cousin's daughter was holding him in her lap while we were driving. So now i know.
i'm still upset about it though. i guess i'm just a big wimp when it comes to little ones.

Also, the drowning thing is a huge myth. I've known a few turkeys, and they're far from stupid.

i have to agree with you there. i know AT LEAST when they're adults they're pretty crafty. i think people just take them for granted when they're so young.