I went to the COOP yesterday and picked up 6 baby turkeys. It's my first time raising turkeys. All was well yesterday when I turned them loose in their little pen. However today I have 3 that are wobbling around and sitting with their butts to the floor and their heads there too. When the others get around them they knock them over and the little things just kick around until they can get back up. To me these birds are obviously sick. What can I do for them? I'm feeding them COOP brand game bird starter and have added some vitimans to their water. They seem to be too cold even though their is a heat lamp. Can I put them in with my baby chicks? Will this help?

-- Joel Combs (jwcinpk@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002

Answers

You can add some honey or sugar to their water. What type of floor is in their pen? The COOP starter may contain an antibiotic, check and see if it does. If it does, then it should take care of common infections that they might have.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

Do you know if the turkeys have found their food and water. also, the first few days, add a couple teaspoons of brown sugar to their water,as this will give them added energy. if i have weak baby birds of any kind, i break open a raw egg, break the yolk, and holding the baby bird in my hand, scoop its beak into the yolk so that it gets the yolk into its beak and swallows it. its pure protein, and will keep your babys alive as a last resort, until they are strong enough to peck at the feed. make sure the light you provided is warm enough. baby turkeys need to be brooded at 100-102 degrees the first week. keep the vitamins in the water too.

-- kathy in southeast ohio (katelyn_123us@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

I have often had trouble with baby turkeys, but don't anymore. They often just plain don't figure out to eat and drink; maybe even just if your food containers look different than the ones they learned on. I agree with the egg thing to get them going again, but I also have had success putting baby chicks with them to teach them to eat and drink. One problem that I know of, at least with the wild turkey strain - the water must be changed at least once per day regardless of how clean it is. When it gets stale or tepid, they won't drink, and decline quickly. We hatch out chicks and turkeys multiple times per year, and I always try to make sure I have chicks hatching at the same time as turkeys. I end up with a lot more live turkeys that way. If your chicks are much older and bigger than the baby turkeys they will trample them, but otherwise I would put them together. Even one chick will help.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), April 06, 2002.

I have now lost two, but I think I may have found the problem. I got some vitamins and electrolytes for my baby chicks the other day and I let my little boy put it in their water. I remember now thinking that looks awfully yellow. When I changed their water this morning their was that powder caked on the inside of the waterer. Is that possible they got too much of that stuff? They are in with the baby chicks now and seem to be doing fine. They are all eating and drinking so maybe I won't lose anymore. Thanks to all!

-- Joel Combs (jwcinpk@yahoo.com), April 06, 2002.