Help. What am I doing wrong? At 8wks my white broadbreasted baby turkeys are dying unexpectedly. They are receiving 'Vita-Mix' in their water, They do not mix with chickens.
-Gary
HOW do they die? Fall over? Get all listless and then die? WHEN do they die? Do you find them in the morning, at night, or do they die at any time? Appetite good? Waterer can be a source of pathogens... are they drinking well? How many do you have, and how many have died over what period of time? Do they have enough space at night or are they crowded (could be suffocating each other).
They are found in the AM. They are eating and drinking okay. I mean they go through roughly 1 gallon of water per day. I/we purchased 6, down to 2 now. They have their own coop area/roost/separate from chickens.
No predators. Concrete base covered w/pine shaving. Walls are insulated and covered with metal on the outside. All wood on the inside. Heat lamp for warmth. Plenty of water; food is the starter recommended.
Turkeys, ideally like a high protein feed, as in 30% protein. Chicken starter feed will do this to turkeys, the age sounds about right for this to be happening.
Try switching them to the Purina gamebird feed, not the flock raiser and not chick starter... and see if that helps!
Fresh water in the AM and again when they are closed into their house/turkey house at night. The feed is store bought (Tractor Supply) and is "Game Bird" mix.
I would say either coccidiosis, enteritis, possibly worms, but most likely you've got some sort of infestation, bacterial probably, going on. I'm sorry you lost your flock. If you can, maybe take some of the runny droppings into your vet for culturing so you know what you're up against.
Call your vet and see if they can do a fecal culture from your birds.
You very probably have something gong on with bacteria.
Have you washed your water dishes with some Clorox ?
Do they still need a heat lamp at 8 weeks old ?
Maybe you could shut it down part time and just use it at night.
Do you have good air quality with the coop vented correctly ?
It's a late reply, but maybe better late than never. Do you have blackhead in your area? Before I bought my first batch of turkeys I called the state Ag dept to see if they had heard of any cases in my state.
I'm very sorry to hear about your birds and I wish I had better ideas.
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