Turkeys Can Be a Profitable Sideline
(Page 3 of 8)
On the other hand, it's just as important to remember that
over-heating the birds at any stage of the game tends to
produce a delicate, over-sensitive turkey. It is usually
best for the first two or three nights to wake up at 1 or 2
a.m. to see that turkeys are comfortable. This is a chore,
but a necessary one, since as many as 50% of your poults
can be killed in one night by huddling.
RELATED CONTENT
Before placing your poults in their new quarters, fill the
hoppers almost to overflowing with a turkey starter mash
from a reputable feed concern. (If the mash is not Vitamin
D fortified, add and mix thoroughly 1% Cod Liver oil until
the birds are out in the sun.) Sprinkle about one
teaspoonful of fine hard chick grit to each three poults on
top of the mash, so that they will get their "teeth" with
their first meal. Continue giving this grit twice weekly
until the tenth week. Fill the waterers with water the
temperature of your hand. Continue for two weeks, then
change to tap water. Keep both feeders and waterers filled
to this level until poults can reach down into them.
Some of your poults may refuse to eat when you first get
them. Put down a newspaper and scatter on it some chick
scratch. Usually they will peck at this. Next day put chick
scratch on top of mash in feeders.
Wash the waterer every day in hot soapy water. Keep it
filled with fresh, clean water. Wash feeders every ten
days. Stir old feed in with new to prevent any becoming
stale.Inspect your poults upon arrival, culling out any
malformed, injured, or dying ones. The simplest, most
humane method is to snap the neck with a quick, strong
twist of the hand. The same treatment should always be
accorded any deathly sick or badly injured birds as a
protective measure for the rest of your flock. However,
like chickens, no disease or injury to which a turkey is
susceptible can in any way render the flesh unfit for human
consumption. But any birds that are to be eaten should be
killed so that they will bleed.
Disease Control
Baby turkeys are subject to a number of diseases, the most
prevalent of which are coccidiosis and brooder pneumonia.
The former is usually recognizable by bloody droppings and
a general washed-out look to the bird. Pneumonia can
sometimes be detected by the presence of phlegm in the
nasal passage and some shivering. In each case the poult
must be segregated from the others, kept warm and dry and
fed warm milk, with an eye-dropper, if necessary. Nothing
more can be done in the case of brooder pneumonia. The
development of coccidiosis is sometimes arrested by
administering a 1% solution of Epsom salts. This must be
followed in six hours by dried skim milk mixed with the
mash or water. Commercial anti-coccidiosis agents are
sometimes found helpful. Never return the sick bird to its
regular quarters until you are fairly certain a cure has
been effected - you must not risk infecting the others.
(Lederle's Sulfaguanidine, a new "sulfa" drug, has
frequently halted rampages of coccodiosis when other
measures failed.
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