What to Feed Turkey Chicks for Optimal Growth

Raising Turkey Poults with Chicks

Add a chicken chick or two to your order when purchasing turkey poults. To protect your young flock’s health, choose chicks that have never touched the earth’s surface, such as from a hatchery or feed store, to minimize the potential of blackhead disease. Read on to learn more about blackhead disease and how it can affect a flock of turkeys.

I’ll be quite frank; turkey poults are not the smartest of the bunch. Chicken chicks have an instinct to survive and seek food, heat, and water without being guided. Poults need constant reminders where to find those. Without the incorporation of chicks, you become the caretaker and responsible for keeping the poults alive.

Within a few days, the poults will be more independent and can care for themselves. Chicks can then be removed from the brooder and raised separately or remain with the poults until ready to move into their separate coops.

To ensure poults remain close to heat, water, and food, restrict them to a smaller brooder space for a few days. A rafter of young turkeys can become confused in a large space. This can cause them to starve or catch a chill.

To minimize workload, construct a brooder that will accommodate the growth of the young flock. Poults often remain in a brooder until they are fully feathered, roughly six to eight weeks of life, potentially longer depending on the weather. During the time in the brooder, it is imperative to provide adequate space to ensure livability without hindering the growth of the birds. This requires a minimum of two square feet per bird; however, three to four square feet guarantee the birds will not be overcrowded and allows them to stretch their wings comfortably.

There are multiple options for brooder bedding, with pine shavings as the most common. Straw is also a favorite among poultry keepers and is available chopped (designed for brooders) or in bales. Other options include peanut hulls, chopped cardboard, and crushed corn cobs. Refrain from using shaved cedar in bedding; the oils are drying and can harm the young birds.

Add three to four inches of bedding and replace it each time you clean the brooder. This amount allows the birds to dust bathe without reaching the brooder floor and cushions their landing if roosting bars are added. Spot clean the brooder daily, especially where the feed, water, and heat source are located. Deep cleaning a brooder can be reserved weekly or as needed. Keep in mind, an extremely dirty brooder runs the risk of respiratory issues and is a breeding ground forcoccidiosis. A brooder should never have an ammonia smell permeating from the bedding.

Feel free to compost the bedding. How long it will take to decompose depends on material used.

Brooder heat is necessary for the first four to six weeks of life. This time will vary based on where you reside. A good rule of thumb is that, once a bird is fully feathered, a heat source is no longer needed. Two available heat sources include an infrared bulb or a heating plate designed for brooders. Both work well; however, a heating plate is a safer option, and it resembles a broody hen’s body temperature. A heating plate temperature never has to be regulated; simply adjust the legs’ height as the poults grow. This allows them to come and go from under the heat source comfortably.

When using an infrared bulb, the temperature under the bulb must maintain 95 degrees F for the first week. After that, raise the bulb, lowering the temperature by five degrees each week. Watch your daily to ensure the temperature within the brooder is right:

• Poults huddled tightly together indicate the brooder is not hot enough.
• Birds resting away from the heat beam indicate the temperature within the brooder is too hot.
• Poults resting comfortably under the lamp indicate the heat within the brooder is perfect.

For safety reasons, secure the lamp to prevent it from being knocked down. Infrared heat lamps are the main cause of coop fires.

Young turkeys need a high protein feed to thrive and grow efficiently. Turkey poults require the most protein during the first eight weeks of life, making a whole grain feed (28% protein) the best option. However, a broiler chicken feed consisting of 23-24% protein is efficient. Between nine and 24 weeks, you can decrease to 18-20% protein or offer a fermented feed.

Keeping Turkeys is Rewarding, Especially When You Start with Poults

Reading Time: 4 minutes

There are many reasons raising turkey poults is rewarding — not the least of which is keeping turkeys to have a few pets.

Raising turkey poults is enjoyable and a wise decision for meat purposes. But keep in mind, raising poults is not the same as raising chicks or ducklings. They are much more delicate than other poultry species. Here are a few tips and tricks for successfully raising poults to maturity.

Raising Turkey for Beginners – What you need to know to get started!

FAQ

What should I feed my turkey chicks?

* Turkey poults should have a high protein (28% to 30%) turkey or game bird starter for the first 6 to 8 weeks. After that they can go on a quality turkey or game bird grower (usually around 24% protein) for the next 6 weeks. Once they are 12 to 14 weeks old they can go on an adult feed.

How do you keep turkey chicks alive?

Keep young poults warm.

Decrease temperature by five degrees F each week until it reaches 70 degrees F, and maintain this level until extra heat is no longer needed (usually at 6 to 8 weeks of age).

What should you not feed turkeys?

The only things we DO NOT feed the birds is other bird meat, potato peelings and egg shells. From what we have witnessed the turkey’s and the chicken’s favorite meat is pork, they will fight over anything pasta and they all chase the bird that has the tasty mouse! Bon Apetite!

Do baby turkeys need medicated feed?

Always start baby chickens and turkeys with medicated feed for the first six weeks of life. This feed includes amprolium. Amprolium is not an antibiotic. Amprolium blocks the uptake of thiamine in coccidia which prevents the disease coccidiosis.

What can I feed Turkey chicks?

Heritage breeds and meat breeds, in particular, may benefit from specialized mixtures of grains and pellets that a general-purpose commercial feed may not be able to provide. Here are some of the foods that you can use to feed turkey chicks.

Can baby chickens eat turkey Poult?

Feeding your baby chickens a higher protein turkey feed for the first few weeks should have no long term effects. When at all possible, though, it is best to brood them separately and feed them species-appropriate food. As your turkey chick (poult) gets a little older, the protein requirements decrease.

Should I feed chicken chicks and turkeys together?

Because turkeys grow to be much larger birds than chicks, this is important to ensure adequate growth. If you are brooding chicken chicks and turkey chicks together you should always go with the higher protein feed if possible. Chick starter typically has a protein percentage of 22 to 24%.

Do Turkey chicks need a starter?

The yolk can provide all the nutrition the chick needs for a day or two but then, turkey chicks should be offered a properly formulated starter feed. Depending on the area you live, you may be able to purchase “turkey starter”. If you can’t find a specific turkey starter product at your local feed store, ask for a “game bird” starter.

Do turkeys need poultry feed?

Both poults and full-grown turkeys will need to have a poultry feed as their main diet, since they have high protein needs. When it comes to what type of feed, I generally prefer pellets because they’re the easiest to work with and you waste less feed.

Do Turkey chicks need commercial feed?

There is no need to worry about providing commercial turkey feed for the turkey chicks that you have at home. These packages are commonly branded as gamebird feed and can be bought on amazon. They’re nutritionally balanced for different phases of growth, from hatching to adulthood, so you’ll be able to quickly pick the right one for your flock.