Getting ready for your new poults

Getting Ready for New Turkey Poults

Its always exciting to have new turkey poults coming. Wether they are raised from your own eggs or bought from another turkey hatchery. Theres a lot of work to be done before they arrive. To give them a healthy coop to grow in. This will give you the best turkeys for sale

Preparing the coop for the new poults

•  Remove all equipment possible, such as: feeders, waterers, brooders, etc., from the house.
• Wash all equipment with a soap or detergent and rinse thoroughly. If possible, place in the sun to dry-this will help disinfect the equipment.
• Remove used litter and rubbish from the hutch, such as: bags, paper, tools, buckets, etc.
• Clean the building thoroughly - sweep ceilings, walls, remove and wash windows, remove any caked material on the floor.
• Use a high pressure sprayer to completely wash down the building interior or soak caked materials to loosen them.
• Apply an approved insecticide in buildings where lice, mites, beetles or other insects have been a problem.
• Use a good rodent control program inside and outside of the building.
• Rinse equipment with a disinfectant. Quaternary ammonium and chlorine bleaching agents are good disinfectants. Follow instructions on the container.
• Put clean, dry litter in the building after it has been cleaned, disinfected and dried. Chopped straw, wood shavings or crushed or coarsely ground corn cobs make good litter.

Brooder Stoves for Turkey Chicks

You must provide heat for the baby chicks. Brooder stoves are available that use gas and oil. These stoves have hovers that contain or retain the heat close to the floor. Electric heat lamps (without hovers) are also used to brood chicks.

Start the brooder stove at least 24 hours before the chicks arrive to properly adjust the stove and dry out the house.

Provide a temperature of 90-95 degrees F at chick level. Use only new or cleaned chick guards at least 2-3 feet from edge of brooder hover for first 7 days. Use solid chick guards in cold houses.

A chick guard is a paper, cardboard or a fine wire mesh ring around the heat source (brooder stove) that confines the birds to the warmed area.

Reduce temperature under the hover gradually over a period of weeks. It is good to have heat under the hover and have the rest of the pen or house cool. Chicks will gradually learn to regulate their location in the
temperature zone most comfortable for them.

Over a period of several weeks (outside temperature will make a difference) gradually raise the brooder hover or heat lamps. Birds should gradually become accustomed to the idea that the heat source is not necessary. Remember, the brooder has been a foster mother to them.

Chicks indicate when they are too cold or too warm. When too cold, they chirp-complain a lot; when too hot, they will lay down or try to pile in corners. When comfortable, young chicks form a ring on the floor under the heat source.

Litter for turkey poults

The purpose of litter is to provide comfort, and absorb droppings and excess moisture.

Use clean, dry, dustless litter 2-3 inches deep on concrete or wood floors. Dirt floors are not to be used as
it is impossible to clean and disinfect them.

Remove wet and caked spots in the litter immediately;replace with dry litter.

Day-old (and up to a week old) chicks may eat the litter instead of the feed. Cover the litter with rough paper or egg filler flats to prevent litter eating. When the birds are eating the feed well, remove the paper (slippery paper may cause leg problems).

Caring for Turkey Poults

Caring for your turkey poults can be a wonderful experience. Keep them clean, well fed and happy. This will give you the best turkeys for sale

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Tips for choosing your poults

Selecting Chicks

- Buy from a reputable hatchery.

- Buy healthy chicks from a U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean
hatchery.

- If possible, work closely with the person from whom you
buy the chicks. If you are new in the poultry business,
the hatcheryman can help you.

- Select the breed or strain for the purpose intended.
There is no really good dual purpose chicken. There are
broiler strains and egg-laying strains of chickens.

- Neighbors who have had good results may give you the
name and address of the hatchery where they buy chicks.

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Feeding Turkeys

Turkeys can be quite picky eaters. Whole yellow corn is the best grain to use for fattening turkeys. It is common for turkeys to eat mostly mash in very large quantities from about 12 to 16 weeks.

After they are about 16 weeks old, the turkeys often drop their consumption of mash and eat more grain. Oats and whole corn are good but they also will eat wheat, and sunflower seeds. Turkeys will eat up to 25% of their diet in green feeds such as Swiss Chard and Cabbage leaves. There is a drawback in that some green feeds can be stringy and block the intestines or cause them to become crop bound. Swiss Chard, Lettuce, and Spinach are considered safe.

Turkeys do not fatten well until cooler weather. Corn is very important to get the often desired yellow skin. Another way to fatten them if it isn't too expensive is to mix dry mash with skim milk. Never feed so much of the mash with milk that it isn't cleaned up in just a few minutes. You don't want the mash to ferment
.

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Best time of the year to hatch poults

Poults are brooded later in the year than chicks. Turkeys require 24 - 28 weeks to reach good eating condition, so the time for starting them them is determined by the time you wish to eat them.

Smaller breeds mature in about 6 months and larger breeds such as the broad breasted, require an additional month. April 15 for the larger breeds and May 15 for the smaller breeds.

Because of the feed they eat, it is recommended to kill in prime condition at the 6 or 7 months old recommendation, rather than keep them alive. The meat also is in prime condition at that time and could toughen or change if kept too long. Plus they would eat a lot more feed, which by today's prices is just money out the window. Economically speaking, it is best to raise them to prime condition, then freeze them.

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Breeding Turkeys for poults

Breeding turkeys for poults is considered to be a a very specialized part of turkey production and not really for the beginner

As with chickens you need to select your best stock. This is determined by shape, weight,general health and possibly even proper feather markings.

If you are raising Bronze, the hens should weigh 15 to 18 pounds at 24 weeks and the toms should be at least 25 at the same age. Smaller breeds would be selected by the proper characteristics for the breed.

Breeders can be kept in small pens or or kept in confinement. The breeders require at least 5 sq. ft. per bird, but this is relative to the amount as if you have a small number of birds, I have always had better luck giving them a good amount more room than the normal recommendations.

Individual turkey nests should be about 14"x24". One nest is sufficient for 5 birds. Community nests 3'x 6' would be enough for 20. Naturally the same feeders and waterers used for raising them would be fine.

You can purchase special breeder mashes online, but the rarity of it suggests that they do not need anything different than usual . In cooler weather, eggs should be gathered several times a day.

If you have a turkey that is broody, it is best to delouse her before putting her on eggs. Generally you will end up using an incubator because they leave the eggs after laying them.

If you are lucky, and the turkey sets a clutch of eggs, she can handle up to 15 or 20. Usually they only lay about 40 eggs per year. One tom can fertilize 12 - 18 hens.

The thing to remember is that turkeys, especially bronze, seem to have a hard time breeding. They do make special saddles MBL designs have some pretty fancy ones It is something with the ability of the Broad Breasted Bronze getting on and off the hen, which can make for infertile eggs.


The eggs do not have the same success rate as chicken eggs and it is actually quite a bit cheaper to just buy poults.

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