Sick turkey poult

[deansgt]

I have some turkey poults that were doing fine until Friday. I put them into a different brooder Friday night. I checked on them Saturday morning, and they did not seem to be eating or drinking, but I did not think anything of it. I checked on them again Saturday evening, and one of them was acting a little funny, and another, I thought was dead. I pulled him out, and he started chirping loudly. I knew something was not right so I moved him into the original brooder I started with, and move the rest in there as well. The one that was acting funny is fine now, but the one I thought was dead is not doing very well. He just lays there, sometimes on his side, and it looks like he is gasping for air. He looks lifeless until you pick him up, and then he perks up a little. when I put the others in the original brooder with him they went after the water like crazy, so I thought they might have been getting dehydrated in the new brooder. I forced water into the lifeless one, and thought he was going to be ok, but he is back to just laying on his side gasping for air.
Anybody ever seen this problem? What is wrong? Can they dehydrate over night? Should I go ahead and write the gasper off?

Thanks for any help you can give.
Deansgt

[deansgt]

Never mind. He died last night.
The rest seem to be fine though.
I woul'd still like to know what happened if anybody has any idea.

[deansgt]

I have a new turkey poult problem that I'm hoping someone out there can help me with.
I have had two of my poults get to where they could not walk. one leg would be behid them, and the other one would be straight out to the side. One of the poults that got this way first died this morning(I put him down), the other that got this way last died about a week ago on his own.
They chirp a lot, and flap around. In the beginning, I could see that there legs appeared to be healthy, because they were pink, and they would clench my finger when I grabbed their foot, but they just seemed to get weaker and weaker.
They were both doing really well for a couple of weeks, in fact the one I put down this morning was the biggest one of them all, and they were running around without a care in the world until I put them in the brooder, and the one got sick I mentioned earlier. Then I moved them out of the brooder into a box with a heat lamp, with shredded paper in the bottom.
Somebody please let me know if you think you know what the problem might be. Turkey eggs are expensive!
Out of 18 eggs, 6 hatched, and out of those 6, 2 are still alive, and doing well

[stewaw]

How old are they when they shows these signs of weakened legs?  If they are a couple of weeks old it sounds like it could be diet.  Either not enough protein or calcium for their growing bones to support their weight. If they are less than a week old, it could be straddle leg...which has a whole host of causes.

David

[deansgt]

They where a couple of weeks old when they started having problems with there legs, and then the poult would start getting weaker and weaker until it died. I ended up putting the last one down. It seemed to be suffering.
But, I have two other poults from the same hatch that are eating the same feed, that are doing fine, but I had an earlier hatch that had the same problem.
I am feeding them Startina Game Bird Feed. I don't know how much calcium or protein is in the Startina.
Do you have any suggestions as far as what I can do to get the ones that are still alive some more protein, or calcium? A different type of food? A supplement of some kind?

[stewaw]

The game bird feed should have plenty of both calcium and protein.  The contents should be posted on the label.  Anything above say 23% protein should be fine.  I've never had to add any supplements to my game bird feeds. Mine is a local feed store mix and I don't have a label handy to check calcium levels.  I know the protein level is 28% crude. Anyone got a recommendation on the calcium content or other possibles for this problem?

David

[eggsactly]

I was reading this about the turkey babys and thought that this would help since I raise turkeys for years now.  For future reference turkeys as young need lots of sunlight.  They get their vitamins from sunshine.  they also are foragers and need lots of grass.  I have had this problem you described and I found that with them in the brooder box a litle cod liver oil dripped into the water is great cure all.  I used two drops in the bottom of the pan and it works.