can someone help! i started raising turkeys this year. they do well up to 6 wks and then start dying off.?
Image by Bob n Renee
One of six turkeys Andrew is raising for Fair.
Question by curt m: can someone help! i started raising turkeys this year. they do well up to 6 wks and then start dying off.?
they are getting something from the ground, mainly when it rains. their pens are covered from the rain, but water stills runs thru pens. i am now putting down plenty of pine shavings to help with sanitary concerns. i just don’t have any way to keep off the ground when they get over 8 wks old.
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3 Responses to can someone help! i started raising turkeys this year. they do well up to 6 wks and then start dying off.?
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i have lots of turkeys too! what we do it put grasses and weeds down. they like it and it keeps it cleaner for a while but then yu have to redo it! they make messes quite quikly. but it’s the sacrifice of having birds! lol
mindai
November 7, 2011 at 3:41 am
Getting something from when it rains sounds like botulism or salmonella. They’ll spend a day or more looking drunk and then die.
Until you actually remove the organism, the problem will keep popping up. Take all the animals out of the pens while you use some stall cleaner to clean up their area. A concrete floor will cut WAY down on the problem, and is easy to install. Just get some quick crete and pour it on the floor of the pens, then smooth it with a flat shovel. Nothing perfect, just something to separate your birds from the water coming in.
With or without the quick crete floors, you can put down some wood ash (from a fire place or bonfire pit), or you can just buy the all natural wood coal (five bucks a bag) and crush it up. Pour this evenly over the floors, and it’ll help neutralize the droppings which the organisms feed on.
Never use stall cleaner on a dirt floor. If you’ve just got a dirt floor and you can’t put in concrete, then use a mix of one half cup bleach with a gallon of water and soak the area. This will cut down on bacteria build up.
It takes months to clear up a bad infection, and while you wait, you may want to get the terramycin poultry powder for your birds. Follow the directions closely. I personally use the terramycin livestock pills, as they are extra strength and can be cut up in a pill cutter for correct dosing (where as you can’t accurately dose water where multiple birds will be drinking).
I don’t raise turkeys, I raise ducks. But, ducks go through the exact same thing. We had a bout of salmonella early this spring, due to some heavy rains and dirt floors (we’ve been putting in concrete floors over the summer).
Theresa A
November 7, 2011 at 3:57 am
Commercial poultry farms do 2 things to help chicks of any kind through this sort of situation.
1. They feed Medicated Chick Starter. This costs about $ 6 for a 25 pound bag, and really helps the young birds.
2. They fortify the chick’s water with oxytetracycline antibiotic. This is sold in a powder which you mix at a ratio of 1 teaspoon to 1 gallon of water. It costs about $ 5 for a bag containing 50 teaspoons full. Common brands are Aureomycin and Terramycin. I prefer the Aureomycin, which has much less dust.
These 2 steps will help young poultry chicks to fight off many common illnesses that plague young birds.
By the way, these products are perfect for pet birds as well.
Find these products at a farm supply store.
John P
November 7, 2011 at 4:17 am