The practice of brooding poults artificially is becoming more popular and
is usually more successful than brooding with turkey hens. The methods
used in artificial brooding are very similar to those used in raising
chicks, which are discussed in Farmers' Bulletin 1538, Incubation and
Brooding of Chickens. However, one point of great importance in brooding
poults artificially is to make sure that they do not crowd together
while in the brooder house. This can be avoided by frequent attention,
by providing an even temperature, and by having good ventilation in the
brooder house. A colony house or permanent brooder house that is suitable
for brooding chicks is equally suitable for turkeys, but fewer birds
should be put in the house, as turkey poults are larger than chicks.
Between 75 and 125 poults should be placed under one 52-inch hover in the
average colony brooder House. Larger hovers and larger brooding rooms
will accommodate 225 poults or more, but only an experienced operator
should attempt; to raise groups larger than 150. The prevailing custom
is to use brooder stoves in portable colony houses or permanent brooding
quarters.
The colony houses may be moved several times each season, thereby giving
the poults plenty of free range on clean soil. Since blackhead is closely
associated with insanitary conditions, special effort must be made to
keep the houses, runs, and yards clean. If permanent brooder houses are
used, a floor of concrete from 12 to 14 feet wide or a small gravel or
cinder-floored yard is often used in front of the house. A skeleton
framework covered with to 1-inch-mesh wire may also be used to floor the
outside run either with the permanent brooder houses or with the colony
houses (fig. 11). Poults are regularly confined to this small yard for
the first 8 weeks and in some cases have been successfully reared to
market age in it. However, a clean yard containing growing green feed is
an advantage in brooding. If it is used only for about 8 weeks each year,
there seems little danger of contamination.
The brooder and brooder house should be operated to keep the young
turkeys comfortable. A dim light under or above the hover at night has
a quieting effect on the poults. The temperature should be high enough
to keep the poults comfortable but not high enough to be detrimental to
their health. When the poults are first put into the colony house with
the brooder stove, the temperature 3 inches above the floor under the
hover should be from, 95° to 110° F. This temperature should be lowered
gradually as the poults get larger until they are 6 or 8 weeks old, when
they require little or no heat, especially in the daytime. It is a common
practice in cold weather to keep the general room temperature at the
floor rather high, about 75°, to prevent crowding. The exact temperature,
however, is of minor importance provided the poults are kept comfortable
and good ventilation is maintained. The poults, if comfortable, will
be active and contented. This is the real test of temperature. All
warm points and surfaces except those at the brooder itself should be
eliminated. Free access from all parts of the brooder room to the hover
must be provided. All corners in the brooding room, especially back of
the hover, should be rounded, preferably by using 1/2-inch-mesh poultry
wire. A fence of the same material should be set up around the hover
for the first 2 or 3 days until the poults become accustomed to their
surroundings and learn to return to the source of heat. Flat roosts 2
to 2-1/2 inches wide and slightly tilted up at the rear may be placed
at graduated levels in the brooder house when the poults are from 2 to
3 weeks old, to encourage them to begin roosting at an early age. This
provision lessens the danger of night crowding. The front roost should be
6 inches above the floor and each of the others a few inches higher than
the one in front of it and about 8-1/2 inches apart, center to center.
[Illustration: Figure 11.--Young turkeys in a colony house
equipped with wire-floored sun porch.]