Success in turkey raising depends mainly upon the combination of feeds
given the young poults. Poor-quality feeds, lack of vitamins, and
shortage of proteins, especially if the poults are closely confined, are
the more common causes or failures. Some difficulty may be experienced
in getting artificially brooded poults to eat, as a young poult is much
less active than a chick; but if several small troughs are provided
there should be no serious trouble from this cause. Dipping the beaks of
backward poults in milk or water, or feeding oatmeal flakes may induce
them to eat. Poults brooded with hens, of course, do not need this
special attention.
After the poults are from 6 to 8 weeks old they may get some of their
living from a good range, but the use of additional feed, preferably a
balanced ration of mash and scratch grain, will give better growth and
result in early maturity and greater returns above feed cost.
In natural brooding the turkey hen, while confined to the coop, should
be fed mash and given some tender green feed. Water and gravel or grit
should, of course, be kept before her all the time. In feeding the hen
and her brood it is advisable to feed the poults outside the coop and the
hen inside in order to prevent the hen from wasting the feed intended for
the poults.
For the first 24 to 72 hours after hatching, poults can live without
feed, the yolk of the egg which they absorb before hatching being
sufficient to maintain them for that length of time. As soon as they are
put into the brooder house or with the hen they should be fed. If they
are not fed for the first day or two they should be kept in a darkened
coop or incubator. However, leaving the poults in a darkened incubator
for only 12 to 24 hours and feeding them as soon as they are removed to
the brooder seems to be better and is now becoming a general practice.
[Illustration: Figure 12.--Cross section of trough feeders for
turkey poults of various ages; _A_, Lath feeder for first week; _B_,
feeder for second to fourth weeks; _C_, feeder for fifth to twelfth
weeks. Feeder _C_ will give better results if equipped with a reel, at
the top, similar to that shown in figure 14.]
The first feed may be a mixture of finely chopped, tender green feed,
and dry starting mash. Hard-boiled eggs, ground or crumbled, may also be
added if desired. This feed should be placed on clean boards or in little
feeders made of laths as illustrated in figure 12. It is a good plan to
keep the feed before the poults at all times from the very beginning so
that the backward poults will learn to eat and their growth rate will not
be retarded. Milk, if not too high priced, may be kept before them in
easily cleaned crockery, tin, wooden, or graniteware receptacles which
the poults cannot get into or contaminate. After the first few days the
green feed, unless it is available in the yards, may be spread on top
of the mash in the feeders. Turkey poults appear to be easily harmed by
eating large quantities of tough, fibrous litter or green feed; hence the
selection of a tender green feed is most important.