...hatched by Bantam hens?? My three Bantam hens are hatching wild turkey eggs, the first of 7 hatched at dark tonight. The baby is so precious and healthy!! The turkey hen was killed by a varmint and the eggs were rescued and brought here, we had no idea the Bantams would set on them like their own. Is there anything special I should do for the baby turkeys??? We have a duck in our chicken yard and she is just one of the girls. I guess we will learn as we go, but I'm already concerned about them flying. Thanks for any info you might provide, I've never raised turkeys, so I'm in the dark...
What about turkeys...
Well this is my first time doing turkeys. I have 8 that I got from a hatchery and I was very worried because everything I read said how difficult it was to teach baby turkeys to eat and drink. Supposedly they spend too much time looking up. The suggestion was to put them with baby chicks as the scurrying around of the chicks draws their attention down and they do like the chicks do....lol.
So far it's working out great. They eat and drink and get along just fine and it's been 2 weeks now and I still have them with the chicks. We had a neighbor stop over the other day and he said he has tried turkeys several times but they always died on him, said if you can get them so big they are fine but the start off is rough. I think it's the eating and drinking, they must need a "role model" to learn to hunt and peck. I figure your bantys will teach them what they need to know to start them off right
Good luck !!!
~Julie =0)
Thank you so very much, Julie. I called a chicken lady and she told me the same thing. She said that you can put any kind of bird under Bantams and they will raise them like their own. We have three this am, not sure how many more to hatch. They are really cute babies...
I *sware* I'm getting some silkies to do the broody work from now on...
I'm a wildlife rehabber and have dealt with wild turkeys, they are a bit diffrent than the domestics in that they really like to graze and have a bit higher protien requirements, in the wild the poults eat mainly bugs, grubs and vegitation, but do well on wild game food. I guess the way you raise them will depend on if you are returning them to the wild or not. In most areas it is illegal to posess wildlife, but if they are loose, no one will bother you)wild turkey poults fly much sooner and better than domestic and the high protien and calcium that they get from the bugs builds strong bones and less meat. From a fairly early age they will want to roost in trees or as high as they can possibly get. If allowed to roam freely when grown, they will return to feed and probably establish a flock nearby. Wild turkeys are extreamily intelligent compaired to domestics and I'm sure you know can be pretty entertaining. It will be especially funny when they outgrow the banty and she is still mothering them and bossing them around. Good luck
We have three healthy babies so far, they are adorable. We have three hens and at least three more eggs to hatch. The hen on the bottom, apparently 'stole' the baby from the hen on top. Don't know what that is all about, I was scared silly, I thought one had disappeared. The hen that has the two has been so dedicated, and the one she took the baby from has been more flighty. Oh, well, I guess they will work it out...we never, ever expected wild turkeys to be this adorable, we think we have show babies, lol!!!
Great story! Thanks for sharing with ALL of us! :-)
Belinda
Gosh, thank YOU!!! I hope to get photos, we now have 4, two more after that, but one is from Kansas and we are not sure if it will hatch at this time, but it is filled, according to the most recent sonogram (flashlight held up to egg in dark closet).
Here are three turkey babies with their 'momma'.
Close up of wild turkey baby, and this particular one really is wild, it arrived with it's motor on high, already eating and very busy...
My grand with a newborn wild turkey baby.
The wild turkey babies are much more active, much quicker, than our Bantam babies and I understand that wild turkeys are smart. Before these babies were dry, they were already running, peeping, pecking hay, and within a few hours, they were eating. We tried wild bird foot, as well has a high quality chicken feed, and they seem to prefer the chicken feed. My cousin rescues will birds and I'm going o talk to him and tweak their feed...
I use the game bird crumbles. Lots of protien and found at any feed store.
Oh How cute! I want some Turkey babies , I just dont need 15 at a time and that seems the least you can order at a time! So Im waiting around for some local person to have some! I would really love to get a couple of Royal Palms! But... Those wild turkey Babies are really precious! And by the way SherryLike your Grand Baby is a heart stealer too!!
Thanks re the grand, I have five more that are similar in quality, and two of the other gender that are quite handsome too!! The wild turkey babies are the most energetic we've hatched & past full of personality, I've been told that they are smart and I believe it. They started trying out their stick wings the minute they came outta the shell, and they look down at their feet, like 'what's that', then, because they are in a 'get ready, go' position, they run and do a darn good job of it. They've been eating since the get go too...
Eufaula
Cacklehatchery will let you order less than 15 turkeys. I got 8 from them ...royal palms, bourbon red, white and a narrangaset (sp?) They sent the turkeys with my ducks and a couple chicks. I chose cacklehatchery because of the (less) limit....
They are only about 2 & 1/2 wks old but growing fast. I'm feeding them game bird starter.
~Julie =0)