My turkey girls aren't eating

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jlwm

jlwm

In the Brooder
9 Years
Apr 1, 2010
12
0
22
Hi y'all,

I'm a newbie here and have gotten excellent advice from the folks on this forum the few times I've posted.

Here's my problem: my two turkey girls (who are pets and complete sweetie pies) don't appear to be eating. There's four feet of snow on the ground and it has been pretty cold here in Ontario (-10 to 20 at night). There are two heat lamps in the coop (where they live with my five chickens), and they also have a wire run that is enclosed from the wind.

I take them and the chicks treats twice a day - the chicks gobble everything up, but the turks barely nibble on anything (they do however grab and eat eggshells).

But here's the weird thing - both turkeys are laying eggs regularly (once a day/every two days) even though it's cold and they don't appear to be eating much.
(I didn't even realize that turkeys would lay eggs regularly until one of them spent a weekend at the vet's - she laid two eggs while there).

Any advice? I love my girls and am stumped over this.

Thanks in advance!
 
I am a bit unclear, do they have free choice feed available? What chick treats are you providing?

I would isolate them with their own feed and make sure they are getting what they need.
 
Yes - they have free feeders filled with turkey grower. Treats - whatever is leftover from dinner and breakfast (toast, eggshells, yogurt, peas, fruit, greens etc).

Thanks in advance!
 
If they are laying then I would switch them over to a turkey or gamebird layer. They are eating the egg shell because they need more calcium. If they were not eating or drinking then the egg production would stop. If you dont have access to a good turkey or gamebird layer then use a chicken layer and give them extra protien everyday like boiled eggs.
 
Thanks for the replies, y'all. That's what I thought - that wouldn't be laying if they weren't eating.
They're in with my chickens so it's hard to tell who's eating what (i have both free feeding chicken feeders and turkey feeders).

But as of this morning, I've got another problem. From what I've read here, I think she Molly the turkey has a cold - brown crud in her nostrils and is wheezing. I tweezed some of it out (also used q-tips dipped in olive oil to try and wipe it out). But I think I made it worse. She was really still and shut her eyes while I was trying to get it out and was very calm - don't know if this is good or bad. She's now breathing in through her nose and exhaling our her beak and her face is blowing in and out is red.

Any suggestions? I love all of my girls, but the turks are special.

janice
 

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