New to Turkeys - some questions!!

[Jelibaen]

So this is my first time hatching turkeys. To be honest I didnt think it would work. The eggs my friend gave me were for eating but she thought they were pretty so we stuck them in the incubator to see what would happen. Now I have 5 turkeys and some questions!

They hatched 4 days early. They werent due until Monday. Is that normal??? I've never had ducks or chickens hatch more than a day early. I am 100% sure I didnt mess the days up.

Also everything I read said that they're really dumb and will starve themselves to death if you dont have a chick to show them how to eat until they're 4 weeks old. And that they absolutely can not go outside at all until 10 weeks which I find hard to believe.

Oh and. I assume the different colors are breeds. Is it like chickens where you cant tell sex until they're laying eggs or like ducks where their voices change really early?

Turkey raising tips would be great! I have normal chick starter right now but will go get gamebird/turkey starter tomorrow.

 

[R2elk]

Also everything I read said that they're really dumb and will starve themselves to death if you don't have a chick to show them how to eat until they're 4 weeks old. And that they absolutely can not go outside at all until 10 weeks which I find hard to believe.

Turkeys have different instincts than chicks. They are not stupid. It is their instinct to find food on the ground, not in a feeder.

I use sand for the bedding in my brooder. I sprinkle game bird starter on the sand. My poults will usually start eating within minutes of being put in the brooder. It may take them several days to realize that the feed in the feeder is the same as what they have been eating off of the sand. I do not use a chick as a tutor.

I do not brood poults and chicks together because the imprinting that happens can cause serious problems later on. Once the poults are much bigger, it is not good for them to treat chickens the same way they treat each other.

My poults start flying by the time they are 2 weeks old at which time I move them from the brooder to the grow out pen.

By the time mine are a month old they get to go into the general population. I do keep them in at night until they are 3 months old to protect them from nighttime predators.

Oh and. I assume the different colors are breeds.

All domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey. The different colors are different varieties of turkeys. You can learn a lot about heritage turkeys at Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys.

Is it like chickens where you cant tell sex until they're laying eggs or like ducks where their voices change really early?

If you know what you are looking for, poults can usually be sexed starting around 3 months old through 6 months old if you don't happen to have some late developing males. It helps if you have both sexes to be able to notice the differences.

For those that can't wait, there are at least 2 organizations that will feather or blood sex them . The last I checked the cost was $20 to$25 each.

Turkey raising tips would be great! I have normal chick starter right now but will go get gamebird/turkey starter tomorrow.

Poults need a high protein turkey or game bird starter for their first 6 to 8 weeks.

They can go on a quality turkey or game bird grower (usually around 24% protein) for the next 6 weeks.

After that a good quality all flock feed is appropriate.

I recommend that you keep contact with the poults to a bare minimum to prevent human imprinting them.

 

[Jelibaen]

Turkeys have different instincts than chicks. They are not stupid. It is their instinct to find food on the ground, not in a feeder.

I use sand for the bedding in my brooder. I sprinkle game bird starter on the sand. My poults will usually start eating within minutes of being put in the brooder. It may take them several days to realize that the feed in the feeder is the same as what they have been eating off of the sand. I do not use a chick as a tutor.

I do not brood poults and chicks together because the imprinting that happens can cause serious problems later on. Once the poults are much bigger, it is not good for them to treat chickens the same way they treat each other.

My poults start flying by the time they are 2 weeks old at which time I move them from the brooder to the grow out pen.

By the time mine are a month old they get to go into the general population. I do keep them in at night until they are 3 months old to protect them from nighttime predators.

All domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey. The different colors are different varieties of turkeys. You can learn a lot about heritage turkeys at Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys.

If you know what you are looking for, poults can usually be sexed starting around 3 months old through 6 months old if you don't happen to have some late developing males. It helps if you have both sexes to be able to notice the differences.

For those that can't wait, there are at least 2 organizations that will feather or blood sex them . The last I checked the cost was $20 to$25 each.

Poults need a high protein turkey or game bird starter for their first 6 to 8 weeks.

They can go on a quality turkey or game bird grower (usually around 24% protein) for the next 6 weeks.

After that a good quality all flock feed is appropriate.

I recommend that you keep contact with the poults to a bare minimum to prevent human imprinting them.

I was reading through some threads and have one more question: how do I know if they are broad breasted or not? Or do I just have to find that out later?

 

[R2elk]

I was reading through some threads and have one more question: how do I know if they are broad breasted or not? Or do I just have to find that out later?

Take a look at the parents. It is most likely your friend is raising heritage turkeys since broad breasted turkeys are commercially bred using artificial insemination.