Young turkeys under the rain

[injeniera]

Hi everyone!! I hope you have info on this.... I have 3 young turkeys, they are 2.5 months old, born on August 19th in the middle of the winter in Chile.

Yesterday we moved them along with their mom out of the coop to be with their father, and last night it started raining. It's been raining since yesterday and keeps raining now, though it's not that cold (55 F) but they don't seem to want to stay under the roof they have and are very cold.

They have their definite feathers, and I've heard that since that moment they can handle rough weather but am not sure.

Should I take them inside?

 

[sourland]

I would take them inside if they are apparently chilled.

 

[Penpal]

Put them inside.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi everyone!! I hope you have info on this.... I have 3 young turkeys, they are 2.5 months old, born on August 19th in the middle of the winter in Chile.

Yesterday we moved them along with their mom out of the coop to be with their father, and last night it started raining. It's been raining since yesterday and keeps raining now, though it's not that cold (55 F) but they don't seem to want to stay under the roof they have and are very cold.

They have their definite feathers, and I've heard that since that moment they can handle rough weather but am not sure.

Should I take them inside?

I on the other hand wanna know what makes them appear "very cold". What is their behavior?

They should be fine, imo.. The mom would warm them as long as they needed it before booting them out from under her.. but it's always best to use your own judgement.

@R2elk, any experience or feedback to share? TIA

 

[injeniera]

I'm sorry, I meant "they are very wet" not very cold... I honestly have no idea how to tell if they are cold or not

The thing is, the mom started laying again about two weeks ago, on her second fertile period of the year, and hasn't been cuddling them since. They seemed fine all day long and ended up getting under the roof when it was raining stronger, while their mom was under the rain eating grass and bugs.

Around 7 my husband took them into their coop and closed them in: poults, mom, even dad...!!

We are a bit sensitive about this cause we lost 4 poults in the last 4 weeks: they seemed fine until they got all fluffed up and very lethargic. The next day they would be gone, even when brought inside with meds, heater, water and food. We ended up giving them metronidazole as per suggested by local farmers, and it was the only thing that worked... One turkey that was exhibiting symptoms got better after only one night.

I'll keep you posted, thank you all for your help