they are getting something from the ground, mainly when it rains. their pens are covered from the rain, but water stills runs thru pens. i am now putting down plenty of pine shavings to help with sanitary concerns. i just don't have any way to keep off the ground when they get over 8 wks old.
Answers:
Getting something from when it rains sounds like botulism or salmonella. They'll spend a day or more looking drunk and then die.
Until you actually remove the organism, the problem will keep popping up. Take all the animals out of the pens while you use some stall cleaner to clean up their area. A concrete floor will cut WAY down on the problem, and is easy to install. Just get some quick crete and pour it on the floor of the pens, then smooth it with a flat shovel. Nothing perfect, just something to separate your birds from the water coming in.
With or without the quick crete floors, you can put down some wood ash (from a fire place or bonfire pit), or you can just buy the all natural wood coal (five bucks a bag) and crush it up. Pour this evenly over the floors, and it'll help neutralize the droppings which the organisms feed on.
Never use stall cleaner on a dirt floor. If you've just got a dirt floor and you can't put in concrete, then use a mix of one half cup bleach with a gallon of water and soak the area. This will cut down on bacteria build up.
It takes months to clear up a bad infection, and while you wait, you may want to get the terramycin poultry powder for your birds. Follow the directions closely. I personally use the terramycin livestock pills, as they are extra strength and can be cut up in a pill cutter for correct dosing (where as you can't accurately dose water where multiple birds will be drinking).
I don't raise turkeys, I raise ducks. But, ducks go through the exact same thing. We had a bout of salmonella early this spring, due to some heavy rains and dirt floors (we've been putting in concrete floors over the summer).
i have lots of turkeys too! what we do it put grasses and weeds down. they like it and it keeps it cleaner for a while but then yu have to redo it! they make messes quite quikly. but it's the sacrifice of having birds! lol
Commercial poultry farms do 2 things to help chicks of any kind through this sort of situation.
1. They feed Medicated Chick Starter. This costs about $6 for a 25 pound bag, and really helps the young birds.
2. They fortify the chick's water with oxytetracycline antibiotic. This is sold in a powder which you mix at a ratio of 1 teaspoon to 1 gallon of water. It costs about $5 for a bag containing 50 teaspoons full. Common brands are Aureomycin and Terramycin. I prefer the Aureomycin, which has much less dust.
These 2 steps will help young poultry chicks to fight off many common illnesses that plague young birds.
By the way, these products are perfect for pet birds as well.
Find these products at a farm supply store.
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I raised turkeys (for pets only)from day-old to they passed from old age (usually about 15 to 20 years.) We started them in the basement with astro-turf (which could be easily hosed down) and heat lamps. We also gave them shots from the vet. Never lost a single one! BTW. If you have the room, turkeys are MARVELOUS companions. Ours used to come into the house and make a bee-line for the fridge where they waited patiently for us to open the door. We kept the bread treats there, in the Wonder Bread wrapping with the colorful balloons. They grabbed the bag from the shelf and waited to follow us back outside to the picnic table where they had a real treat! They are wonderful and very protective. Very VERY smart. They would run over and jump in my pick-up truck to go to the gas station, and I always knew I would be an hour or longer because so many peeps wanted photos. I speak turkey (or talk turkey LOL) very well, and in fact won some lolvey prizes from red-neck turkey calling contests and the dullards thought I was cheating because I didn't use the mouth thingie and sounded so authentic. On a local newscast, the reporter asked me how I learned to do it, I simply said "I LISTEN!" We have moved from Ohio to New Mexico and would love to have turkeys again, but it's a whole 'nother situation out here. Our barn is small and only has room for my horses, and we would have to build a super secure house for the turkeys (and geese..raised them together). We have coyotes (I know they are everywhere but really everywhere right here) and bobcats, bears, and mountain lions. I do leave a bale of hay out for our resident deer family in our "back forty," but would be so worried about the turkeys and geese being in anything less than a "Fort Knox!"
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