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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Urgent help needed for young turkey

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  • From: Norma Sutton <sweetspringfarm@gmail.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Urgent help needed for young turkey
  • Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:54:35 -0400

Hi Catherine,
It's my understanding that those birds have been bred to grow off too fast.  They do have to have a special diet, but they don't live long on it.  They gain weight faster then their bones can adapt to it.  Turkey can be housed with chickens, but it's not advisable.  Chickens MAY carry blackhead, it doesn't bother them, but it's deadly to turkeys.  I have mine running together, didn't know the dangers when we got the turkeys, but we were lucky.  Our chickens weren't carrying it.  Even if you keep it and care for it don't expect it to live long.  Their poor little hearts can't handle how fast they grow and they are prone to heart failure.
Norma

On 9/19/10, Catherine Noble <cathie@dungog.net> wrote:
This young turkey literally flew off the back of a truck in front of my car this morning. He is quite young, white feathered, huge in the breast and small of leg and wing, and appears to be bewildered by the daylight and the space he is now in ( on a farm)
As far as I can tell, he's one of the commercially grown soon-to-be-frozen turkeys who are raised in sheds their whole short lives,so I'm not sure what to do with him(her?)
I know that these commercially grown birds are fed a special high protein diet to make them grow fast and tender, and I know that a sudden change in diet can do nasty things to a bird's internals, so I need some advice on
A)what should I feed it
B)how should I house it-if it's been in a shed all it's life an open cage in the yard might cause pneumonia?
C)Are there any special supplements (minerals, medications etc) that are required to maintain health?
D)Do I need to keep this turkey away from my chickens, or are the chickens more dangerous to the turkey? In the dim recesses of my memory,there is something about the two breeds being a bad idea to keep together, but I can't remember why?

I'd be grateful for any help I can get as I know nothing about turkeys xcept how to cook them,and they're not so common this side of the Pacific
TIA
Catherine
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