A turkey poult is, simply put, a baby turkey.  Turkeys are considered a game bird and as such are unvaccinated.

Purchase your turkey poults from a reputable source. 

Make sure the source has a biosecurity measures in place and that they strictly adhere to at least the minimum government biosecuriy guidelines.  

Your source should practice closed flock proceedures.

We are a reputable source.  To purchase your poults through Beau Peep Farms visit our e-commerce site at:  www.beaupeepfarms.ca

Please note that water fowl should not be fed medicated feeds. Tukey's, game birds, ducks and geese require higher protein feed than chickens. Be sure to ask your feed dealer for the feed specific to the type and age of birds you are raising.

Feed and water.

Feed a good high protein starter crumble 26% TDG (Turkey Duck and Goose starter ration) if your feed supplier can get it for you. Place it in easy to reach feeders and peck at it with your fingers so that they will become curious and peck to discover it's food!

Provide access to fresh tepid water at all times, ensuring your poults can not get themselves wet. Add shiny pebbles to the water to encourage them to peck and they will discover the water is there!

Temporarily placing a chick or two in with the day old turkey poults is a great way to teach the poults how to go about finding food and water.

Do not put them on a slick surface as this can lead to an injury known as splayed leg. Cloth or paper towels are best until they learn to identify their crumble feed then use shavings or pellet bedding, this way they are less likely to eat the bedding.

Your poults will need a source of heat for the first 4 weeks.

A brooder of some sort to keep them warm. A simple brooder lamp with a heat lamp bulb will keep them warm. Make sure they are in a draft free place and have enough room to get away from the heat if they feel too warm. Raise the height of the lamp a little each week. (you don't want them to burn the tops of their heads!) Most poults can begin to be weaned off heat after three weeks of age. Take care in not making any sudden changes to their environment. When they are ready, give them the choice of staying in or exploring outside of their brooder for a week or two. Wait until they are comfortable in their new surroundings before shutting them out of the brooder area all together. You do not want to stress your poults!

Observe your poults regularly.

Observe your poults regularly. If you notice a change in behavior this could indicate they are stressed or it may be the beginnings of sickness. If they become listless (droopy) they may have a bacterial infection in their belly button (if the bedding they lay on is damp or dirty) or they may be to warm, to cold, become damp/chilled or have an impacted crop from ingesting the bedding. Be sure that the poults can not get themselves wet from their water source or damp bedding as a "wet poult is a dead poult". Even if a poult sits under a heat lamp it's breast will not dry and it will become chilled.

Poults grow quickly and though they start out no bigger than a large fowl chick they quickly tower over them!

Their needs change rapidly as they grow rapidly.  Always ensure they have adequate space to grow into.

Tips on starting your poults from Mr. Porter,
Turkey expert, breeder and geneticist.

The following information is my (Mr. Porter) poult starting methods and what works successfully for me and is only here for those looking for a little guidance to get their newly hatched poults off to a good start.

I start my poults out in a homemade brooder, which measures approx. 24” wide x 48” long x 15” high, Yours doesn't necessarily have to be quite this large. I cover the bottom completely with paper towels. I just scatter their feed right on the paper towels for the first couple of days so they can easily pick at it and get use to eating . After that I use a small chick feeder. Their heat source is a heat lamp (With either a 75 or 100 watt bulb)"Not florescent" I recommend the red colored heat bulbs as the red light helps prevent cannibalism. I hang the light approx. 8” from the brooder floor. I normally place this right in the middle of the brooder with plenty of room for them to get away from it on each side if they get too hot. It may also be a good idea to put in two heat lamps, side by side, one for backup just in case one burns out during the night, Their drinking water container is placed off center of the heat lamp so it doesn't get too warm. After the first week I put them on a wire floor, you can also put down shavings at this time if desired. Then you can gradually reduce the wattage of the light bulb as you notice them not needing as much heat.

I start my poults out on a 26% protein, non-medicated turkey starter/grower crumble.

I add a vitamin and electrolyte supplement to their drinking water. Normally 1/4 tsp. per quart of water.

Make sure NOT to use softened water.

Most sodium problems arise as a result of young chicks and turkey poults consuming too much saline water. So avoid using softened tap water to supply water to your birds while brooding. Sodium poisoning can cause kidney damage (more so in young birds than adults because their kidneys may not be fully developed when first hatched), and heart failure.

I also add apple cider vinegar to their water as well, 1/2 Tbs per quart. This is reported to reduce the incidence of coccidiosis and inhibits harmful bacterial or algae growth in the water. This can be mixed with the vitamins.
I keep this in the water of all my adult birds too.

For shipped poults I recommend adding a tsp. of brown sugar per quart of water for a couple days after arrival for a quick energy boost just to help them recover from shipping stress. This can be mixed with the vitamins and vinegar.

I continue to feed the 26% crumble till they are around 12 weeks of age, I then switch to a 22% protein turkey grower/finisher pellet.

To learn more about poultry we also recommend you visit these sites:

www.poultrypedia.com for great information regarding poultry health and nutrition

http://mikethechickenvet.wordpress.com/ Poultry Veterinarian

Starting out with healthy guinea keets is paramount.  Consider the source of the keets prior to purchasing.  Are they coming from a reputable farm?  Does the farm prominently display current government certification of health documents with dates matching the age of the keets you are purchasing?  Is the farm practicing strict bio-security?

At Beau Peep Farms we do all of this and more!  We also offer keets in many colour varieties.  We present the keets to the purchaser in a no-contact acrylic box for inspection (to ensure there are none with defects or any weaklings)  before they are boxed up in front of you to be taken home.  We are always willing to answer your questions and share our knowledge and expertise.

To see what breeds and products we offer, check out our e-commerce site:  www.beaupeepfarms.ca

Please note that water fowl should not be fed medicated feeds. Tukey's, game birds, ducks and geese require higher protein feed than chickens. Be sure to ask your feed dealer for the feed specific to the type and age of birds you are raising.

March 25/23 How to raise guinea fowl by Gail Damerow

How to Raise Guinea Fowl: A Low-Maintenance Flock, By Gail Damerow

Compared to chickens, guinea fowl are low-cost, low-maintenance, and do a standout job as chemical-free pest control. Learn how to catch guinea fowl and all about how to raise guinea fowl.

Like officious little men in baggy gray suits, the guinea fowl scuttle up and down our driveway. Since dawn, they’ve been scouring our orchard for beetles, locusts, spiders, and ticks. Now they are ready to patrol our yard and garden for ants, cockroaches, flies, wasps, termites, cutworms, grubs, and snails. The guinea fowl are relentless in their pursuit.

I can remember a time when my husband and I had no guineas. Our former flock had roosted in trees and nested on the ground where, one by one, they had fallen prey to owls and foxes. While we were guinea-less, our potato crop was denuded by potato beetles, our hibiscus hedge was decimated by locusts, and we lost several fruit trees to flat-head borers. We soon realized that our “little gray men” had given us far more than just a pleasant diversion (and occasional good eating). So we got a new crew to work our land, and I hope never to live without these little guys again.

To read the full article :

https://www.motherearthnews.com/.../raising-guinea-fowl.../

To learn more about poultry we also recommend you visit these sites:

www.poultrypedia.com for great information regarding poultry health and nutrition

http://mikethechickenvet.wordpress.com/ Poultry Veterinarian