Recently my neighbors brought us a poult they had rescued after its mother had been killed in a car incident. We've raised poultry before (chickens, which were killed off by another neighbor's dog =/).
So the poult is very young, it has feathering on the wings, but its body is still fuzzy.
I've read up on some sites about caring for turkeys (similar to chickens but rather different. Had no idea they could fly!). Right now I have it in a hamster cage because our outside cats like to hunt birds.
I usually take it outside a couple of times a day and put it in a bigger pen on our bug filled grass so it can get some sunlight and peck at any bugs it finds. Unfortunately it seems to still be settling into its new life as our pet so it doesn't seem to want to eat much. It'll peck at any dead bugs I hold through the bars but he pulls it right out of my fingers and then shows no interest in the bug after it falls to the ground. I know he eats live ones because my daughter easily fed him some in his temporary box (for cleaning). however the bugs escape from the cage so we try to use dead ones (apparently he doesn't like those).
I have a heat lamp sitting about a foot above his cage so he doesn't get too hot too quick. Currently he has wood shavings for bedding, a shallow dish of water with clean pebbles(fish tank pebbles) in it incase he suddenly feels the curious need to drown himself to see what happens). He also has a small glass container of crushed dried bread on the advice of the same sites (we dont have money for feed till thursday (tomorrow).
So my direct questions would be: how can I teach my new poult to drink from thedish and eat from the bowl? I've tried tapping them like the sites say but he either gets frightened because its too hard or falls asleep to the sound.
I'd also like to know how to teach him how to roost. I've put a 5mm piece of dowel across the width of the cage a couple inches off the floor, but not sure how to teach him to sit on it.
If theres anything I'm not doing that I should I would be very appreciative of your advice.
Thanks!
EDIT: Also can anyone recommend any good books on the subject?
So the poult is very young, it has feathering on the wings, but its body is still fuzzy.
I've read up on some sites about caring for turkeys (similar to chickens but rather different. Had no idea they could fly!). Right now I have it in a hamster cage because our outside cats like to hunt birds.
I usually take it outside a couple of times a day and put it in a bigger pen on our bug filled grass so it can get some sunlight and peck at any bugs it finds. Unfortunately it seems to still be settling into its new life as our pet so it doesn't seem to want to eat much. It'll peck at any dead bugs I hold through the bars but he pulls it right out of my fingers and then shows no interest in the bug after it falls to the ground. I know he eats live ones because my daughter easily fed him some in his temporary box (for cleaning). however the bugs escape from the cage so we try to use dead ones (apparently he doesn't like those).
I have a heat lamp sitting about a foot above his cage so he doesn't get too hot too quick. Currently he has wood shavings for bedding, a shallow dish of water with clean pebbles(fish tank pebbles) in it incase he suddenly feels the curious need to drown himself to see what happens). He also has a small glass container of crushed dried bread on the advice of the same sites (we dont have money for feed till thursday (tomorrow).
So my direct questions would be: how can I teach my new poult to drink from thedish and eat from the bowl? I've tried tapping them like the sites say but he either gets frightened because its too hard or falls asleep to the sound.
I'd also like to know how to teach him how to roost. I've put a 5mm piece of dowel across the width of the cage a couple inches off the floor, but not sure how to teach him to sit on it.
If theres anything I'm not doing that I should I would be very appreciative of your advice.
Thanks!
EDIT: Also can anyone recommend any good books on the subject?