How to Raise Turkeys Successfully this Spring

It’s officially turkey brooding season. Whether you plan to raise turkeys for the holiday season or a 4-H project, now is the perfect time to start brooding.


Once fully grown, turkeys are hardy and thrive in a variety of climates and conditions. However, as many experienced growers know, turkey poults are not as resilient as other baby poultry.

Raising young turkeys can pose unique challenges that you may not run into with raising chickens or waterfowl. They require careful management and observation in the first few weeks of life in order to thrive as adults.

In our 30+ years of experience, we’ve tackled all of these issues firsthand. From addressing proper nutrition to preventing illness in your flock, we will cover how to brood your turkey poults successfully from start to finish.

Turkey Brooder Setup

All baby poultry should be housed indoors in a safe, well-ventilated, and draft-free environment that is secure from predators.

A shed, garage, or barn are all ideal places to house your brooder. Your brooder should be set up and ready to go at least 24 hours before your poultry arrive from the turkey hatchery.

If your brooder has housed any poultry before, be sure to properly clean and sanitize it first.

Turkeys are susceptible to various illnesses (including blackhead disease) that can be carried by asymptomatic baby chicks.

We like using metal stock tanks or a simple DIY brooder constructed out of plywood and tarp. Whichever you prefer, we recommend rounding out the corners in your turkey brooder to prevent them from piling in the corners and suffocating. We add cardboard to the sides of our brooders to construct a makeshift brooder ring.

Young turkeys will need 1.5 to 2 square feet per bird for the first 6-8 weeks of their life. They get big fast, so ensure your brooder is large enough to accommodate your flock size, or plan to enlarge it as they grow.

The Best Bedding for Your Brooder

No matter the kind of poultry you are raising, we always recommend the use of pine shavings. They are affordable, absorbent, and will not irritate your birds. Other options can make your poultry sick.

Things you should avoid:
Treated woods (like cedar): they contain toxins and can cause respiratory issues.
Sawdust: it is not absorbent and it can often be mistaken for food.
Newspaper: it is slippery and not absorbent. Using newspaper can lead to injury or issues like splay leg.

Before putting your bedding into the brooder, check it to ensure it is not moist or moldy. We purchase pine shavings in paper bags rather than plastic, as they are less likely to harbor moisture. Lay down 2-4 inches of pine shavings in an even layer on the brooder floor.

Bedding Tips for Turkeys

For poults in particular, we recommend placing some brooder paper, thin carboard, or puppy pads in the brooder for the first few days to prevent them from eating shavings. Place them under high traffic areas near the feeder and waterer.

You can even sprinkle some of their food on top of the paper so they can visually see where their food is. Once your turkeys seem to get the hang of their feeder, you can phase out the pads/paper.

Heating Requirements

Baby turkeys chill easily. Initially, they may require a slightly higher temperature in their brooder than chickens or other poultry. Shoot for at least 95 degrees or slightly higher. Here is a general temperature guide you can follow, but it will vary depending on the needs of your birds as well as the local climate conditions.


One heat lamp can accommodate 35 to 50 poults.

0-1 week old  90-95º F
1-2 week old  85-90º F
2-3 week old  80-85º F
3-4 week old  75-80º F
4-5 week old  70-75º F
5-6 week old  Start weaning from heat lamp (above 65º F)

Turkeys take 6-8 weeks to become fully feathered, so you may even need to keep them under the heat for slightly longer if temperatures are not ideal in your area.

Your birds will be the best thermometer you have, so use their behavior as a guide. If your turkey poults are mingling throughout the brooder, eating and drinking, and sleeping comfortably, then you have ideal temperature conditions in your brooder.

If they are huddled tightly together under the lamp, or piling themselves into the corner away from the heat lamp, then you need to make some adjustments.

Raise or lower the temperature by adjusting your heat lamp above the brooder. Start out about 18 inches above the brooder floor and adjust based on their behavior.

Don’t make extreme adjustments at first—an inch or two should be enough, then stand by to observe whether their behavior improves. You don’t want to create a drastic change in their environment, as young turkeys are particularly sensitive to sudden changes in temperature.

We do not like using brooder plates. From our experience, they do not provide enough ambient heat for birds, especially for young turkeys.

Heat Lamp Safety Tips

As much as we like heat lamps here at Myers Poultry, we encourage you to exercise caution and follow fire safety rules to keep your poultry and your property safe.

• Secure your heat lamp with a chain and a clamp. Don't hang by the wire.
• Use a heat lamp cage to protect the bulb from shattering in case your lamp falls.
• Only use bulbs that have appropriate wattage. We recommend 250 Watt red bulbs.
• Install a smoke alarm and have a fire extinguisher nearby in case of emergencies.

Food and Water

One of the biggest areas where turkey poults pose a challenge is food and water. Unlike other poultry, they do not always intuitively understand where their food and water are located.

For the first week, we recommend keeping a close eye on them to ensure they are eating, drinking, and thriving. Turkeys are highly susceptible to dehydration and starve-out.

Food for Turkey Poults

A common issue growers run into is starve-out, which typically happens 7-10 days after placing turkey poults in the brooder.

Turkeys need additional help when it comes to learning how to eat and drink. Even if you have plentiful food available in the brooder, turkeys may not inherently understand that it’s food.


They may even try to eat their shavings, leading to starve-out or an infected crop.

To prevent this from happening, ensure that you are teaching your poults where the food source is. You can do this by tapping on their feeder throughout the day, or adding a supplement like AquaStart to their food.

AquaStart is a poultry supplement that attracts poultry with its vivid green color. We highly recommend this for new poults. It provides them with the crucial hydration and electrolytes they need right after transit, and gives them a strong visual cue to the location of their food.

Baby turkeys also need a high protein content in their food in order to develop properly. Their starter feed should contain between 26-28% protein, which can then be dropped to 20-22% grower feed at 8 weeks of age. Ask your local feed dealer for recommendations.

As they grow, we recommend either hanging their feeder or propping it up with a wood block. The height of the feeder should reach them at shoulder level so they can continue to eat comfortably.

Pro Tip:
To aid in their digestion, place some grit in the brooder to help them get the most out of their feed and ensure the health of their crop. You can keep it in a separate dish from their food to allow them free access to grit.

Watering Station

Provide your turkeys with room temperature water at all times. A one-gallon waterer would be suitable for 25 poults.


Much like with their food, baby turkeys will need some help identifying their water source. Once you place your baby turkeys in the brooder, we recommend dipping their beaks into the water gently. After doing this a few times, they should understand that this is where they need to go to hydrate.

Consider adding StresEEZ to your poult’s water to ensure they are getting enough vitamins and electrolytes after being in transit.

A wood block can be used to prop up your waterer to prevent droppings and shavings from contaminating their water source. Much like the feeder, their waterer should be raised as they grow to allow them to drink comfortably.

Expert Tip:
Young turkeys are known to fall into waterers, which can cause them to chill or drown. Make sure your waterer is shallow enough for them to climb out if they do become stuck.

FAQ About Turkeys

Can you raise turkeys with chickens? Many people ask us this question, and while you can, it does carry more risks than benefits. Chickens are carriers of blackhead disease. Generally, chickens have no symptoms and the disease typically does not make them sick.

However, turkeys are highly susceptible to this disease and it can spread quickly. Once it infects one member of your flock, there is a likelihood that it'll wipe out 70-100% of your birds. Symptoms include lack of appetite, exhaustion, and yellow droppings.

Poults and chicks also have differing nutritional requirements. For this reason, we also recommend keeping them separate from other poultry.

What is a baby turkey called? You may hear them referred to colloquially as turkey chicks, but that isn't necessarily the most accurate way to describe them. Chickens and turkeys are a different species, so naturally they have different terms to refer to them as babies.

Rather than turkey chicks, baby turkeys are called poults. It's a variation on the French term "poulet," which means young fowl.

Should I raise commercial turkeys or heritage turkeys? That depends on your goals, how much time you plan to invest, as well as the amount of space you have available. 

Myers Poultry offers commercial breeds that grow quickly and produce excellent meat yield. The Broad Breasted White and Broad Breasted Bronze are some of our most popular turkey breeds. Their meat is tender and mild, perfect for holiday gatherings.

For growers that are able to invest in a slower grow out period, consider heritage turkey breeds like the Artisan Gold or Blue Slate turkey. The Blue Slate turkey is a beautiful, distinct bird that is popular among small operations looking to offer a unique product. Heritage breeds often have a richer, gamier taste than commercial breeds. 

Let’s Get Brooding

When it comes to turkeys, getting them off to a good start is the most important aspect of raising them.

The quality and overall hardiness of the bird you raise starts with how well you care for them in the brooder. 

With proper brooder temperatures, adequate nutrition, and an initial time investment, you will be well on your way to raising healthy, hardy birds that can be put on pasture.

If you still have questions about raising turkeys, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Myers Poultry team. We’d be happy to walk you through proper brooder setup and other issues you may encounter when raising your new flock.