What is a Baby Turkey Called? [3 Secret Baby Turkey Names]

Baby turkeys are one of the cutest creatures ever seen in the animal world. They are extremely soft, sensitive and innocent birds.

Do you wonder about the official name of baby turkey?

If yes, this article will tell you all how you can name your cutie pie little turkey.

What is a baby turkey called? A baby turkey is named as chick, poult or turkeyling. Chick is commonly used for young ones of wild turkeys. Poult or turkeyling is used for domesticated turkeys in poultry. However, the chick is a more common name than poult. Customers call baby turkey as chick and breeders call it poult.

Usually, female turkeys can lay 4-17 eggs in a 2 week period. Eggs take about 28 days to incubate. Hens feed newly hatched turkey for up to a few days. Soon they will grow within and start living independently.

Different Baby Turkey Names

There are different names of group of turkeys and also there are different names of baby turkeys. Newly born turkeys are just like a lump of meat without fur. They look very strange for up to  3 weeks old. People name them according to their knowledge. There are two names of baby turkeys as poult and chicks. Let’s see the details of each one by one:

Poult

This term is educated and mostly used for young ones of domesticated turkeys. Poultry breeders regularly use this word for baby turkeys. However, customers still don’t know much about this name. They still call young ones as chicks. So, it is usually less common than a chick.

Chicks

Beware of using other synonyms of chick that means young woman. Doing this may offend young women.

Turkeyling

This is an alternative term of poult. A baby turkey is also named as turkeyling. This is because they are associated with turkey so they can be called turkeylings. This term is uncommon. People don’t use it quite often. In the English dictionary, it is a noun. The plural of turkeyling is turkeylings. One thing more, this name is widely used for young ones of domestic turkeys

What do you call a baby turkey

You can use both terms as poult or chick for baby turkeys.

If you are a poultry worker then you should use poult for baby turkeys. If you see wild baby turkey then use chick. This bird can produce an average of 3.4 turkeys per hen. Unfortunately, most of the young don’t survive. Newly born are delicate enough and can’t grow well without a proper diet and care.

How to raise baby turkeys

Do you love turkey meat plates? If yes, go on and raise them. If you follow a few steps, you can raise them easily. Step by steps are given below – 

1. Poults are not strong enough to bear cold. So, they love to stay hot. After hatching, the first week is very crucial for their survival. First, keep Temperature between 95-100 Fahrenheit for the first week after birth then decrease 5 degrees gradually per week until they grow 6-8 weeks old.
2. They will cheep enough to tell you if they feel cold. They will stay silent if they are comfortable.
3. There should be enough room for poults to move away from heat. Hatcheries or breeding areas should be wide enough.
4. Keep the poultry farms, brooders or hatcheries dry and clean.
5. Remember cold water can bring death and illness for young ones. Always serve them lukewarm water. Waterers should be changed regularly.
6. Turkey feed should include 28 % of protein from 6-8 weeks. Always check the protein ratio if you give ready-made food. Introduce other food like scratch gradually when they are 3 weeks old

Here is an informative video about raising turkeys, you must watch.

How to get baby turkeys to eat?

Do your chicks don’t eat much?

Don’t worry if they are a slow eater. You can make them eat more. For this add shiny colorful pebbles or marbles in turkeys feeder and drinking water. In this way, feed and water will grab the attention of the bird. Chicks will eat more and more. These pebbles will also work as grit to crush grains. Turkeys don’t have teeth so they need to grind food with stones or pebbles.

Beware that the size of pebbles and marbles should not be too small as grains of the feeder. If they are too small they can mix with the feeder. It should not be edible.

When can turkey  poults go outside

After 3 weeks of birth, you can take poults out in sunlight. However, be careful during cold and rain keep them inside the brooders. Exposing them gradually to sunlight will increase their immune system and will help to harden delicate bones.

What do baby turkeys eat

Turkeys relatively require so much protein than chicken to grow well. Make sure the starter diet of the bird should include 28 % of protein. There are several poultry feeders these days like –

• Medicated feeder
• Non-Medicated feeder
• Started feeder
• Grower feeders

The starter food non-medicated formula is the number one choice for chicks. However, don’t feed them rich calcium food as a starter as it may damage their liver. After 8 weeks you can lower the proportion of protein intake gradually.

Care & Feeding of Baby Turkeys

About 12-week care of baby turkeys can make them independent to live and eat. The First 3 weeks require extreme care as the bird is totally dependent during this period.

Raising a turkey is an easy job. If you take care of three essential things, you can raise healthy turkey in return. These things are –

1. Fresh food includes rich protein feeders.
2. Clean, Hot  and dry brooder
3. Water should not be too cold to drink

These are comparatively sensitive to raise than a hen. So take great care of temperature as well as cleanliness.

What to Feed Baby Wild Turkeys

There is a long list of the wild turkeys’ food menu. In the natural habitat, they behave like omnivores. They will eat both plants and small animals like insects. Wild turkeys forage freely in harvesting areas –

• Seeds and grains
• Fruits like berries, grapes, dates
• Snails slugs
• Insects like a grasshopper, caterpillars.
• Worms
• Acorns and nuts

Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs)

What is the name of a baby turkey?

A baby turkey is named as poult or chick. Poult is widely used for domesticated birds whereas chick is for young ones of wild turkey.

Why are baby turkeys called poults?

Poult is a term used by poultry breeders. They regularly use it in their hatcheries.

Poults are used for young ones raised in poultry farms.

What is a 16-week old turkey called?

Turkey above 16 weeks is adult enough to be called a baby. It can be adult hen or Tom depending on sex.

What does a baby turkey eat?

Baby turkey eats grains, seeds, insects and high protein food for three weeks. After three weeks it can forage freely.

What do you call a baby wild turkey?

Chick is often used for young ones of wild turkeys. If wild turkeys are raised in poultry farms then baby wild turkeys will be poult.

Conclusion

So, what is a baby turkey called article covers everything you want to know about young ones. Whether you call them chick or poult, no one will get offended.

It is up to your knowledge about this creature that matters a lot. If you are a customer, you can call baby turkey a chick. 

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If you are a poultry worker, you will use the term poult. For me, baby turkeys are one of the cutest creatures of the universe. So, I will name it as a cute bird only because of my likeness without any scientific logic. I hope you will like these details. Don’t forget to comment in the box below.

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