What do you feed a baby turkey
CARE & FEEDING OF BABY TURKEYS
Baby turkey poults are like any other baby – they need fresh food and water, and to be kept clean and warm. You can download our guide “Caring and Feeding of Baby Turkeys” or continue reading below.
Brooder
Keeping poults warm entails a brooder. A good brooder will have several things – it will keep the poults safe, have either bedding to absorb wastes or a wire mesh floor to allow droppings to pass through, and a heat source. A brooder can be as simple as a cardboard box with one to three inches of wood shavings for bedding, or as complex as a commercial metal box brooder. For a few poults, cardboard has the advantage of being cheap, disposable/recyclable, and sanitary. A wooden or metal brooder is more appropriate for larger numbers of poults, or if you raise many batches of poults per season. It should be scrubbed and disinfected between uses. Brooders should be large enough to allow the poults to get away from the heat source –3’x4’ is a good size for a few poults and will allow plenty of room for the first couple of weeks. Turkey poults grow rapidly, and will need a larger brooder after a few weeks – they should never be overcrowded. For the first few days, place paper toweling or an old cloth towel over the litter, so the poults learn to eat food, not litter. Keep the brooder clean – change litter at least once a week, more if you have many poults. Damp dirty litter and droppings can cause respiratory problems and infections. Poults should never be brooded on newspaper – its surface is too slick and can cause leg problems.
Heat Source
For a small number of poults, a 100-150 watt hanging clamp-style work lamp is sufficient heat. Clamp to the side of the box and have the bulb and hood hanging over the side. For a greater number of poults, a 250-watt infrared bulb can be used. Infrared bulbs get very hot – they should be kept a minimum of 18 inches away from flammable items (such as wooden or cardboard walls, and wood shavings). If using an infrared bulb, be sure to use a porcelain socket – plastic will melt.
A brooder should not be evenly heated. It should have a cooler area for chicks to find their level of comfort. For the first week of life, the brooder should be at about 95 degrees. Poults will let you know if the brooder is too hot or too cold. Too hot, and the birds will crowd as far from the heat as possible. Too cold, and they will stand huddled under the light and peep loudly. Raise or lower the heat source accordingly. If you cannot physically raise or lower the lamp, use a different wattage bulb. For each successive week, the temperature should be lowered 5 degrees until completely feathered out at five to six weeks. If housed out of drafts, they should not need any additional heat beyond this age.
Water
Fresh, clean water should be available to poults at all times. The water should be cool, not hot and not cold. Birds drink to cool themselves down – if they start going through too much water, they may be overheated and the brooder temperature needs to be lowered.
For 5 or fewer poults, a quart-size chick fount will take them through a few weeks; for more poults or older birds, a gallon fount will be a more appropriate size. You’ll know if you need a larger waterer if you need to fill more than once per day. Water should never be provided in an open dish – poults will track droppings and spilled feed through it and invite disease. For the first few days, the waterer can be placed directly on the toweling. When the toweling has been removed, place the waterer on a non-slip elevated surface, like a wire platform, to prevent the poults from scratching litter into their water. Increase height as they grow older – bricks or 2X4” wire-covered lumber boxes are equally useful.
Food
Baby turkeys need to eat turkey/gamebird starter mash or crumbles, a blend specially formulated for their growth and development. Layer or breeder mash, crumbles, or pellets should never be fed to poults, not even as an emergency ration. It has a high calcium content that is toxic to poults and will cause bone, liver, and kidney problems or cause death.
A good emergency ration is a 50-50 blend of rolled oats and cornmeal, whirled in a food blender to a mash or crumble consistency. They should not be on this emergency ration for more than a day or so, as it does not constitute a balanced diet. Starter feeds should contain no greater than 28% protein – too much protein causes growth problems. For the first few days, sprinkle feed on a paper towel so that poults can learn to eat. Poultry feeders come in many styles, but they should prevent feed spillage and wasting, and prevent contamination with litter or droppings. Elevating the feeder after the first few days helps.
Chick starter can be used to raise turkeys, with cautions: It does not have enough proteins or vitamins for good development. If chick starter is used, be sure to supplement with brewer’s yeast at the rate of 2 cups per 10 lbs of chick starter.
Turkeys have no teeth – they need grit in the form of small rocks to grind their food. Baby poultry grit consists of very small stones, like coarse sand, similar to parakeet grit.
It should never contain oyster shell or other forms of calcium – excess calcium is very detrimental to poults. Most store-bought small grit preparations already have oyster shell in them. You can “make” your own chick grit by purchasing a bag of decomposed granite from a building supply store. Wash the granite in a large tub, rinsing out fine sand and mud, and letting it dry. Save the larger pieces for adult poultry, and sprinkle a bit of the smaller grains on the turkey starter as if you were salting food. If poults are given no additional food other than turkey starter, they don’t NEED grit but it may help in certain situations (see below).
Turkeys are good foragers and poults can go out on grass or range on warm days at a couple of weeks of age, if the lawn is unsprayed and grit is provided with their feed. Poults should only be allowed to range on clean ground, preferably where no adult poultry have been for 6-12 months to prevent bacterial or parasitic infestations. Grit may also be a good idea if you are using wood shavings as litter – it will help prevent crop impaction if litter is accidentally ingested.
Diarrhea and vent pasting (droppings sticking to their behinds) is a common problem in young poults. This is caused by a variety of problems, such as a brooder that is too cold. If pasting does occur, carefully pick off the dried droppings (warm water helps) so the vent does not become blocked. If pasting continues, try increasing the brooder temperature, or feed a blend of plain rolled oats processed in a blender mixed 50-50 with turkey starter. Sprinkling chick grit on their feed also helps prevent pasting.
Poults should be fed 28% protein turkey starter until 8 weeks of age. 24-26% protein turkey grower crumbles should be fed after the first 8 weeks until they are approximately 6 months of age. At that time, they can be switched to 16% – 18% lay pellets, crumbles, or mash. Additional calcium (for adults only) in the form of crushed oyster shell is beneficial, especially if the turkeys free range or are fed table scraps.
General management and FAQs
~~Turkeys are more difficult to raise than chickens or ducks.
They are more delicate and sensitive to environmental and nutritional mismanagement. Good sanitation, disease prevention, and the right kind of food for their stage of development cannot be overemphasized. Turkeys are social flock creatures – you should never have just one. They need a buddy. A few turkeys can be housed with chickens as long as strict sanitation is practiced, as turkeys are more susceptible to diseases carried by chickens.
~~Poults that are listless, huddled with drooping wings, and have blood in the stools may have coccidiosis, a protozoan infestation. Good management of clean, dry litter (avoid damp wet spots from spilled water) and not letting poults range on land where adult poultry have been living will prevent coccidiosis. Antibiotics will not cure coccidiosis – only sulfa drugs such as Sulmet will treat it. Preventing this common babyhood disease through good sanitation is a much better course of action. Poults will gain a natural immunity to coccidia as they mature.
~~Poults and adults can become habitual feather pickers, where they pick at newly growing blood quills. Causes of this range from overcrowding, overheating, too much light, not enough protein, etc. This habit must be stopped early – feather picking can become difficult to break. Giving leafy greens to pick at, increasing brooder space, lowering heat, proper nutrition, and reducing light by lowering the wattage or switching to a red-colored bulb may help. Free range is often the best cure for behavioral problems.
~~Roosts can be provided beginning about four weeks of age, raising them higher as the birds grow older. Allow 6 inches of roost space for 4-week olds, 24 inches for adults. Turkeys prefer flat roosts, like a 2”x6” with the flat side up. Broad-breasted varieties or other meat birds should not be given roosts because it can cause crooked keels and breast blisters. 3”-4” of bedding should be provided for broad-breasted breeds of turkey.
~~Turkeys are happiest when they have more room.
Coops and runs that allow more than the minimum space make healthier, happier birds. The minimum space requirements for open housing (coop with free range) is 4 sq. ft. per bird; for confined housing (never allowed outside) is 10 sq. ft. per bird.
~~Turkey hens do not need turkey toms to lay eggs – they will produce eggs without a mate, but they won’t be fertile and cannot hatch.
~~Turkey feed comes in mash, crumbles, and pellets. Turkeys can waste an enormous amount of feed – and feed spilled on the ground can become wet, moldy, and toxic. Pellets are the least wasteful form, followed by crumbles and then mash. Feeders hanging or placed at the level of the birds’ backs will help prevent feed wastage.
~~Hen scratch or other whole or cracked grain mixes are tasty treats for turkeys. But, as with all treats, they should be fed in limited amounts. Scratch is not a balanced diet as it generally contains about 9% protein – much too low for a growing youngster or laying hen.
Scratch should be fed as a treat, not as a primary feed. If scratch or other grains are fed, grit must be provided.
~~2’x2’ nest boxes should be provided at about 5 months of age, to allow the birds to get used to them. The sooner you provide nests, the more likely they will use the nests rather than laying their eggs on the ground. They should begin to lay at about 8 months of age.
How to Raise Baby Turkeys
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Posted in: Poultry Care
Baby Turkeys (turkey poults) are fairly easy to raise, if you follow a few simple steps.
Turkey poults love heat. They will be happiest if you keep their brooder temperature at 95-100 degrees for the first week, then lower the temperature by about 5 degrees per week until they are fully feathered, approximately 6-8 weeks old. They will still appreciate a heat lamp at night for a few weeks after this period if the nights are cool. You can tell if they are comfortable by the way they arrange themselves in the brooder: all clumped under the heat source, they are too cold; all far away from the heat source, they are too hot; spread all over the brooder, they are comfortable. They will also cheep if they are cold or ill, and will be fairly quiet if they are happy. Always make sure they have room to get away from the heat.
Keep them clean and dry. Pine shavings or rice hulls make good bedding. Never brood them on slick surfaces like newspaper. Never give a turkey poult cold water - cold water can be deadly to turkey poults. The water should always be lukewarm, and it is a good idea to add a vitamin and electrolyte supplement to their water.
You can also get them eating and drinking well by placing shiny colored marbles in the feed and water to get their attention. Change waterers daily or when they get dirty.
Turkeys need higher protein than Chickens. The poults will need a 28% protein starter for the first 6-8 weeks. We recommend looking for specialized turkey or wild game bird feed. After that, you can change them over to a feed with an 18% protein. Grange Co-op offers Rogue All-In-One (25AIO-50AIO). Never feed them layer pellets, as the calcium level is too high for growing birds. When they are about 3 weeks old, you can start sprinkling a little chick grit on their feed. Do not give them scratch until they are at least 8 weeks old, then you can give them a little as a treat. Grange Co-op offers Rogue Hen Scratch (50HS). When the hens begin to lay they should have free choice access to grit and oyster shell. They will appreciate greens, bread, garden trimmings and other treats as well.
Turkeys are very personable birds and you can easily teach them to eat out of your hand, come to your call, and they will often follow you around, begging for treats and attention.
The more you handle them, the tamer they will become. Contrary to popular belief, turkeys do not drown in the rain, although young birds have been known to become ill and die if they become wet and chilled. They can be a very enjoyable bird to have around.
Heritage turkeys, the old-style varieties that are still naturally mating, are long-lived and hardy. Broad-breasted varieties are typically used only for meat, so they are not meant to be raised beyond 16 to 20 weeks. If you wish to use heritage turkeys for meat birds, it will take 6-8 months to grow them to eating size. They also make good breeding or show stock and pets. They are much more disease-resistant than broad-breasted varieties, and will do well on free-range or in pens.
August 28, 2015
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How to feed turkeys at home, tips
Turkeys are ideal for home poultry.
This is because they have tasty, dietary meat, quickly gain weight, and do not need special care. In order for turkeys to grow actively, you need to provide them with good nutrition. Newborn turkeys do not have a swallowing reflex, so in the early days they should be fed with boiled eggs with herbs and boiled water, where you need to add a little sugar.
After a week, eggs are removed from the diet, other feeds are used instead. It could be chopped green onions. Newborn chicks can be given gruel from boiled eggs, carrots and greens. Chicks should be given food every three hours, and in small portions. Then the interval between meals increases and at the same time the size of the feed increases. Porridge should be crumbly, not sticky, as their digestive system does not work well, and sticky food causes digestive problems.
To understand how to properly feed turkeys, you should know what can be included in the diet of chicks:
- Corn and wheat flour;
- Wheat bran;
- Boiled eggs with low-fat cottage cheese;
- Crushed shells and chalk are a mineral supplement.
Drinking water should be at room temperature. Also yogurt is suitable for drinking. New foods are introduced into the diet gradually, so the chicks can get used to the new feeding regimen.
What should not be fed to a turkey?
It is not recommended to feed the birds with low-quality feed, which will adversely affect their development. It is better to exclude feed of animal origin, as they are poorly digested. Porridges need to be cooked and immediately given to the birds. Otherwise, they will turn sour and be unusable. Do not include oats, peas and other types of coarse cereals in the diet. Birds cannot digest such foods.
How to feed turkeys after 1 month?
Grown up chicks can be given any food. In a month old chick, the beak is already stronger, so they can already eat almost any food, the main thing is to warm it up. You can use cereal flour and mineral supplements. The marked components can be given as a main meal or given as a separate feed.
The chicks are given food at the same time every day. From this, the chicks will quickly begin to gain weight. Monthly chicks are fed at least six times a day.
What to feed turkeys for fast growth?
The diet of adult turkeys includes a variety of ingredients. In the diet of birds should be feed with proteins and amino acids. Turkeys are inactive birds and can quickly gain weight, so it is not necessary to feed more than the norm. You need to feed the birds three times a day with liquid gruel, where you can add greens. In the evening, whole grains or dry formulations are recommended.
When males are in breeding season, they lose weight and eat little. Then the birds should be given different vegetables, sprouted grains and shredded cheese. Birds can eat legumes. To increase the durability of eggs, birds are given a combined silage and carrots.
In the warm season of the year, food should be lighter and simpler. Turkeys need to be released to pastures where fresh grass grows.
Also, food is prepared for the winter - acacia, viburnum, linden.
What should be the weight of turkeys at different ages?
The mass of an adult turkey should be 12 kg. To achieve such indicators, you should regularly monitor their weight. Monthly chick should weigh up to 1300 gr. If you adhere to the correct feeding regimen from the first days of the life of birds, then daily the mass should increase by 50 grams. For the first week, the numbers increase about 4 times. That is, after 7 days of life, the weight of the bird should be about 200 grams.
Starting from two weeks, the chick should gain about 40 grams of weight every day. Starting from a month, the daily increase is about 50-70 gr. At two months, the weight of a healthy turkey should be at least 5 kilograms. In order to gain weight steadily, you need to give up to 300 grams daily.
The bird demonstrates the most active weight growth at the 3rd month of life. At this time, the mass increases twice and reaches 10 kg.
In order for the mass to increase and stand stably, you need to give at least 400 grams of feed every day.
What does ShM-Agro offer?
Our company is engaged in the production and supply of feed in all Belarusian cities. We provide our clients with the following benefits:
- During production, the feed is steamed, which kills pathogenic bacteria. The use of such feed provides reliable protection of the bird from the development of diseases. That is, animals become resistant to diseases such as ASF and bird flu.
- We have low prices, thanks to the fact that we ourselves produce and supply our products. This allows us to reduce our costs and set prices lower than our competitors.
- Our feeds have the optimal ratio of vitamins and microelements required for the full development and growth of the bird. As a result of the use of such feed, egg production increases.
- Compound feed is completely natural. Our products do not contain antibiotics, flavor enhancers and synthetic growth activators.
As a result, turkeys receive natural, healthy nutrition. - We always have a large amount of food in stock.
- In addition to retail sales, we are engaged in wholesale deliveries. Buying a large batch will save you money.
If you want to know what feed to feed turkeys, please contact our managers at +375 29 615-16-03 or +375 33 615-15-90. They will advise on issues of interest and take orders.
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What to feed turkeys to make them gain weight; what to feed and how to raise young turkeys
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Material content:
- 1 How to raise turkeys at home?
- 2 What to feed turkeys?
- 2.1 Mix recipe
- 3 How long does a turkey grow?
- 4 What to feed a turkey to gain weight?
- 4.1 Silage recipe
- 5 Fattening turkeys
- 6 How much does a turkey weigh?
- 7 What is the average weight of a turkey?
How to feed turkeys so that these birds gain weight is one of the main questions for household owners and poultry farmers. This topic is very diverse and requires detailed study and patience. There are many nuances that allow you to ensure the healthy and full growth of turkeys at home at an early age. Let's look into this in more detail.
How to raise turkeys at home?
Young turkeys, which are only one day old, must be kept in a brooder where the temperature must be 30 °C.
The temperature in the brooder needs to be lowered as feathers appear. Although turkeys love warmth, turkey poults should be kept between 20 and 25 °C. If the temperature is above 35 °C, the growth of the chicks will slow down and the young chicks may die from heatstroke. Why this happens is not so difficult to guess: in the case of the rapid growth of chickens, their metabolism accelerates, which means that the body produces a lot of heat; at high temperatures in the brooder, this heat has nowhere to go, and turkeys do not know how to sweat; to avoid such an outcome of events, it is required to reduce the temperature in the room where the turkeys are located, as the chickens fledge.
What to feed turkeys?
Feeding poults should be started as early as possible to ensure a high survival rate of the young. For the first five days, they need to be fed every 2 hours approximately 8-10 times a day, including at night. When their age reaches one month, feeding should be reduced to 6 times, and when they reach two months - up to 4 times.
Given that turkey poults are reluctant to take food, they have to be attracted, encouraged and motivated to start pecking. If the chickens have a mother hen, then she will show them by her example how to eat. If there is no mother hen, then will need to spend some time in order to tame inept pecking chicks. Many attract the attention of turkeys with compound feed, which is poured from above in a thin stream, equipping various devices for this. As soon as the most active chicks begin to peck at the food, the rest will follow suit.
At the age of 5 to 10 days, the turkey can be fed with a mash.
Mix recipe
You will need:
- fine wheat groats - 35% of the mixture;
- small corn grits - 35%;
- crushed boiled eggs - 10%;
- fresh cottage cheese - 10%;
- wheat bran - 8%;
- shell with chalk - 2%.
As soon as the turkey reaches a week of age, greens can be gradually introduced into the feeding.
At the same time, the fact that the chick is fed with mixed fodder does not interfere with feeding it with kitchen waste, available grain, juicy and green fodder. Such combination feeding method will help reduce fattening costs and maintain growth rates, as well as provide an opportunity to get an excellent result in the form of a meaty large carcass.
For the first 10 days, starter feed for turkeys should be used, which contains at least 20-22% protein. Then you need to switch to fattening brands of feed. At the age of 1 to 2 months, a young chick will eat an average of about 100 grams per day, at the age of three months - about 150 grams per day.
As soon as its age reaches ten days, bran, chopped onion, nettle, clover, young alfalfa can be added to the mixture, mixing all this in sour milk or skim milk.
Such feeding of turkey poults will help to get good gains and exceed the expected indicators, and will also contribute to the work of the gastrointestinal tract of the bird, will normalize the microflora.
At night, it is recommended to give turkey poults crumbly mash without herbs, and dry mixtures are best. It is not recommended to give green onions to a chick in the evening, as it causes a strong appetite and thirst .
Also, from the tenth day, turkey poults should be fed with forbs, let them out of the brooder, take a walk in the pasture or in the garden. Also, poultry farmers recommend introducing beet and cabbage leaves, grated carrots, pumpkin, boiled or mashed potatoes into their diet.
When feeding middle cross-country turkey poults, it is necessary to focus on the following weight (fluctuations depend on sex):
For feeding chicks at home, products such as:
- chopped eggs are often used;
- corn grits;
- wheat groats;
- oatmeal;
- cottage cheese;
- sour milk.
How long does a turkey grow?
The growth of a turkey largely depends on the breed of the bird .
On average, a bird grows from 6 to 9 months. After that, the growth of the individual stops and weight gain begins due to body fat, which is important in feeding and feeding, including at home.
What to feed a turkey to gain weight?
Since adult turkeys are kept for young, in an unproductive year they must be fed three times a day: for breakfast and dinner, offer grain; for lunch - a wet mash of pumpkin, carrots, sugar beets, boiled potatoes, grain waste, where you can also add kitchen waste.
During the productive period poultry farmers recommend to feed turkeys in a balanced way, food should be rich in protein and vitamins, otherwise the eggs for incubation will not be effective.
In order to fully fatten turkeys at home during the winter, in addition to grain, brooms and silage are harvested for them.
Recipe for silage
You will need: corn in milky-wax ripeness with cobs - 40%, carrots with tops - 40%, and clover, weeds and alfalfa - 20%.
All ingredients must be mixed and used as a top dressing.
Turkeys love to eat leaflets that are on brooms hung in a sauna or shed. It is best to harvest them in June or July from birch, poplar, linden, aspen or nettle leaves.
Cut branches must be tied and hung in a dark place - in a shed or in the attic, so that they dry out, they need to be stored in a dry room. Before feeding, brooms need to be doused with hot water or rubbed, adding to any mash.
During the laying period, care must be taken to ensure that do not overfeed the turkey, as a fat bird will not give a good and high-quality egg. If the weather is calm, then you can release the turkey for walking in February, then it will keep in good physical shape. If the bird becomes fatter and fatter, then it is necessary to reduce the amount of industrial feed supply, replace them with bran mash, root crops and hay.
A turkey that has not gained enough weight is fed.
Fattening turkeys
If possible, the turkey is released for walking , in the morning and in the evening they are fed plenty of grain. At lunchtime, they feed with a mash of chopped corn, chopped barley and oats, wheat bran, sunflower cake and potatoes, which is kneaded in broth. A shell and chalk must be present in the mash. If everything is done correctly, then in 3-4 weeks the turkey will gain the necessary muscle mass and body fat.
How much does a turkey weigh?
Average adult turkey weight light cross is approximately 8 kg. Medium cross-country turkeys weigh 15-17 kg, and heavy cross-country turkeys weigh 21-25 kg. The largest weight of a turkey is 35 kilograms. However, there are breeds of turkeys that have a body weight greater than the maximum (they are bred only to get more meat).
What is the average weight of a turkey?
The average weight of a light cross turkey is 4 to 6 kilograms, a medium cross turkey is 5 to 7 kg, and a heavy cross is 9 to 10 kg.
