Turkeys are in demand in private backyards due to the dietary properties of the meat. Before breeding poultry, you need to prepare a housing area and create the correct diet for turkey poults and adult livestock. Proper feeding is the key to a healthy and fulfilling life for any poultry. In order not to prepare mixtures for feeding turkeys yourself, we suggest that you purchase ready-made feed from Yuzhnaya Korona. Thus, if you organize a complete diet at home, the birds get sick less, gain weight steadily, and in the future, they bring you income. Compound feed is easy to dose and easy to store, there is no need to prepare a new mixture every time or keep a large supply of consumables. In this article, we will tell you about the main features of feeding turkeys to ensure their healthy and full growth.
What Can You Feed Turkeys At Home?
The diet should include the following types of feed:
Cereals and legumes
- Corn – contains large quantities of amino acids and vitamins. Turkey poults begin to be given in crushed form from 2-3 weeks of age. For adult birds, fattening in whole form is possible – up to 30% of the total food volume. Overfeeding causes obesity.
- Buckwheat is rich in protein, fiber, healthy fats, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium. Has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system. When fed to turkeys for a long time, compared to corn, it does not cause obesity because it contains less starch.
- Barley is similar in mineral and vitamin content to buckwheat. The amount of fat and protein is sufficient to provide the bird with the daily requirement of nutrients. Rich in fiber, which improves digestion. Sprouted grains are especially useful. Before serving, the barley is cleaned, and crushed, and can also be steamed with warm water or milk. The volume in the diet of young animals is no more than 6%, in adults – up to 40% of the daily diet.
- Wheat is especially valued due to its high content of vitamins B and E and fiber. To make complementary foods easier to digest, start with sprouted grains.
- Oats are rich in fiber and amino acids that improve metabolic processes in the body. To avoid intestinal blockage, the total percentage should not exceed 10-15% of the daily diet. It is recommended to feed the cereal in its purified form.
- Pulses – peas, beans, vetch, lupine – provide 10-15% of the daily grain intake in crushed form. It is included in the diet in the form of grain or cake. Pulses are especially important during the molting period since the body needs a lot of protein to form new feathers. In the diet of adults, legumes can be no more than 80 g, in young animals – 5 g per head.
Animal feed
- Meat and bone meal, meat meal, blood meal, fish meal, and egg protein are rich in all essential amino acids.
- Dairy feeds – whey, curdled milk, buttermilk, skimmed milk. They serve as sources of complete protein, microelements, and vitamins. Whey can be given instead of water. Dairy products in feeding turkeys, especially yogurt, are important for the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases, full growth, and increased egg production of birds, so they are recommended to be included in wet mash.
Feed of animal origin is introduced into the diet no more than 10% of the total volume.
Green feed
Fresh grass is a major source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. To feed young animals, use greens from the garden – lettuce, dill, parsley, green onions, garlic. They are washed, scalded with hot water, crushed, and added to mash during daytime feeding. The volume of green feed is:
- in the first 10 days – 10 g per head, later the portion is increased;
- before day 20 – 30 g;
- up to 30 — 50 g;
- from one month – they begin to accustom themselves to meadow vegetation. When keeping turkeys in a pen on litter, the portion is increased by 20 g every 10 days;
- at 4 months – the portion is increased to 150 g.
Roughage
What else to feed turkeys at home? Before flowering, it is recommended to make hay from brome, festulolium, timothy, alfalfa, and clover. It is during this period that the ratio of protein, plant fiber, and vitamins is considered optimal. If the hay was harvested after flowering, then due to its hardness, it is crushed and steamed before serving.
You can also make brooms for the winter from nettle, alfalfa, clover, and quinoa. They are hung vertically or placed in feeders. Wormwood is also useful for turkeys; it is bitter, but stimulates appetite and acts as a preventative against parasites in the intestines.
Juicy feed
Silage is prepared from milk cobs of corn, cabbage leaves, meadow green grass during the flowering period, young nettles, cereal plants, carrots, and sugar beets with tops. An acidic environment has a beneficial effect on digestion and increases resistance to the spread of protozoan parasites and helminths. Silage is introduced into the diet in the amount of 60-100 g per day. They get used to it gradually: first, they feed small portions, sprinkling with a flour mixture. When feeding silage to birds, the chalk rate is increased by 10-15%.
It is also recommended to prepare fresh carrots. It is given to adult turkeys in amounts up to 30% of the daily intake of dry food. Frozen carrots keep well; before serving, they should be thawed in cold water.
Processing industry waste
Cake and meal (sunflower, soybean, rapeseed, flaxseed, peanut, etc.) are valuable protein additives to cereal grain feeds. They contain 30-50% protein, containing all essential amino acids. For example, soybean meal proteins are similar in amino acid consistency to animal proteins.
Separately, it is worth mentioning compound feeds. Usually, they are purchased from large factories, but if you decide to feed turkeys in your backyard with compound feed, it is worth purchasing good mixtures. Growth, development, activity, health, and egg production depend on the quality of feed.
Features of feeding turkeys depending on age
Newborn turkey poults for up to 7 days. The first days after birth are the most dangerous for the bird, as they are characterized by an increased risk of brood mortality. There is no need to feed newborn turkey chicks for the first 10-15 hours after birth; at this time, their bodies still have nutrients from the yolk. However, you need to provide containers with sweetened water and vitamin C.
The first feeding is carried out up to 20 hours from the moment of birth so that the chicks do not die of hunger; at this time they can be given a liquid mash of milk and ground, hard-boiled eggs. Also, the first days of the diet include cottage cheese, yogurt, and grated carrots. Day-old chicks are fed every three hours.
From 7 days to a month. Feeding is carried out up to 9 times a day, gradually reducing it. You can prepare wet mash from corn, wheat flour, bran, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, and chalk. Chopped greens are also added – onions, cabbage, alfalfa, dandelions, and carrot tops.
After 1 month. They begin to add salt, chalk, and crushed eggshells to the food.
After two months. Increase the amount of whole grain feed, including fish meal and hay meal in the diet. Sprouted grain, grated carrots, rowan, and pine needles are considered especially useful.
After three months. Feeding is reduced to 4 times a day. They begin to introduce coarser foods – wheat bran, finely crushed corn, bone meal with yeast bread, green grass, and grape leaves.
At four months. The bird begins to be fattened with compound feed for adult birds.
What To Do If The Bird Is Not Gaining Weight?
- The first reason is that turkeys may refuse to eat because they are not healthy. To avoid infection and death, the chicks are kept separately.
- The second reason is an incorrectly composed diet. If you do not use ready-made feed, then you need to cook the food immediately before serving. Feeders must be carefully maintained. Turkeys need to be provided with free access to fresh water at an average temperature of 23-25 ℃.
- The third reason is the type of bird. To avoid disappointment for the poultry farmer, before purchasing turkey poults, it is necessary to clarify what maximum weight can be achieved during rearing.
- The fourth reason is improper living conditions (microclimate, lighting, ventilation). In winter, the temperature in the poultry house should be maintained in the range of 8-15 °C. Overheating above 18 °C makes birds lethargic and leads to decreased appetite. In the warm season, it is recommended to walk turkeys daily, if conditions allow.
Weight Standards Depending On Age
When raising poultry for sale, special attention must be paid to the weight that an individual should gain in a specific period. In various sources, you will find tables corresponding to monthly age and average weight by the cross. For example, turkeys of the white broad-breasted breed are often raised on farmsteads. Birds have the following development indicators:
- 1 month – 440-470 g;
- 2 month – 1.26-1.58 kg;
- 3 month – 2.59-3.61;
- 4 month – 4.21-5.21;
- 5 month – 4.97-7.65;
- 6 — 5,52-9,67;
- 7 — 6.22-11.77 kg.
Light cross young animals, which were bred from a white broad-chested breed, have accelerated development. By 4 months, males reach almost 9 kg, but subsequently, their growth slows down. Adult turkeys can weigh just over 11 kg. Medium cross turkey poults can weigh 12.3 kg in 4 months. From 9 months of age, their growth slows down. The weight of adult males reaches 19 kg. Heavy cross turkeys weigh 12.5 kg at 4 months. After puberty, the bird’s development stops. By the year individuals gain up to 25 kg. Differences by gender also need to be taken into account. Typically, turkeys have a lower final weight.
What Should You Not Feed Turkeys?
In order not to harm the health of the birds and maintain weight gain, it is recommended to exclude the following foods from the diet:
- fiber for chicks under 10 days of age. Coarse fibers hurt digestion;
- meat and fish leftovers from the home table. Meat is poorly digestible and can cause intestinal obstruction. Fish bones can injure a bird’s larynx and esophagus;
- spoiled food. Please note that homemade mash may turn sour after 20 minutes;
- poisonous plants, including belladonna, wild rosemary, hemlock, and hemlock;
- sweet foods provoke illness and worsen the condition of the bird.
Advantages Of Our Turkey Feed
| Complies with GOST and manufactured according to recipes approved by research institutes | Before packaging, they undergo heat treatment, which prevents mold, fungi and harmful microorganisms from getting inside the pack. | Take into account the characteristics of each age stage of turkeys |
|---|---|---|
| Promotes rapid weight gain and increases the bird’s resistance to various diseases | Feed “Southern Crown” | Before packaging, they undergo heat treatment, which prevents mold, fungi, and harmful microorganisms from getting inside the pack. |
| Eliminates the purchase of additional dietary supplements, since they already contain everything you need | Make it easy to comply with feeding standards and monitor the health of growing birds, avoiding obesity | Helps improve the taste and quality of meat, which increases the value of the product |
