Breeding poultry is quite profitable and easy.
But chickens, geese or ducks are not able to provide such a large amount of meat to feed them a large family.
In this case, the ideal option are turkeys, whose weight can reach 20-30 kilograms.
These birds have many other advantages, the most important of which is their excellent dietary meat.
Today, not only poultry breeders, but also farmers have begun to actively breed turkeys.
If you are also interested in turkeys as poultry, we will try to tell as much as possible about the advantages and disadvantages of their breeding.
And yet: how easy is it to breed turkeys at home?
In fact, breeding turkeys is not so easy, because these birds are quite whimsical and not as adaptive at a young age like all other domestic birds. Therefore, brazenly lying and praising these birds to you will not, but let’s approach this issue absolutely objectively and describe both their merits when grown in a household and disadvantages.
Pros and benefits from breeding turkeys
The benefits of breeding this bird are of course more, and first of all you should pay attention to the very good meat they give. It refers to dietary varieties, and brings a lot of benefits when used:
- Turkey has a very low cholesterol level, which even such affordable chicken meat cannot boast.
- The composition of this meat includes a large amount of vitamins, various amino acids and microelements necessary for the human body.
- Turkey meat is easily absorbed by the body, it is recommended for consumption with various complications and problems of the gastrointestinal tract, does not cause allergic reactions.
Do not forget about the usefulness of turkey liver, which can replenish your body with folic acid and vitamins, which belong to the group K.
Turkey is recommended for use in pregnant women, small children. It is believed that it is able to regain strength after a long and very intensive physical labor, has a positive effect on the human nervous system, relieves insomnia.
Also, do not forget that turkeys lay eggs that are much larger than chicken. They are ahead of chicken and in taste and diet, in front of turkey eggs are only quail and guinea fowl eggs. However, the described bird does not possess such intensive egg production as chickens.
If you want to provide your family with turkey only, then of course it will not be so troublesome to simply buy this meat from time to time.
But still, the purchased meat does not always get quality, and you can never find out exactly what was fed and pricked the bird on the farm. Moreover, to create your own farm at home is also quite realistic.
Don't forget that turkeys are also grow very fastwhile intensively gaining live weight.Indeed, in the structure of the turkey body, about 60% of the total mass is muscular mass, that is, the most important dietary white meat, the beneficial properties of which we have already mentioned.
If you are engaged in breeding turkeys for profit, then it is also advantageous that, in addition to meat, eggs, young and small turkey poults, down and feathers are to be sold.
But in the care of these birds are not quite whimsical. The right amount of food, fresh water and enough space in the house are the most important and practically the only requirements for the conditions that need to be provided to the birds.
Difficulties and shortcomings associated with the process of growing and breeding turkeys
Despite the fact that the adult individuals of these poultry do not require much attention to themselves, this is not to be said about turkey poults born only. At this age they are very gentle and susceptible to various sources of external influence.
Unsuitable food, too low or high temperature conditions, wrong housing conditions in most cases lead to the death of an impressive part of the young.
Therefore, in order to prevent their death, it is worth considering the following:
- Immediately after the birth, the poults should be kept in a room with a temperature of 33 ° C, and so on for 5 days. After that, and up to the 10th day, it should be reduced to 27 ºС, and from the 11th day - to 23 ºС.
- It is believed that light turkey poults need a lot more heat than those with dark plumage.
- You can not youngsters cast temperature drops.
- If the turkey poults have settled a hen, then in the house it is enough to provide a temperature of 23 ºС, the rest it will provide on its own.
- Until the poults reach the age of 5 weeks and skin growths do not form on their necks, do not allow them to come into contact with dampness, dew and other sediments.
- It is important to prevent damage to the chicks of the chicks, as this is guaranteed to be the cause of their death. Underlay cardboard under the feed, and in no case is not solid metal.
When breeding different species of birds, it is impossible to keep their chicks together, to which the poults react very negatively - they can get sick with enterohepatitis. Poults develop more slowly and adapt to the external environment than chickens can get sick more quickly, react more sharply to changing rooms or feed.
Also, they definitely need warm, clean and fresh water.In no case do not let the little chicks dip into the water completely, not wet.
A very common problem that occurs when caring for adult turkeys is obesity. In this regard, you need to be attentive to the diet of birds, to make it more dietary due to greenery, herbal flour. Grains need to be given less, make the birds move a lot.
Basic room requirements for turkeys
Probably one of the most important conditions that must be fulfilled before you start raising turkeys is to create a suitable poultry house for them. There are enough requirements for it, therefore we will write out each of them in detail and clearly even to beginner poultry farmers.
What room climate should be provided to turkeys: important aspects
- Temperature conditions and the maintenance of birds in the winter.
About what temperature is necessary for little turkey poults, we have already mentioned. It should be noted that it is also impossible to allow freezing of adults. Therefore, in the winter period of time it is recommended to provide indoors even special heaters, avoiding temperatures lower than 10ºС.
If this is not possible, then it is important to at least maximally warm the house, lay the floor with a thick layer of dry straw. But in the summer, it is also important that the birds are not too hot. High temperatures not only adversely affect the general well-being of birds, but also cause the spread of various diseases.
- Humidity in the room with birds should be at the level of 65-70%.
Both very dry and very humid air adversely affect the functioning of the airways of turkeys, leading to various diseases. Also, if the required humidity of the air is not observed, the birds may begin to lose their plumage.
- Air ventilation.
It is also an important factor, especially when a large number of individuals are kept in one room and in the hot season.
Moisture does not develop in well ventilated areas. Thus, when building a house for turkeys do not forget about the special "hoods" and windows, which should be placed in such a way as to prevent the occurrence of drafts.
- Cover the room for turkeys.
Artificial lighting is very important if you want to increase the egg production of your cattle.It is very important that the daylight hours for them lasts almost 14 hours a day. Therefore, in the winter time, the light bulbs are switched on from 6 in the morning until the sun rises.
The same is done in the evening. Due to this, the hens fade faster, and the young grow faster to puberty.
We organize an ideal place for females in the house
The most important thing that females need is nests in which they can lay their eggs.
It is very important that they are easily accessible for turkeys and for you, that is, in order to take eggs from them and clean.
It is best to place the nests in shaded places, this allows the hens to feel more secure without worrying.
Also, they are recommended to be placed at a height of 25-30 centimeters above the floor, on the rear perches. Nests are allowed to be placed in several tiers. At 4-5 turkeys will be enough one nest.
What space do males need?
In general, both males and females need a lot of space, longline perches, manholes and special ash and sand baths. That is, the birds need to organize a room where they not only could just sleep and eat, but also lead a fairly active lifestyle.
In particular, even perches should have a height of at least one meter, placing them at the back wall of the house.
Especially important are baths with sand and ash. These "ingredients" must be dry. They are poured into crates that need to be installed indoors with turkeys. With the help of these baths birds get rid of various parasites.
Do turkeys need paddocks: we organize the space of our yard correctly
Walking for these birds is very important., because they not only have a positive effect on the health of birds, but also facilitate their maintenance.
Turkeys are very fond of hiking, and for quite a long distance. It is worth knowing that they are able to run pretty fast, often fly up into the trees if they notice any danger. For this reason, this type of poultry should take at least the entire yard for a walk.
But, in this case, there is a danger that they will leave the yard, having flown over a low fence, and there may be torn to pieces by dogs. In this case, it is better to build large open-air cages with a net fence.
Walking is valuable not only for adults, but also for young.The value of walking is that they allow birds to independently find food, making their diet more diverse. It is important that in places of walking there is a lot of vegetation, bushes and trees, in the shade of which turkeys could hide from the heat.
In the presence of natural baths with sand, there will be no need to install them in poultry houses.
The diet for proper and full growth of turkeys
Usually the most important ingredient in turkey diet is mixed feed, which can be given to birds almost from birth.
Also, it is very important to provide small poults with boiled eggs and fermented milk products. Besides this, turkeys very demanding of vitamins and microelementsthat they need to grow and maintain immunity. For this reason, together with the feed they should be given:
- Corn and wheat grains.
- Sunflower meal.
- Feed yeast.
- Bone, fish and grass meal.
- Chalk, shells and limestone.
- Salt.
Also, we must not forget that such birds as turkeys need a large amount of water. Most importantly, it should always be fresh and clean.For little poults, water is also worth a little warm up.
Also, the following requirements are provided for feeders and drinkers:
- The features of the bird houses with turkeys are almost the same as those of the chickens. It can be the same troughs or gutters, it is only important that they are at a convenient height for the birds. It is impossible to completely fall asleep food troughs - the birds should eat all food at a time.
- Drinking bowls are also important to place at the height of growth of turkeys, that is, at the level of their neck. It is important that birds cannot turn them over and spill water on their own.
Options for a younger generation of turkeys: the use of incubators and chicks
Both of these breeding options of these birds are equally successful, but in the first and in the second case there are disadvantages and advantages.
When using an incubator, it is possible to simultaneously breed a large number of young stock. With that, hatchability is provided almost 100%.However, in this case, little turkeys will not have chicks that would watch over them, and so that the younger generation will not die out, you will have to sweat quite a lot.
Turkey itself is quite good chickens and mothers, although of course their breed plays a big role in this. On average, one female is able to sit 16 eggs, although it often happens that not all hatch from hatch.
Thus, look after the younger generation will have much less. However, for a large number of turkeys it is necessary to have a large number of hens. It can be concluded that incubators are best used for industrial breeding of turkeys, but for themselves 2-3 hens will be quite enough.
Bird care: important aspects
In general, the above we have already described the most important conditions that turkeys need for good growth and gaining weight. With their full implementation of any more difficulties in the care will arise almost will not. But still, in no case should not forget that:
- Turkeys are very important to ensure cleanliness, with it, both in poultry houses and on the ground for walking.Be sure to disinfect the premises for the maintenance of these birds, if there were previously kept chickens or other species of birds.
- Take into account all the conditions of the microclimate of the house to prevent the development of diseases. Carefully monitor the condition of each individual, because there are many contagious diseases that can cause the death of a whole herd of your pets.
- Feeding turkeys is important at the same time. This formality helps to save the flock of birds, and increase the speed of their collection of body weight. Also, at least once a week you need to very carefully clean the feeders and drinkers.
