by Good day. In the previous article we talked about caring for turkeys up to 1 month of life. Now we will tell you about caring for turkeys from 1 to 6 months, feeding and walking the feathered giants. These tips apply to heavy cross-country runs. For example, Big 6 and Bronze 708.
Caring for turkeys from 1 to 6 months and fattening
Features of growing turkeys from one to three months.
When the chicks are a month old, they are moved to a cooler room. But in addition to the lamp for lighting, there should be an infrared lamp for heating. Before moving the chicks, the room must be prepared: cleaned and disinfected. The walls and floor are treated with lime. Salmonellosis is a problem that is also relevant for turkeys; it can be transmitted by an accidentally flying bird.
There are rubber mats on the floor and straw on top. In addition, an air ozonizer is useful. The temperature in this room is maintained at 18-22 degrees. Turkeys stay here for up to three months.
From two and a half months, turkeys can be transferred to crushed corn and wheat – this is the basis of the diet. The protein content in the feed is slightly reduced from 2-3 months, but it should be at least 18% in the diet. For this, sunflower oil, sunflower meal or soybean cake are necessarily added to the grain. At this time, the stomachs of the babies are already stronger, so you can diversify the diet with apples, carrots (in the form of a mash).
Caring for turkeys after 3 months
Period of active weight gain! From three months, turkeys develop an excellent appetite and begin to actively gain weight. If up to three months the chicks could move actively, now they are placed in a limited-size enclosure. The birds are kept in an unheated barn, divided into enclosures.
Males and females are kept separately, because the former are sometimes aggressive and can start fights. The birds are not released into the yard. There is nothing wrong with the walks themselves, the bird gets vitamin D in the sun, but the danger of helminth infection is kept at bay.
At first, the turkey’s bone mass increases, up to three months it is thin, ringing and long. And only from the fourth month does its chest begin to grow, meat increases. The bones bear a lot of load, which is why calcium-containing products should be given at the early stages. From this age, the bird should be restrained in space so that it does not waste energy on movement.
If you keep turkeys in a heated room, then they can be raised year-round, in a conveyor-belt manner. If the room is unheated, then until the cold weather sets in, since the energy from the feed will be spent on heat exchange and maintaining the bird’s body temperature.
The ideal temperature for this bird is 18 degrees all year round. If you maintain these conditions, you can slaughter them from four months. But in our climate you have to keep them a little longer – six months, because turkeys do not have time to reach slaughter weight in four months.
It is important to remember that heat is also dangerous for turkeys!
Feeding turkeys from 3 months
From the age of 3 months, you can use compound feed for broiler chickens to feed turkeys. Without compound feed, on grain and millet, nothing will work, because there is not enough protein. In addition, a coccidiostatic agent is added to the compound feed to prevent coccidiosis – a dangerous disease to which poultry is susceptible.
In addition, vitamin complexes are included in the diet (for example, “Chiktonik” is added to the drinkers once a month for five days). This is especially important up to 4 months of age. Later, if the bird is healthy and has grown strong, such supplements can be abandoned.
The enclosure always contains shell rock, gravel and water for drinking, and the feeder contains a mixture of compound feed and crushed grain mixture.
Soon your turkeys will be of sufficient weight for slaughter.
If possible, please consider it. keeping any poultry on deep litter (sawdust + bacteria): the chicken coop is dry, warm in winter, no smell, no flies, and cleaning is done once every 3 years!
