Contents of the article:
Among the poultry farmed in Russian farms, turkeys have no competitors in terms of weight gain and size. Therefore, the breeding, maintenance of turkeys and care for them at home is chosen by an increasing number of poultry enthusiasts.
The choice of turkeys is easy to explain. For six months, with a well-chosen diet, compliance with conditions of detention and due attention, the tiny chick turns into a huge bird. The weight of an adult turkey depending on the breed can vary from 8 to 30 kg. Although the turkeys are a bit smaller, they also weigh at least 6–8 kg by six months. The attractiveness of the view adds the fact that in Russia there are several well-established breeds that are suitable even for domestic turkey breeding by novice poultry farmers.
And yet not everyone can get a truly large healthy bird? Why do farmers and household owners sometimes face high mortality, poor weight gain, or disease?
The cause of most problems is one - a lack or improperly organized care of chicks and young birds.
Features breeding turkeys at home for beginners
In most cases, turkeys are bred to get tender dietary meat. If you buy young for spring and summer fattening, then in the fall it will be possible to feast on turkey from your own farm. For personal use and use eggs for nutritional value not inferior to chicken.
The main chores to take care of turkeys at home occur at the time when small turkey poults appear. In the first days and weeks of life, they require constant attention and special food up to 10 times a day. Upon reaching the age of one month the turkey poults grow stronger and transfer to mixed feed and grain mixtures. They can and should be let out for walking, which allows saving on green fodder and not allowing the bird to accumulate excess fat.
At home, for breeding turkeys, novice poultry farmers need to purchase one family, consisting of a male and 4–5 turkeys, for which they prepare one nest.
The turkeys start feeding at about eight months, giving several dozen eggs a year. You can get the offspring of a bird by incubation. So that the young are of the same age, the eggs from the nest are removed and stored upright at a temperature of 10–15 ° C.At the same time, long-term storage negatively affects the quality of the embryo.
Details on breeding turkeys at home and the incubation features can be found in the specialized literature and other articles on the portal. If the incubation of the offspring is decided to be entrusted to the turkey, a nest will be built for the bird. The design is surrounded by a side, on the bottom make a soft loose litter. After 26–28 days from the moment when the hen sits on the clutch, turkey poults appear.
At first, turkey poults are kept with additional lighting and at elevated temperatures:
- in the first five days, the air must warm up to +33 ° C;
- next week chicks are at +27 ° C;
- from the eleventh day the indoor temperature drops to +23 ° C.
With proper care of turkeys, their breeding and maintenance at home is not difficult, even for poultry farmers with little practical experience. In addition to maintaining the required temperature, the poults, until they get stronger, protect against drafts and dampness, as well as against infectious diseases. To do this:
- very carefully ventilate the house;
- be sure to clean the litter and clean the uneaten food;
- equip the chick holding area with a safe drinker.
From the first day of life turkeys receive a balanced feed on the basis of wet mashins and vitamin green supplements. As they mature, dry cereal mixtures or specialized feed are introduced into the diet.
Video about the characteristics of breeding turkeys at home will be an excellent help for novice poultry farmers, and for those who have experience of keeping other poultry, and are only eyeing turkeys.
Home-keeping turkeys for beginners
The cornerstone for raising and keeping domestic turkeys is caring for the bird, organizing its feeding and placement. Being in clean dry poultry houses, getting enough nutritious fodder and having the opportunity to walk, turkeys grow well.
Of great importance is maintaining a comfortable temperature, good lighting and the number of heads per unit area. In cramped conditions, even with the rest of the care, the turkeys look depressed, are more likely to be ill, grow worse.
On average, the density of poultry per square meter should not exceed:
- 15 heads for chicks up to 5 days of age;
- 10 heads for young animals that have reached the age of 1-2 months;
- 5 heads for turkey poults up to 4 months inclusive;
- 1-2 individuals for adult birds, depending on the breed and weight.
Creating conditions for keeping turkeys at home, novice poultry farmers need to take care of high-quality ventilation of the rooms, removal of excess moisture, which are unavoidable when there is a large livestock in the house, as well as acceptable temperatures in summer and in winter:
- Humidity should be maintained within65–70%.
- In the warm season, the house should be no hotter than plus 18–20 ° C.
- In winter, it is monitored so that the house does not freeze, and the temperature in it does not fall below –5 ° C.
If the temperature regime is not observed, drafts are walking around the house, the bird feels unwell, it is chilly with high humidity or, on the contrary, suffers from overheating. As a result, turkeys do not carry well, the young do not add much weight.
When keeping and breeding turkeys at home, care must include cleaning or replacing the litter, taking care to keep it dry. The wet layer is changed, and if the turkeys are kept on a deep litter, poured over a layer of hydrated lime, then it is only sprinkled. Change this coating should be in the spring and autumn, simultaneously carrying out a complete cleaning and disinfection of premises.
In domestic breeding, the bird often suffers from a lack of movement. The turkeys have joint problems, the headband does not accumulate meat, but fat. To avoid such problems can be, if in the care of turkeys at home include walking the birds. To do this, on the site or beyond its borders are equipped with fenced territory with feeders and drinkers.
Staying outdoors in combination with eating juicy green fodder gives good results, expressed in the rapid development of the young and increasing the egg production of adult turkeys.
Breeding turkeys as a business: is it profitable or not?
The main purpose of breeding and keeping turkeys is to get tasty and healthy meat. By six months, up to 80% of this valuable food product is found in the carcass of slaughter weight, exceeding chicken and rabbit meat in a number of indicators. And truly dietary white meat in turkey more than red.
In small turkey farms for personal use, this bird's egg is also used for food. Up to 100 large eggs can be obtained from laying hens per year, which are not inferior to chicken in taste and nutritional value, but are better kept.
With proper care at home, turkeys grow and put on weight much more actively than geese, chickens and ducks, that is, in fact, are leaders among poultry. Depending on the breed, the weight of an adult male can reach 8–30 kg, and turkeys up to 12 kg.
The most serious investment of labor and labor in turkey livestock is in egg purchases, incubation and the first month of chick life. Then the costs fall due to the inclusion in the diet of cheaper grain feed and free grazing.
So profitable or not breeding turkeys as a business? The increasing number of farmsteads from which the characteristic cry of a large bird is heard proves that turkeys in farms and backyards have a great future.
