Turkey meat is popular in many countries around the world. A large number of dishes are prepared from it, including smoked meats. Often this product is chosen as the main dish on the festive table. Turkeys are a large poultry. Males weigh about 20 kg, females - about 10, while they grow very rapidly. About how to properly contain turkeys at home, you will learn from our article.
Breed selection
Turkeys are bred, as a rule, to obtain meat products. Therefore, it is very important to choose the breed that is best for you. Below is a list of the most popular breeds, compiled according to meat indicators.
- Moscow Greyhound. Representatives of this breed gain more than 12 kg of weight, and also have high productivity.
- Victoria. Males of this species grow up to 20 kg. Agree, good performance?
- White broad-chested. Males reach 17 kg in weight, while 80% of their body weight is pure meat, which is very popular.
Buying young animals
After you finally decide which turkey breed you will breed, you need to buy young animals. Chicks must be healthy. How to understand that the bird has no deviations in physical development?
- Cesspool and the area around it is clean;
- The abdomen is soft;
- The navel is dry;
- The wings are adjacent to the body;
- The down is even and smooth;
- Chicks are mobile and stand firmly on their paws;
- They show an active reaction to sound signals.
The kids are transported in cardboard boxes with pre-made ventilation holes. When transporting, drafts should not be allowed, because they can lead to the death of all chicks.
Poultry is advised to purchase at poultry farms or in specialized farms. In such organizations, all individuals undergo a thorough examination, so you will get healthy birds. In addition, professionals will give you tips on how to keep turkeys at home. Preference should not be given to market producers: as a rule, they sell low-productive and weak chicks.
To decide how many birds you need to purchase, evaluate the amount of money you are willing to invest in caring for turkey poults. The fact is that keeping and feeding turkeys at home will require significant investments.
General principles of care
It is very important from the first days to properly care for turkey poults. Therefore, you need to follow a few recommendations shared by experienced poultry farmers. The main thing is to remember that turkeys are not chickens! They require a completely different approach.
So, how to keep turkeys at home? Already from 5 weeks you need to keep the females and males separately. This will preserve the emotional balance of the birds, as well as simplify the process of care. Male and female individuals need different feeds, and it will be much easier to feed them if they live in more than one place. The need for different feeds is due to differences in the growth rate of turkeys and turkeys.
Birds that are raised for slaughter contain up to 16 weeks. For 4 months they gain 10 kg of weight. At the same time, the development of the reproductive system begins, which is accompanied by the deposition of internal fat. That the meat was not too fat, the birds are slaughtered at this age.
Turkeys live in packs in which there are many males. Males are polygamous and often “look after” turkeys in pairs. After one mating, the birds lay their eggs for 2 weeks, during which time their number reaches 14 pcs. Hatching eggs takes 28 days. But after the birth in 12 hours, turkeys are ready to study the world. They reach puberty at 8 months of age.
Young stock
It is very important from the very beginning to properly care for young animals. Poultry need a warm and dry room, which should be heated with a heating pad. If you have the opportunity, use an infrared lamp for these purposes. This device will bring double benefits: it will not only create comfortable conditions for chicks, but also prevent cannibalism among young animals.
You cannot keep many turkey poultry in one place. Crowding will lead to outbreaks of infections, especially coccidiosis. The density of planting of young animals is not more than 10 goals per 1 m 2 . Another important thing that you should pay attention to is that the chicks do not distinguish food from straw and sawdust. They can swallow inedible objects, which subsequently leads to health problems or even death of individual individuals. For this reason, the floor must be covered with cloth or newspapers.
Temperature mode
Keeping and breeding turkeys at home will be successful if you create all the necessary conditions for a comfortable existence of birds. Particular attention should be paid to light and temperature conditions. The poultry muscle is well developed in birds. Due to their large body size, turkeys are sensitive to temperature changes. It’s easier for them to get used to the cold than to survive the heat. The inability to be at high temperatures is directly proportional to the size of the chest: the larger it is, the more difficult it is for the bird to adapt to environmental conditions.
Excessive heat causes the birds to drink excessive amounts of water to cool their veins. But this is fraught with the fact that the goiter begins to sag. And weak and unhealthy chicks quickly lose weight, which ultimately can cause their death. Dangerous bacteria settle in the goiter, due to which various inflammatory processes occur, which quickly spread throughout the body.
However, compared with goslings and chickens, turkey poults love heat more. Kids need to be kept in a room with an air temperature of 35-37 ° C. But you need to carefully monitor the behavior of the chicks: if they spread their wings and open their beaks, then they are hot, therefore, it is necessary to reduce the air temperature. Lower the temperature by 1-2 ° C daily. On the 7th day of life, turkey poults should be 30 ° C, by 14-24 ° C, and 26-21 ° C.
Mature individuals feel comfortable at a temperature of 20 ° C in the summer. In the cold season, this indicator should be at least 15 ° C.
Light mode
Keeping turkeys at home requires careful monitoring of daylight hours and direct exposure to birds. Intermittent light mode is best suited for turkey care. For the first time after they are born, provide them with round-the-clock lighting so that babies can quickly find food. Already at the 6th week accustom them to the 8-hour daylight. The light should be turned on twice a day: in the morning, from 7 to 11 hours, and in the evening, from 14 to 18 hours.
Humidity
When keeping turkeys at home, it is very important to maintain a comfortable indoor humidity level for the birds. For chicks, the indicator should be at least 75%, but as the birds grow older, you can slightly lower the humidity level. Mature turkeys feel good at 70% humidity.
Ventilation
Another important factor that affects the health and fecundity of birds is the presence of fresh air in the room where you keep birds. Ventilating the chicken coop is necessary only on calm days in warm weather. In addition, the air must be clean and fresh, as turkey poultry reacts sharply to the presence of toxic gases in the atmosphere. The dust that accumulates in the premises subsequently has a negative effect on the health of chicks and adults.
Room requirements
How to keep turkeys at home indoors? As mentioned earlier, turkey poults contain 10 animals per 1 m 2 . After a few weeks, males and females are seated in different rooms. They should be spacious and protected from direct sunlight. On 1,5 m 2 only 2 individuals can live, no more. Drafts should not be allowed, as they negatively affect the health of turkeys. Each room should be equipped with perches. The fact is that these birds like to sit high, in addition, this will help to keep the plumage clean and dry for a long time. To keep turkeys at home in the winter, it is necessary to insulate the room. Although birds can tolerate frosts to -20 ° C, they should maintain a temperature there around 20 ° C.
How to perch? You need to use a wooden rail with a rounded top. Its size should be 3.5-4 by 7 cm. In this case, gradually, as the chicks grow older, the roost is increased. Adult individuals require a perch whose length is at least 30 cm. Initially, perches are placed at a distance of 25 cm from the floor, increasing the distance to 45 cm.
The sockets should be installed in a quiet place, the space near the far wall is best for this. Two- or three-tier nests can be built, as the bird prefers to settle higher. The sizes of the boxes-nests are as follows: 60x60x60 cm. This space will be enough for a medium-sized turkey.
The room should be dry, loose litter, for example, from wheat straw. It is laid on the floor in a thick layer. It needs to be changed regularly. A thin layer of lime is placed under the litter. You will need to equip the ash baths in each aviary. Wood ash and fine river sand, as well as some sulfur, are poured into a large box with sides. Such a mixture can be left in the room for a week, after which it must be updated.
Walking
To allow birds to go for a walk, in one of the walls a square hole is made with a side of 50 cm. The place for walking should be as spacious as possible. It is best to pre-sow it with perennial herbs. Experienced poultry farmers advise giving preference to bean crops like clover and alfalfa. Annuals such as oats and peas can also be sown.
Turkeys can be grazed in the gardens. Birds will eat insects, fallen leaves, fruit carrion, wild seeds and weeds. Sometimes it is possible to let birds out to fields where wheat, oats or barley have recently been harvested. By eating the remaining grain, turkeys will effectively gain weight.
Such a walk is suitable for representatives of unpretentious breeds, for example, Tikhoretskaya Chcherna, Moscow bronze or North Caucasus. If you breed broiler birds, for example, white broad-chested, then the emphasis should not be on walking, but on fattening. At the poultry house you need to install drinking bowls and feeders, and also in the immediate vicinity of the room put the cut pumpkin and pour hay.
Birds are released for walking at any time of the year. The main thing is that the weather be good. Dampness, strong winds, low temperatures - all this must be avoided when keeping turkeys at home.
For beginner houses, it will probably be a surprise that turkeys, despite their large size, are very mobile and love to fly. Therefore, in order to prevent shoots, it is necessary to enclose the area for walking with a high fence, towering 2 m or more above the ground. Top you need to pull the grid. Another effective way is to trim one wing of a bird.
Cell content
The content of turkeys in cages at home is suitable for those people who can not keep the bird on a walk. In addition, feed is saved, a large amount of litter is not required. The cages contain birds of egg direction. They are placed one at a time in the cage to reduce the likelihood of injury to birds.
Longline cages are best suited, because such designs do not cause turkey inconvenience. They must be equipped with drinking bowls and feeders. The cells should be spacious: at least 60 cm in length and width.
Winter and summer maintenance
Those who are interested in how to keep turkeys at home, it will be important to find out that there are several "pitfalls" in this matter. For example, the conditions that need to be created for birds in a certain period are different. In summer, you need to install a special canopy above the place for walking, which will protect birds from direct sunlight or rainfall.
But in winter you will have to carry out lengthy work on the preparation of the premises. So, additional warming of the house will be required. The temperature inside should be at least +5 ° C. The daylight should last 12-14 hours, which means that in the evenings you need to turn on the lamps. Lay the straw on the ground in the walking area. This will help prevent frostbite on paws in birds. Remember: only breeding and not broiler individuals leave the winter.
Feeding
It is important to understand that the feeding of chicks and mature turkeys is very different, so you need to familiarize yourself with the nutritional requirements of birds in advance. First, turkey poultry is fed a boiled egg (it must be crushed), for 3 days you can diversify the diet with low-fat cottage cheese, millet or cereal. A week after the birth of the chicks, they will gladly eat green onions and boiled root crops. After 14 days, the birds can be fed green mass, which includes salad leaf, dandelion and even scalded nettles. At the same time, fishmeal is introduced into the diet.
Keeping turkeys at home and caring for them is complicated by the 2nd month of the life of the chicks. The fact is that more complex food is required, consisting of fishmeal, fine gravel, shells and chalk, boiled vegetables, cereals, grains and greens. Feed the birds regularly. The number of feedings per day in the first month is 5 times, then gradually decreases to 3 times.
The content of broiler turkeys at home implies fattening with foods with high nutritional value. If you breed breeding birds, then feeding should be balanced, but with a high content of greenery.
Drinking bowls and feeders
It is necessary to install feeders and drinking bowls in a room for keeping turkeys. At home, you can use automatic devices and feed the birds yourself, but in large farms it will be advisable to give preference to special devices.
During the first 3-5 days of life, the chicks are fed as follows: an edible mixture is poured into a tray with low sides. At first, turkey poults do not show activity in relation to nutrition, but with age their appetite will become better. If there is no brood turkey, then you must teach them to peck on their own so that they do not weaken.
You can motivate birds to eat by imitating a beak knock. Use your fingers to lightly tap on the tray while pouring feed into it. Young growth will notice movement. You can also add finely chopped green onions to the feed. Unusual food will attract turkey poults.
At first, small trays are used, then they are replaced with long troughs, as well as feeders with corner jumpers in the upper part. This prevents feed contamination. Stainless steel containers made of metal can be used. Currently, automatic feeders are gaining popularity. They work as follows: feed is poured into a special container. From the grooves below it pours out into the tray. This device allows you to keep the mixture clean for a long time.
When keeping turkeys at home, automatic drinkers are used from the very beginning. They are installed on elevations. With their help, you can keep the water clean, as well as provide the birds with useful vitamins and minerals by adding them to the liquid.
Our article listed the basic requirements for breeding turkeys. As you can see, keeping turkeys at home for beginners will not be a big problem if you follow all the recommendations.