Advantages to raising your own Turkeys

Why raise turkeys?

Many people have already heard about those who grow their own vegetables and the money they save by doing so. But not many people have heard about the process of raising their own turkeys. Raising turkeys is different from raising vegetables in that turkeys require more maintenance and a shelter (called a coop).

However, turkeys provide more than vegetables can. Raising your own chickens can give you a bountiful amount of eggs on a regular basis, which are high in protein and are only about 171 calories per egg and full of protien. You can eat the meat of the turkey, also providing protein and giving you a cheap meal. You can use the manure the turkey provide to make your own fertilizer, which you know is natural and is cheaper than going out to the store to buy fertilizer. The turkeys are under your supervision, meaning no drugs have been administered to the turkey or placed in the eggs or meat. Turkeys also make great pets. They are easy going animals and have interesting and unique personalities.

Raising your own turkeys means you can save money on food, fertilizer, and buying a new pet. However, turkeys need shelter. Turkey coops can be built in many different sizes and are meant to hold all of the turkeys you own. Buying a professionally made turkey coop is expensive and not that much different than the coops that you can make yourself.

Are you interested in buying your own turkeys, but want to make the coop yourself? Want step by step instructions on how to build different sized poultry coops (with detailed pictures)? Check out this guide.

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How to Raise Turkey

Raising Turkeys for sale and enjoyment

Raising turkeys is easy, since they are friendly by nature and they have been known to become pets. However, raising turkeys entails maintaining perfect living conditions.

Various Turkey Breeds

The turkey is native to America and all strains and breeds originated in the Unites States.

The original was the wild Bronze turkey, from which about eight varieties of turkeys emerged.

Broad Breasted White (Large White) is used mostly for commercial purposes. It is said to have more meat than other breeds.

Broad Breasted Bronze (Large Bronze,) which was popular some time back is not as appealing anymore, because of the black pin feathers which are noticeable on the dressed bird.

Beltsville White is the third variety, which is a small white-feathered bird.
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Eggs, Poults or Adult Birds?

Once a decision is made on the breed, it is time to decide on getting either eggs to be incubated, poults (baby turkeys) or breeding-age adult birds. The buying and maintenance of adult birds is very expensive but they are very delicious and can be very profitable

Brooding

Brooding will take place whether eggs are bought or one-day poults. Since poults overheat quickly, they are brooded at lower temperatures than chicks. Poults need plenty of room and do not thrive in overcrowded conditions.

Housing your Turkeys

Approximately 100 square feet – 10 x 10 feet is required for raising a small group of 10-12 day old poults. Pens should be planned in such a way that provision is made for enough space for their growth. A good idea is to have a sun porch that is 8 x 10 feet for every 20 large or 30 small turkeys. It should have 1 x 2 inch welded wire flooring with chicken wire sides and top. The porch should be at least one foot above ground level and should have a 10 x 10 foot brooding area.

Equipment for raising turkeys

Young poults should be kept warm and dry. Shavings, straw and crushed corn cobs make excellent litter material. Cover the litter material with burlap bags, cloth or rough paper for the first few days and by then the birds would know where the feed and water is and will not eat litter.

Keeping your poults warm

Your need to keep your turkey poults at steady temperatures.For a large number of poults, a 250-watt heat lamp hung a couple of feet above the floor level can provide the heat. This provides the warmth required as well as a cool area outside of the light. For fewer birds, a 100-watt bulb and a large cardboard box are sufficient.

Feeding and watering your turkeys

Feeders


A hanging feeder can be placed on the floor to enable day-old birds to eat from. As the turkeys grow, a covered and raised feeder, with mash at one end and grains at the other end works very well as the feed does not spoil by getting wet.

Waterers:

A chicken water fountain can be used for the first couple of weeks. A water can-pan with a wire guard works well as they grow.

Feed:

If raising turkeys commercially, there are around four different feeds to give the birds as they are grown from day-old to market: the starter, grower and finisher feeds.

The starter ration should be used for the first eight weeks. After that, the grower rations should be given. At 14 weeks of age, along with the finisher rations, they should also be able to feed small grains, such as corn, heavy oats, wheat, barley, emmer or spelt, in a separate feeder, which accommodates mash as well as grains. This mash and grain mixture should be fed up to 20-28 weeks, which is the age of slaughter. They can also be allowed out within the fencing, if there is good pasture.

Turkeys grown on commercial feed programs may grow faster but this feeding program will also produce good turkeys. Plenty of water, small grains, mash and good pasture should be provided at all times.

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Interesting facts about raising turkeys

When most people think of a turkey they think of Thanksgiving dinner. While most who raise turkeys raise them for eating, some keep turkeys as a pet. And some do both, keep some as a pet while eating the others. There are many different breeds of turkeys, however there are two varieties, domestic and wild. The wild turkey lives and breeds in the wild and some are kept as pets. It can fly and is said to be smarter than the domestic.

The domestic turkey are the type eaten on thanksgiving and they cannot fly. The domestic and wild turkeys are physically different. Domestic turkeys are much larger than the wild turkeys. Wild turkeys have brown tipped tails, while the domestic is white. A wild turkey is much faster than the domestic turkey. The fastest wild turkey can run up to 35 mph, while a full grown domestic turkeys pace is a slow walk (females are a little faster because they weigh less than the male). Wild Turkeys have better eyesight and hearing than domestic turkeys. Only male turkeys gobble, female turkeys make a clucking sound but cannot gobble. Only the male turkey can fan his tail feathers, females cannot.

The turkeys crop is also called the craw. When turkeys feed they swallow lots of food which is stored in their crop. They then go to a safe place to loaf and process the food. Before you raise turkeys too, you need to know that turkeys don't have teeth, but they grind their food (even hard seeds and nuts like acorns) in their second stomach, the gizzard. This is the muscular stomach below the crop which is the glandular stomach. Look for the gizzard in the giblet bag.

All commercial turkeys produced today are the white broad breasted turkey breed. This breed was first used for commercial turkey production in the late 1950’s. By the late 1960’s the majority of the industry used this turkey breed.

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Before You Raise Turkeys – Terminologies

Ideally, before you raise turkeys, it is helpful that you know the terminologies and interesting facts about turkeys so that you would not be thrown off guard when you read any related materials about turkeys. Raising turkeys on a small farm can be fun and profitable because they can be rotated like any other cash crop on your property. If you have a few acres that you could rotate pastured turkeys on, this could be a good side business for the small farmer. But dont worry you can also raise a couple on a small suburban plot

Here are some terminologies to broaden your horizon when you raise turkeys:

Tom:
Adult male turkey

Hen:
Adult female turkey

Poult:
Young one of turkey

Snood or Dew bill:
The fleshy protuberance near the base of the beck

Caruncles:
The fleshy protuberance on the head and neck usually pink or red in color which appear from about 5th week of age

Dewlap:
A large flap skin seen immediately below the chin

Bread:
A tuft of hair attached to the skin of the upper chest region

Strut:
Mating behavior of male turkey

Shooting the red:
The development of caruncles and this is supposed to indicate the most difficult time in the life of young turkey

Debeaking:
Poults should be debeaked to control feather picking and cannibalism. Debeaking can be done at day old or 3-5 weeks of age. Remove the beak at about one half the distance from nostril to the tip of the beak.

Desnooding:
Removal of the snood or dewbill is to prevent the head injuries from picking and fighting. At the day old the snood can be removed by shumbnail or finger pressure. At 3 weeks of age it can be cut off close to the head with sharp
scissors.

Detoeing or toe clipping:
Clipping is done at day old by removing the tip of the toe just to the inside of the outer most toe pad including the entire toenail.

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Raising Turkeys – 6 Reasons Why You Should Start

Turkeys have been around for a long time. Turkey history actually starts millions of years ago. Their fossils have been found in Pleistocene deposits which means that they have been around more than twelve thousand years and their predecessors go back 50 to 60 million years to the Eocene period. Since the modern domesticated turkey is a descendant of the Wild Turkey, it is surmised that ancient Mesoamericans had chosen to domesticate and raise this species rather than the Ocellated Turkey which is found in far southern Mexico.

Turkeys require most of their care and attention during the first couple months. After this time they become much easier to care for. Turkeys are friendly and curious by nature.There are many reasons to raise turkeys.

1) Turkeys as food

Turkeys are traditionally eaten as the main course of large feasts at Christmas in much of the world, as well as Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, though this tradition has its origins in modern times, rather than colonial as is often supposed. Sliced turkey is frequently used as a sandwich meat or served as cold cuts. Ground turkey is sold just as ground beef, and is frequently marketed as a healthy beef substitute. Without careful preparation, cooked turkey is usually considered to end up less moist than other poultry meats such as chicken or duck.

Wild turkeys, while technically the same species as domesticated turkeys, have a very different taste from farm-raised turkeys. Almost all of the meat is "dark" (even the breast) with a more intense flavor. Turkey is often found as a processed meat. It can be smoked and as such is sometimes sold as turkey ham. The white meat of turkey is generally considered healthier and less fattening than the dark meat, but the nutritional differences are small.

2) Turkeys as pets

While most that raise turkeys raise them for eating, some keep turkeys as a pet. This has been known to destroy their commercial value as Thanksgiving dinner. And some do both, keep some as a pet while eating the others. There are many different breeds of turkeys; however there are two varieties, domestic and wild. The wild turkey lives and breeds in the wild and some are kept as pets. It can fly and is said to be smarter than the domestic. The domestic turkeys are the type eaten on thanksgiving and they cannot fly. The domestic and wild turkeys are physically different.

Animal welfare groups such as Farm Sanctuary claim that turkeys are bright and social animals that can make suitable companion animals. US President George W. Bush noted the long tradition of keeping turkeys as pets in his 2001 National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation speech. Bush noted that Abraham Lincoln's son Tad kept a turkey as a White House pet.

3) Turkeys provide built-in pest control service

Turkeys may have the most varied diet of any animal known. They eat a variety of foods depending on availability, preference, and nutritional needs. All age classes eat insects when they are available. In the summer turkeys eat large quantities of insects, grass seeds, berries, and green leaves. Turkeys eat bugs, mosquitoes, ticks and flies too.

4) Turkey dung as fuel

Turkey droppings are being used as a fuel source in electric power plants. One such plant in western Minnesota provides 55 megawatts of power using 700,000 tons of dung per year. The plant began operating in 2007. Three such plants are in operation in England.

5) Easy hunting

Why spend hours cold, tired and damp hunting for wild turkeys when you can have your own healthy, organically raised , easy to catch turkeys

6) Great effective fertilizer

Turkeys the gift that keeps on giving. Poultry manure is an excellent source of nutrients for your vegatables, fruits and flowers

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