How To Take Care Of A Turkey - Seniorcare2share

Feed: A game bird or turkey starter with 28% protein is recommended for the first six weeks. Switch to a grower ration at 6 to 8 weeks. Supply more than one feeder in the brooder to allow all poults equal access. Water: When you get your poults home, dip their beaks in water, so they learn how to drink.

Is it easy to take care of a turkey?

Turkeys are not any harder to raise than chickens are and although they do require some special considerations it can be well worth your time to raise a few turkeys and enjoy the pure pleasure and satisfaction of eating a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving.

How do you raise turkeys in the backyard?

Provide a roosting area if possible. Keep them inside at night to provide more control over parasites and keep them safe from predators. Turkeys are social birds, so plan to spend time with them while you’re outside. Allow one square foot of space for the young birds, up until they’re two months of age.

How do you keep a turkey alive?

If you’ve raised chickens, then you have a good basis for raising turkeys. Like chickens, they need quality feed, fresh water, a secure living space and run, clean bedding, roosting poles, and ground-level nesting boxes.

What is the best thing to feed turkeys?

Feeding Wild Turkeys the Natural Way Plant Native Oaks: Acorns are a key food source for wild turkeys. Plant Other Nut and Berry-Producing Plants: In addition to oak acorns, other staples of the wild turkey diet include beech nuts, pecans, hickory nuts, crabapples, and hackberries.

Can a turkey be a pet?

Turkeys can make excellent pets, but they are most commonly found as a part of a homestead. They are capable of a wide range of emotional attachments. Many owners claim that their turkey acts more like a dog than their dogs do.

Do turkeys need light at night?

“Light is what stimulates the turkeys to get up in the morning, to eat, to drink, to run around,” Langmo said. The more the turkeys eat and run around, the better meat they produce. So the lights that make them productive are on in the barns a lot, even at night.

Are turkeys loud pets?

Pet turkeys can be noisy Each turkey is unique and some are more vocal than others. Male turkeys gobble (especially during mating season) while females make a high-pitched chirping noise. Our turkey gets especially noisy when it’s almost meal time.

Are turkeys hard to raise?

Turkeys are not that hard to raise, but they differ a bit from chickens in terms of what they need, and raising them from poults (baby turkeys) is more time- and energy-intensive than raising chickens from baby chicks.

Are wild turkeys hard to raise?

Are turkeys hard to raise? Turkeys aren’t any harder to raise than meat chickens in my opinion. The difference is in their personalities, the amount of food they consume and the space they need. If you’ve successfully raised meat chickens or even egg chickens, you should be able to raise turkeys.

Can turkeys live alone?

Because living alone can be very stressful for flock animals such as turkeys, if a turkey resident is unable to live with other turkeys, it will be important to give them the opportunity to bond with a companion(s) of a different species while ensuring everyone’s safety.

How long is a turkey’s life span?

Turkey/Lifespan.

Can I keep turkeys with chickens?

One of the main ways to keep turkeys healthy is too NOT raise chickens and turkeys together. When turkeys and chickens are raised together, turkeys run a high risk of contracting the disease histomoniasis, also known as blackhead.

What kind of treats do turkeys like?

Safe Treats For Turkeys Kale. Lettuces (avoid iceberg) Cabbage. Cucumber. Zucchini. Summer squash. Cooked sweet potato. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cranberries.

What should turkeys not eat?

Things That Are Toxic To Turkeys Blue-Green Algae. Botulism. Cantharidiasis (Blister Beetle Poisoning) Cedar. Hardware Disease. Lead Toxicity. Mycotoxins. Pesticides, Herbicides, And Rodenticides.

Do turkeys eat mice?

Small snakes, mice and moles – Young turkeys seeking nutritious protein will catch and eat small mammals and reptiles.

Do turkeys fly away?

They forage on the ground, but at night, they will fly to the top of trees to roost. This helps protect them from predators lurking around at night. Not only will they fly up into trees, but they will also fly away from a scare or predator nipping at their heels.

Do turkeys like to be petted?

Turkeys love to be stroked, petted and cuddled. They will remember your face and if they like you, they will come up to you to greet you. Turkeys also love music and will cluck along with the songs.

Are turkeys dirty animals?

Foul Farming Turkeys and other animals raised for food in the U.S. produce far more excrement than the entire U.S. human population, roughly 89,000 pounds per second, all without the benefit of waste-treatment systems.

What age can turkey poults go outside?

Most often poults will be fully feathered and will be ready to move into their outdoor housing around 6-7 weeks of age. But until they are fully feathered they need to be kept in a draft-free, temperature-controlled brooder space protected from predators and supplied with fresh food and water.

What age do you butcher turkeys?

Butchering, Processing, And Cooking Turkey With that being said, at 16-22 weeks they should be weighing at around 12-14 pounds. A heritage breed turkey will mature at 25-30 weeks. So when you have determined they have reached the appropriate weight, you will pull your turkeys out and butcher them.

Can you let turkeys free range?

It’s like free-ranging chickens. The free-ranging can give the birds access to natural vitamins and nutrients they need. But it isn’t enough to sustain them properly. Make sure you give your turkeys grain and grit along with their free ranging.

What should you not feed turkeys?