The diet of turkeys should be balanced and varied. Poultry nutrition must be formed in such a way that its growth and development occur evenly and without harm to health.
Rules for feeding turkeys at home
It is very important to monitor the feeding place of the bird. This is especially true for young animals. The food tends to deteriorate quickly due to the abundant amount of greens, dairy products and wet mixes. Keep feeders clean and dry. Do not leave raw food half-eaten by the bird. It deteriorates quickly and can harm the gastrointestinal tract and overall bird health.
The main food criteria for turkeys, as well as for other birds, are calorie content and nutrient saturation. Throughout the breeding of birds, it is important to give food that contains all the necessary elements, including fiber, as well as macro- and microelements.
Adults need to be fed three times a day and provide constant access to clean water. The basis for the diet are legumes and crops. Often the feed consists of wheat, barley, buckwheat and oats. Hay and straw are also good for poultry - a large amount of fiber is extracted from them, which helps digestion.
Along with feeding, it is important to know about the correct content of turkeys. Therefore, we suggest reading this article.
Home-made feed
The full-feed combination feed must include:
- corn;
- wheat;
- barley;
- peas;
- meal;
- fodder yeast;
- reverse;
- fish, meat, bone and grass meal;
- tricalcium phosphate feed and impurities.
You can mix feeds in different proportions, but you should consider the daily intake of certain foods. This will make the diet balanced and avoid the lack of certain nutrients, vitamins and elements.
Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
An important component in poultry nutrition is supplementation. It can be both premixes and pure dietary supplements, as well as vitamin and mineral preparations.
Such supplements are given to young animals in the form of concentrated pharmaceutical preparations in powder or liquid soluble form. They include all groups of vitamins, trace elements and minerals. They prevent the development of diseases, make up for the lack of substances, and are also auxiliary therapy for infectious and parasitic diseases.
Supplements of this type for adults can reduce feed costs and increase nutrient absorption. But it is worth remembering that vitamin and mineral supplements cannot be combined with compound feed, and premixes cannot be diluted in warm water.
Approximate daily diet
Before making a diet for poultry, several factors should be considered. The age and breed of turkeys require different feed quality and composition. Here is a sample menu of an average adult:
- Morning: 100 grams of dry mixed feed, 60 grams of grain, 30 grams of bran.
- Day: Wet mash, 450 grams of grass chopped feed, 30 grams of grass meal, 12 grams of millet and peas, 12 grams of chalk, 1.5 grams of salt, as well as gravel and shells.
- Evening: 100 grams of dry mixed feed, 60 grams of grain, 20 grams of bran.
In addition to all of the above, it is also necessary to give vitamin-mineral supplements and provide the bird with constant access to clean water.
Features of feeding chicks
When the chick is born, its weight ranges from 50 to 52 grams. Feeding small poultry should be done 8 times a day every two to three hours.
Calorie intake is the main criterion for the diet of chicks. Low protein foods cause an increase in stomach and gastrointestinal mass. This process will increase the amount of food consumed, but reduce its digestibility. Chicks will eat more, but lag behind in growth.
Equally important is the provision of chicks with open, round-the-clock access to clean water at room temperature. In addition to food, turkeys need a lot of fluids for good digestion and life.
First 10 days
The first 48 hours, the chicks can live off the residues of nutrients in the stomach, but do not delay with the beginning of feeding. It is important to start feeding turkeys in time, otherwise a lack of food can affect their growth and development.
The first day is recommended to additionally give fermented baked milk, buttermilk and low-fat cottage cheese. Dairy products are very important because of the minimal amount of glycine and arginine in their composition.
The next day, more high-calorie foods are added to the diet. The classic mixture for feeding daily poultry is grated corn with boiled egg. To this type of feed add oat or wheat flour in a ratio of 1 to 4.
Daily turkey poultry is fed with vitamin concentrate. It is made from a mixture of nettle juice, alfalfa and carrots in equal proportions. On the second day, you can increase the amount of flour in the diet. Usually use barley and wheat.
On the second day, crumpled juicy greens should be introduced and not removed from the diet. Vitamin feed consists of cabbage, alfalfa, nettle, clover and carrots with leaves.
On the third day, the chicks are given well-cooked porridge with additives. It can be grated potatoes or an egg and greens. Green onion is a particularly good herbal supplement. The portions should be small so that the intestines of the turkey are accustomed to the load and a new kind of feeding.
The body weight of the chick on the third day of life reaches 70 grams. From this point on, complementary foods should become more diverse. The inclusion in the diet of finely ground shells and chalk.
The main lure are wet mixers. They are made by adding yogurt or meat broth to regular food. To increase the level of proteins in the diet, you need to gradually add yeast and minced meat and fish waste without large bone residues.
After 30 days of life
Starting at the age of one month, chicks are advised to add a little salt to their food. At this stage in the development of turkey poultry, it is important to gradually introduce feed containing minerals. Young animals are poured with a mixture of chalk and crushed eggshells.
After 2 months
By this time, the amount of whole grain feed in the diet is increased to 50% of the total weight of the grain feed products. Coarse food is required for two-month-old chicks, especially fish and green flour.
It is very useful at this age to give sprouted grain, grated carrots, mountain ash and pine needles. Dried nettles and hay flour are also very popular for feeding into lure.
After 3 months
At this age, the turkey menu should be replenished with bran and finely chopped corn. Portion feeding during this period is reduced to four times a day.
Food continues to be salted. Grown turkeys can gradually begin to feed more coarse food. For this, wheat bran, bone meal with yeast bread, green grass and grape leaves are recommended.
At 4 months
Turkey is given compound feed for an adult bird. It is allowed to introduce bread crumb into the diet, sometimes the bird is fed with dumplings. The dough for them is prepared from water, yeast, bran and corn or oat flour.
Features of feeding young animals
In the diet of young animals, animal feed should be 15%. Green and succulent feeds give no more than 50 grams. It is worth considering that young chicks are reluctant to go peck food. To attract attention, you need to use bright feeders, tap the tray before feeding, and the feed itself can be poured from a small height so that the young growth is interested in the process.
The breeder shares his experience of feeding turkey poults in the video below:
Features of feeding adults
Adult food should consist mostly of grain and animal feed. It is very important to increase the protein content of animal origin in the diet to 30%.
In the spring and summer
Due to the heat, bird feed consumption drops. Accordingly, egg production, hatchability, and egg fertility are reduced. You can increase consumption to the usual level by increasing complementary foods with green chopped feed and fiber.
In winter
Poultry farmers try to harvest as much hay, silage and brooms as possible. They are the basis for important feeds with a vitamin and protein base. Silage preparations from numerous garden crops are good - carrots with tops, green alfalfa or clover, corncobs of milk ripeness.
Additional nutrition is provided through a variety of nutty foods. For example, a turkey per day can eat up to 40 acorns, which will provide additional nutrition with saturated fats and increase carcass weight.
During oviposition
Due to the depletion of the bird's body during the laying of eggs, it is necessary to carefully compile the diet of the individual. The amount of vitamins and minerals should be increased. Amino acids are an important component at this time; there must be a sufficient amount of them in the feed. The source of essential amino acids is protein feed.
Also, for this period, grain is germinated in hydroponics and introduced into the diet along with animal proteins. Poultry farmers are advised to give cottage cheese, yogurt or add them to a damp mix.
In the tribal period
During this time, the amount of food consumed in males decreases, this is most noticeable in the daytime. To avoid weight loss, the proportion of legumes and peas in the diet is increased. In the evening, often give vegetable mixtures, finely chopped cheese and sprouted grain.
To increase the egg production of females, during the breeding period they are given a high content of yeast and feed with concentrated vitamin B. Poultry farmers also practice feeding with sprouted grain, root crops.
Fattening for meat before slaughter
To increase the mass of the carcass and achieve the desired level of fatness, forced feeding is practiced. Its purpose is to increase poultry feed intake by 25-30%. This will quickly achieve the desired gain by increasing the quantity and calorie content of food.
What can not be fed turkeys?
- Compound feed for pigs and cattle is prohibited for birds. It contains too much fiber and salt, which can cause loose stools and subsequent death.
- Remember the freshness of wet food. After 20 minutes, the mixers become unusable. They become acidic and can cause poisoning and loose stools.
- Watch out for grassy chopped feeds. In no case should they include such plants as belladonna, ledum, cicuta and hemlock.
- Do not give the birds too much salt. Its content should not exceed 0.5% of the daily feed mass. Sweet is forbidden at all. Any confectionery can cause illness and deterioration of the bird.
Following the tips and recommendations described above, you can independently make the right diet for turkeys, which will provide them with uniform growth and development, and most importantly - will help maintain their health.