Before You Raise TURKEYS - Terminologies and Interesting Facts You Should Know

Wild Turkey - Photo: Pixabay

Ideally, before you raise turkeys, it is helpful that you know the terminologies and interesting facts about turkeys so that you wouldn't 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.

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 appears from about 5th week of age

Dewlap

A large flap skin is 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 thumbnail 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 a day old by removing the tip of the toe just to the inside of the outer most toe pad including the entire toenail.

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 is 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 turkey's 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.

The cost of raising a turkey is affected by many factors, including buildings, equipment, labor, feed costs, and interest on loans. Feed costs amount to almost two-thirds of the cost of raising a turkey. Geographic location, degree of automation, and size of the farm all contribute to differences in the costs of raising turkeys.

By Andrew Grey Andrew Grey is the author of "The Essential Beginners Guide To Raising Turkeys". If you would like to learn more tips on how to raise turkeys and avoid the costly mistakes. Learning the right path to start to raising turkeys is vital for new turkey owners. Don't forget to claim your FREE "Fast-Start Guide: What You Need To Know Before Raising Turkeys" eReport! Article Source: EzineArticles

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Raising TURKEYS

The turkey is a large bird, native to North America. It is distinguished by its white plumage and a bare wattled neck and head. The name turkey was first applied to the guinea fowl that was thought to have originated in Turkey. However, the American turkey is a quite different species from the guinea fowl, though the name remained. In fact, the wild turkey was a staple food in the North American diet. It was known as a "Peru" in the 18th century. Some common breeds of turkey are Narragansett, Bronze, White Holland, and Bourbon Red.

There are three stages in Raising Turkeys: the breeder farm, the hatchery, and the turkey farm. The breeder farm is the place where the hen lays the eggs. These eggs are collected and sent to the hatchery. In the hatchery, the eggs are kept in special incubators after cleaning. These incubators provide the right temperature and humidity levels for allowing the eggs to hatch. Generally, turkey eggs take 28 days to hatch. The baby turkeys, also known as poults, are kept in the hatchery until they are moved to the turkey farms. 

In the turkey farms, the hen turkeys and the tom turkeys are reared separately. The poults should be fed properly and watched carefully, at least until they shed their down feathers and get the outer feathers. For this, they are put in climate-controlled barns that have soft flooring covered with straw or wood chips. They are fed on a soft powdered mixture of soybean, corn, and wheat. Other nutrients like barley, milk powder, meat meal, limestone, salt, vitamin premix, methionine, lysine and insoluble grit can also be added. Adequate water should also be provided.

Today, many advances have been made in the genetics of turkeys. This has helped to increase the size of the bird with lesser feed and in lesser time. The white broad-breasted turkey has been the most common commercially raised turkey breed, since the 1960s. There are also different strains of the white broad-breasted turkey that are reared in different parts of North America. Turkeys are bred specially to have more meat in the breast and thighs. White feathered turkeys are generally preferred since they do not leave any ugly pigment spots when plucked.

Turkeys take around 4-5 months to grow to full size. Birds less than 8 months of age are known as young turkeys. The hen turkeys take 16 weeks to mature completely and average around 8 to 16 lbs in weight. The tom turkey takes around 19 weeks and weighs anywhere between 16 and 24 lbs. Larger tom turkeys may weigh up to 40 lbs. These take a few more weeks to mature. A breeder tom turkey can generate up to 1,500 poults in a hen's six-month laying cycle.

Turkeys are given a balanced diet comprising mainly of soybean and corn. This is also supplemented with minerals and vitamins. A 30-pound tom turkey (male) needs around 84 lbs of feed on an average. The cost of the feed is generally 2/3 of the total cost. Use of growth hormones for Raising Turkeys is banned. Sometimes, antibiotics are also given to turkeys to prevent diseases and to increase feed efficiency. The quantity of antibiotics to be given and the withdrawal period are determined by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the FSIS (Food Safety and Inspection Service). 

The turkey's health is inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or other state systems, and it may also be graded for quality. Turkeys that have been on antibiotics are not allowed to be processed for some time until the residue of the medicine has cleared from the body. Turkey farms are generally comfortable, providing shelter from harsh weather, predators, and disease.

By Peter Emerson - Article Source: EzineArticles

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