Bourbon Red turkeys...how much feed

[shelleyb1969]

will a breeding pair eat in a month? A friend has blessed me with the offer of a pair of her BRs. I'm really considering taking them, but I'm concerned with my feed bill. They're 2 years old and the hen lays very well. However, she's never successfully hatched her own poults. That doesn't concern me as I plan on selling the eggs or incubating them myself. Is owning a breeding pair really worth their cost in feed per month?

 

[monarc23]

I cant tel you from expereince but i've been told that heritage breeds really manage their feed intake well. I too am considering getting some BRs!

 

[farmerlor]

Kinda depends on some other factors. Are you going to be free ranging them or will they be cooped? The other part of the equation is that your hen will lay about 100 eggs if you keep removing them and don't let her sit on them. People are paying between 2 and 5 dollars per egg for turkey eggs. If you incubate them people are paying between 5 and 9 dollars for poults.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
Too bad you're not closer. My friend actually has 2 pair she wants to get rid of....I'm only taking 1 pair.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
Since this offer was unexpectant, I don't have an outdoor coop/enclosure for them. I'm going to keep them in a 16x16 stall in my barn. The stall has nice big windows with lots of sunlight. Hopefully within a month or so I can get an outdoor enclosure built for them. At some point, maybe early summer, I plan on letting them free range on my 10 acres during the day.

Wow, since you put those numbers out there it seems like they'll be worth it!

 

[Struttn1]

Winter is when they will go through feed in a hurry.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
Too bad you're not closer. My friend actually has 2 pair she wants to get rid of....I'm only taking 1 pair.

argh! just my luck! LOL!

 

[pdpatch]

Red Bourbons are good foragers so your feed bill will be lower if they are on grass. They will prefer wide bladed grass like crab grass to narrow bladed grass that is used in most lawns. During the winter two adults may eat between 50 to 100lbs a month depending on the amount of stress from the weather they are dealing with.

Tom

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
Thanks Tom! That's the info I was looking for. I have 10 acres of pasture, so the spring-fall months would be great for them. Now I've just got to decide if I can afford them in the winter. On the high side, 100# of feed/month is a lot of feed! Decisions, decisions.

 

[pdpatch]

A bag, at the local orcslens cost about $12 to $14 a 50lb bag , we also give the grass we buy in a bag for rabbits, about three bags for 2 turkeys, (one hen and one tom) and 17 chickens, we also we dig up roots, as the tops are dead and they don't like those.

Some months they went though less then a bag this winter. They will also eat, cooked table scraps. But don't feed them raw beans as there is one chemical in most uncooked beans that can iratate there intistinse.

Tom