How to keep pet BB turkeys Slim

[Gobble Gobble fan]

Hola! Excited to be part of this community.
We recently rescued 25 white and bronze BB turkeys from a shop were they were dying. We are a sanctuary but 1st time having turkeys. We wish they were not the broad breasted kind as apparently they have many health issues but we are doing our best to keep them healthy, happy and thriving. They will not be food, they are our pets and rescues. They are now 2.5 months old and we are wondering if there is a way/diet to keep them slim and healthy without growing that unessesary Xtra weight.
Their current diet is a mix of these twice a day unlimited feed for about 1 hr each feeding:

1 portion 28% protein turkey feed
2 portions 18% chicken feed
1 portion scratch grains
Plus fruits and veggies and some foraging time.

Any suggestions are appreciated

 

[FrostRanger]

I would cut out the scratch grains entirely and only give it to them as an occasional treat as scratch is basically junk food and can cause any bird to be overweight or have nutritional deficiencies if fed too much. I'd stick to the turkey or gamebird feed and just restrict feed as you have been doing

 

[Al Gerhart]

Oh no you didn't..... fat shaming these birds. Shame on you.



Seriously, I'd not give them free choice feed. If you are going to try to keep these birds they need to be on a near starvation diet or a very low calorie natural food diet.

Then make them work their feathered behinds off to find the feed. If you free range, scatter the feed in different locations so they learn to hunt and forage like a wild turkey. Figure out what they would eat free choice in one hour per day, cut that by four times, and spread that over at least an acre of land. Make them burn more calories than they get from the feed and eat poor quality forage like grass to fill up.

But for Gawd's sake, don't try this on boyfriends or husbands.

And while I applaud what your are trying to do, does it make sense to save this kind of commercial farm animal or would more good be done saving animals that have a shot at surviving without being starved? Or how many at risk minority or low income kids could be helped with the same expenditure of time and effort?

Just saying, not hating....

 

[sbauwow]

Were you successfully able to keep these birds slim? I have 4 now, and facing the same challenge. Thank you!

 

[BoundlessLove]

They are meant to be meat birds.
If you want pet turkeys, you will need to look at heritage breeds. Such as Bourbon Reds