Meat bird as pet

[Otis-Gussy]

That was good to start them on but they could and should have been switched over to a 20-24% protein grower food at 6 weeks old. At nearly 5 months they can be switched to as low as 16% protein as long as it is a quality feed. Since you have a mixed flock another option is to switch them to an all flock feed.

Ok I'll switch over asap. Hope I didn't do any major harm.

 

[strangeanimal]

At 1 1/2 years old, your turkey is an adult. Some companies do make a turkey/gamebird maintenance feed which is about 16% protein. If you are feeding him a high protein gamebird feed, it is not the appropriate feed for an adult broad breasted turkey.

One of the most important things to do for the health of a broad breasted turkey is to make sure that it gets plenty of exercise. It sounds like he will follow you so take him for walks. You may also want to put him on a diet by limiting the amount of processed feeds that he has access to. If you give him treats, make sure that you keep them to a minimum especially sunflower seeds, corn and scratch as these are feeds that have a high fat content. Mealworms should also be limited since they are 50% protein and too much protein can cause kidney disease.

Good luck

the issue is the fact he will adventually get kidnees that are close to failing because he is gonna need too much of protein to live anyway in good health but also be aware of the fact that this bird is indeed how the author mentioned to be honest " doomed " from the start , meaning , if he keeps up with this high amount in feed , that either ends up like said above or worse , the key here is to find a way to get the protein lower or this bird is going to die soon , in other words he needs to be on a certain diet because you cant keep up feeding like that , its a meatbird after all and it needs the protein but you really need to see that he gets a balance or he just will collapse .
If you keep feeding this tempo perhaps trying to skip the high protein every now and then ?? I do not know for sure , but kidneyfailure is going to be for sure if he is kept up that same level of feeding .... it is beautifull and in fact sad , love comes anyway where you least expect or want it , isn't it ?
Hoping for the author that there are enough people that know a good way to get your bird a good diet to decrease the possibility of kidneyfailure or other issues .
And I also agree : be carefull with those mealworms !!!!! it is PURE proteine !!!!
secondly for sure agreed with what has been said earlier on : MOVEMENT , as much as you can !

Stenght and courage !

 

[R2elk]

Ok I'll switch over asap. Hope I didn't do any major harm.

It should not have caused any harm with heritage turkeys or chickens. It just isn't necessary to provide that rich a food once their growth spurts are done and it is obviously more expensive to feed a high protein feed rather than a lower protein food.

With broad breasted turkeys, such a continued diet can lead to too fast of growth and cause health problems.

The biggest issue is owners thinking they are being kind to their pet poultry and giving them far too many "treats" which can lead to all kinds of health issues.

 

[strangeanimal]

Ok one of my neighbours here has over 10+ turkeys and he is still up ! I'm able to see him in a couple of hours as he arrives home and I am going to show your situation , he knows a lot about this so I hope to get a good answer !

 

[strangeanimal]

It should not have caused any harm with heritage turkeys or chickens. It just isn't necessary to provide that rich a food once their growth spurts are done and it is obviously more expensive to feed a high protein feed rather than a lower protein food.

With broad breasted turkeys, such a continued diet can lead to too fast of growth and cause health problems.

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Just as my neighbour next door claims once they had that spurt it is no longer needed to keep them up to such high feed BUT he also noted that IF you are going to keep the bird as pet , you shouldn't be surprised , or atleast aware of the fact that that bird is going to eat and eat , just as it is bread for ... so if you just would give this bird what the rest of your flock eats , he will make sure there is just not much for the others left , meaning , in fact it comes down to the same amount of proteine , because this bird is going to be constantly hungry unless you are hard enough to keep the bird hungry on a sort of diet that way .
BUt this is not my idea fyi , he has even an extremely obese bird by changing the feed so I honestly do not know what to say but I suggest that R2elk has more the best solution for you , altough my neighbour says it is a gamble due the fact that the feed is different and your bird constantly hungry and may lead to an obese bird which is not necissarily the case and my opinion says NOT given his age already , that is to what I think even a relatively old bird who is not going to be eating as much as my neighbour expects . I am curious tough to follow this up .... his birds are younger btw and he has them together with ducks , chickens and geese who all eat a bunch so I think you can perfectly give it a shot . Wishing you g luck

 

[ShinShien]

I keep a meat chicken as a pet. She's kept to herself but can see the main flock. I feed her 1/3-1/2 cup layer feed a day, with a treat of something once a day. She's pastured, so I make her forage (by that, I mean, I don't leave feed out) for exercise. This girl is ALWAYS hungry, though. Lays a big egg every three-four days or so.