Need Passover diet for baby poults

[aa3655]

Okay, so we're orthodox Jewish and we do Passover... this involves removing all grains (rye, oats, wheat, barley, and spelt) from our property during the 8 days of Passover (and for practicality's sake, a couple of days before). We have dogs, rabbits, and chickens, and have no trouble putting them on a Passover 'diet'... the dogs get meat scraps and potatos (yes, it's their favorite time of yearjavascript:insert_text('

'), the rabbits get fresh veggies and alfalfa pellets, and the chickens get corn, alfalfa pellet mash, potatos and greens.

I'm getting turkey poults a couple of days before Passover is due to start (the 18th of April this year). I'm asking for advice on what to feed them... maybe with a recipe for some kind of mash? If they were a little older I'd just feed them the chicken diet but since they're so little I don't know what to do!

 

[Sillystunt]

maybe lettuce & stuff. boiled eggs...idk that's a hard one!

be careful with potato's , they are "supposed" to be posionus to chickens

 

[Katy]

So what do you consider corn if not a grain? We grow corn and it's considered a grain by we farmers. I suppose if you're feeding them canned or frozen corn, then you could call it a vegetable.....but dried corn is considered a grain and that is what is in chicken feed. Any poultry mash is just grains ground up super fine so I don't know if feeding them mash will solve your issue.

 

[aa3655]

Sillystunt - Thanks for your reply - I mean cooked potatos, I don't feed any of the animals the raw ones!

Katy - Thanks for answering - I'm a huge fan! It has to do with whether or not flour from the grain you use will leaven (rise)... corn flour (or meal) won't. It'll ferment if you leave it with water, but it can't 'raise' anything. Also, there are some Orthodox Jews who won't use corn on Passover because of the fact that it can ferment. Our tradition is to use corn.

I know a lot about chickens but not too much about turkeys... is it ok to feed the little ones a mash I would make myself with cooked potatos + corn + vegetables... is that enough to keep them alive or do they need something else?

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Quote:
Just make sure that whatever you give them has enough protein to get them by for that that time. If you have poults they ideally need 30% but can get by for a few days with 24%. I think that soybeans and eggs are just fine, no issues with chametz as far as I can see. Soy will ferment, but since it isn't considered a grain it shouldn't be an issue...I think.

 

[aa3655]

Turkeyrangler - Thank you! I hadn't thought of soybeans, and no since we're not Ashkenazim they're not chametzdik for us. I'm assuming I should cook the soybeans first?

Problem solved - thank you so much for that, and thanks to everyone else who answered me!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Interesting.

 

[jasonm11]

cat food? plenty of protein in that stuff

 

[ivan3]

Meal worms and addled crickets (uninjured hoppers could be a little intimidating to day olds) and, when you do switch to game bird starter, salt the crumbles with the worms until they get the idea.

Some more info: http://japr.fass.org/cgi/reprint/14/2/426.pdf

 

[classicsredone]

The little mini meal worms would be perfect for poults, and they pick up on the fact that they are food pretty quickly. Our feed store sells them in little cans, but you could get them in bigger packages online. They are high in protein and fat. Another option is freeze-dried crickets. You might have to crush them some, though.