Our turkeys are always hungry

[SuzanneW]

We have three turkeys. Salty, Pepper and mustard. What is astonishing us is that they are constantly hungry but not suffering from any mites. We had turkeys before and they were not like this. Two are of the same race ie white and we now have a beuatiful black/grey turkey.

It is my usual habit to go out side around three times in the day, to feed them all. They literally fall over each other to get to the food as though starved!!!

What can we do about this?

Suzanne

 

[leirob007]

We have three turkeys. Salty, Pepper and mustard. What is astonishing us is that they are constantly hungry but not suffering from any mites. We had turkeys before and they were not like this. Two are of the same race ie white and we now have a beuatiful black/grey turkey.

It is my usual habit to go out side around three times in the day, to feed them all. They literally fall over each other to get to the food as though starved!!!

What can we do about this?

Suzanne

Get a bigger feeder. Keep them fed. and make sure they get wormed on a regular basis.
and it sounds like some of it is just plain being spoiled and they are in a rush to make sure one of the others do not get more. a feeder should hold enough to last them all day long.

 

[SuzanneW]

Ah thanks for your reply.

Now there is a question! We don't have a "feeder" unless you call me one lol. We have a huge dustbin with food in their and I usually throw them a couple of containers of food three times a day. However, we do note that our ducks act like hoovers lol and guess with the sheer amount of animals we have now, there is not enough food to go around!!!

 

[frank53061]

I have 17 Red Bourbons and they go threw 200 lbs of feed every 2 weeks plus Sunday biscuts and table scraps and also what they get free ranging and what they steal from the Chicken pen.
And still would eat more every time I went to the back door acting like they are wanting to be feed more.
I put out enough feed in there feeder to last 3/4 of the day after that it seems to go to wast.
It of course depends on what breed you have Double breasted or not and what age they are this helps to know how much food there needs to be supplied.
My Turkeys are fat and happy so they are getting plenty at 7 months of age.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Yes, they eat a lot. They are growing and in order to grow, they need food. They can't make muscle out of air.

 

[Celie]

My turkeys eat like pigs, not only a lot, but the way you raise pigs is never get just one. They compete for feed, so two pigs will fatten up much faster than one. Turkeys will compete with each other and also with any other animal you are feeding. Since my dogs eat on the porch and won't eat inside the house, we have to wait until the turkeys perch in the evening to feed the dogs! If the dogs do not finish their food, the turkeys will have it gone by dawn the next morning. I swear they have their alarm clocks set for quarter to dawn!

 

[SuzanneW]

That is a bit unfair ie your sarcasm because these are not the only turkeys' we have had and our first lot, did not eat half as much as this lot and only one of them is a different breed! Yet everyone who came to see us, remarked on how lovely and plump they were and certainly, they had trouble moving around - due to their huge bulk and ended up very poorly.

I feed them tons of scraps every day - plus their usual feed; so they never starve! In fact, I notice that they don't like the dried sweet corn which is in one of their feeds.

It is funny how as soon as any of our flock, sense food - they literarly swamp and stampede each other, to get to the goodies

 

[ivan3]

SuzanneW wrote: It is my usual habit to go out side around three times in the day, to feed them all. They literally fall over each other to get to the food as though starved!!!

If you are using a commercial feed, have you changed brands/kind? Does the current feed look/smell OK?
As has been mentioned, have you checked droppings? Potential for some `worm' infestation is possible. If one isn't performing fecal floats/smears on his/her own (or having vet do it) then a regular prophylactic worming schedule is usually a good idea.
I'd suggest getting the turks in one place (in a run) and feeding them `free choice', i.e., food available 24/7, for a couple of days, to see just how much is being consumed (eating until they collapse? - check quality and quantity of droppings as well).
Post some shots of these turks, s'il vous plaît.

 

[kuntrygirl]

What kind of feed do they eat?

 

[SuzanneW]

Grain - scraps from the kitchen. Grain is just pellets which they do seem to enjoy. Never meaty products or eggs.