Right feed for my turkey pair?

[natyvidal]

Hi everyone.

What is the average percentage protein to be fed to a pair of laying Narraganset turkeys?

While the flock had poults I was feeding them meat maker. 21% protein. Should I change them to all flock at 18%?

The hen is a proven layer. And she had poults last year. HerTom was not very nice with me so I had to substitute him with their first generation offspring, Junior! Thank you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm sure @R2elk will chime in but till then -
Young turkey poults need much higher protein than that. Like most gamebirds, hatchlings' protein needs is more akin to wild turkeys but as a guide, the following link provides nutrient requirement of meat type turkeys at various ages. But they are still turkeys. I believe 18-21% protein is too high for mature turkeys as a maintenance feed.
Nutrient Requirements of Chickens and Turkeys | MU Extension (missouri.edu)

 

[R2elk]

Hi everyone.

What is the average percentage protein to be fed to a pair of laying Narraganset turkeys?

While the flock had poults I was feeding them meat maker. 21% protein. Should I change them to all flock at 18%?

The hen is a proven layer. And she had poults last year. HerTom was not very nice with me so I had to substitute him with their first generation offspring, Junior! Thank you.

I feed my adult heritage turkeys a 20% protein All Flock feed. They do fine and live long lives on it. They also get to free range daily.

When I allow a hen to raise poults, she gets the same feed as the poults. They get a 28% turkey or game bird starter followed by a 24% protein turkey or game bird grower. After that they get the same 20% protein All Flock that all the rest of my poultry get.

 

[natyvidal]

I feed my adult heritage turkeys a 20% protein All Flock feed.

I can’t get all flock 20% protein where I live. I would have to drive far.
but the meat maker I get has 21% protein. Will the meat maker do?

 

[natyvidal]

When I allow a hen to raise poults, she gets the same feed as the poults. They get a 28% turkey or game bird starter followed by a 24% protein turkey or game bird grower. After that they get the same 20% protein All Flock that all the rest of my poultry get.

These suggestions I already follow. So no question there. I also allow my turkeys to free range with the rest of the flock.

 

[R2elk]

I can’t get all flock 20% protein where I live. I would have to drive far.
but the meat maker I get has 21% protein. Will the meat maker do?

Typically meat maker does not have the same levels of lysine, methionine and niacin that all flock has. Purina's Flock Raiser is the same as all flock.

 

[natyvidal]

Ok! So I my original entry and realized that I needed to clarify the following.

When The hen had poults last year I raised them. I did give the poults from hatching date:
(They get a 28% turkey or game bird starter followed by a 24% protein turkey or game bird grower.). Until they were able to free range safely. Maybe 5-6 months? At which time I started giving them the meat maker. 20 or 21%.

Now only the pair. Penny and Junior. And I should be giving them something other than meat maker since I have no intention on eating them. They are named. Penny the hen, and Jr the tom.

I am not sure why, but it’s terribly hard to get the right feed for certain members of my flock with the right protein content!
I have to settle to getting what I can find from the
Stores near me. With the approximate amount of protein they require.

I just found a Nutrena brand 40 lbs bag 20% protein at one of the local stores. But, they only have pellets. The other all flock they have in 8 lbs bag is only 16%! It’s way to low but they offered to get me the 20% bag special order for next Tuesday! Meanwhile, until then they will eat the 16%! I have no choice! It’s not easy folks! According to the stores when I ask them why not have a more varied inventory...I guess you all can guess the answer! COVID-19 is interfering with supply and demand.

So my question sirs is. If I can’t get the exact protein content in a feed for any member of my varied flock...can i get a feed that has the protein content as close as possible without it being the exact one mentioned in the books or mentioned here? For example at a different store I did find an all flock feed that was 18%, 50lbs bag for approximately the same price!!!

 

[R2elk]

Adult turkeys can do fine on a 16% protein chicken feed as long as it is a quality feed. Not all feeds are quality feeds. I prefer the all flock since they have higher levels of lysine, methionine and niacin. Those are more important to the health of the turkeys than the protein level.

During breeding season it is not a bad idea to provide your adult turkey hens with a better feed. When they are sitting on a nest, it takes a lot out of them. The hens benefit as much as the poults do from a proper starter when they are brooding poults.

The more the chain feed stores take over, the worse the situation becomes for getting good quality feeds. The chain feed stores don't care about what is best for your flock. They only care about their profit margin.

When the local feed store that I relied on closed, I seriously considered becoming my own feed store. There is a market for proper specialty feeds even though the chain stores don't want to deal with it.

I was fortunate that one store was happy to order in the proper feeds for me. Amazingly enough, it was Sutherland's Lumber.

Just because you don't see the feed you want in a store does not mean that they won't order it for you. Some managers understand the concept of a guaranteed sale. Some don't.

 

[natyvidal]

Thank you. Ver informative. How do you know it’s a quality feed? Check the ingredients? Look brand names? How about company chain brands?

 

[R2elk]

Thank you. Ver informative. How do you know it’s a quality feed? Check the ingredients? Look brand names? How about company chain brands?

Check the ingredients. Even good companies don't put quality into all of their feeds. Chain brands while actually made by good companies are made to the chain's specifications which are aimed at profitability.