Scratch?

[Poupoulles]

At what age can you give turkeys scratch, and is that SOP for turkeys? Do you give them the same scratch as chickens?
They are on grass, they are finishing up their last bag of game starter (28%) and they are 8 weeks.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Usually at about 8 weeks we drop the protein down to 19%. I don't know if they would eat the scratch or not at that age. At any rate you don't want to give them very much, the scratch is low in protein and harder for them to digest than a mash type feed. They are still growing and need the protien.

Steve

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

At what age can you give turkeys scratch, and is that SOP for turkeys? Do you give them the same scratch as chickens?
They are on grass, they are finishing up their last bag of game starter (28%) and they are 8 weeks.

We never give scratch to the turks. But if you want to I would wait till they are around 4 months old or so.

If you are going for meat you will want to keep them on 28% their entire life, if it is going to be pets then you can drop down in the protien, but from what I have seen when fed the lower protien at a young age they never grow right and are never real fleshy till they get 2 years or so. I keep all of ours on 28% for the entire time until slaughter or breeding, then on the older ones we will maintain them on a 16-18 % feed after they are done breeding and grass and they do quit well​

 

[Poupoulles]

Thanks!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I keep all of ours on 28% for the entire time until slaughter or breeding

harp, what is your feed to weight gain ratio on 28%, and at what age do you process or switch to breeder status​

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

harp, what is your feed to weight gain ratio on 28%, and at what age do you process or switch to breeder status

Last year on the market birds we were an average of 5 lbs of feed to 1 lb of dressed meat on our turkeys. Big Toms being closer to 6lbs and hens 4.5lbs. This is 28% feed with foraging on pasture 24/7.


We process at 24-32 weeks old.

We switch them over to breeder feed mid January or so, the youngest will be 6-7 months old at that time. Then they start laying around here in Early March.​

 

[Poupoulles]

Its so hard for me to remember how young they are since they are so big (vs chickens). When I went back and realized they were only 8 weeks I was surprised!

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

harp, what is your feed to weight gain ratio on 28%, and at what age do you process or switch to breeder status

Last year on the market birds we were an average of 5 lbs of feed to 1 lb of dressed meat on our turkeys. Big Toms being closer to 6lbs and hens 4.5lbs. This is 28% feed with foraging on pasture 24/7.


We process at 24-32 weeks old.

We switch them over to breeder feed mid January or so, the youngest will be 6-7 months old at that time. Then they start laying around here in Early March.

So what is yours ?? How long does it take for yours to reach weight ??​

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
So what is yours ?? How long does it take for yours to reach weight ??

We don't raise ours for the fastest weight gain and to squeeze every pound into them for market so we can make the most on sales, that's not my idea of a method to preserve a rare breed - I'll leave that to Perdue, Tyson and turkey ranchers. we breed ours for conformation and APA standards

Steve in NC

 

[HappyHatch'en]

Before we had all these sophisticated food choices, the birds would eat anything they could get down their throats. In the 1800's they ate what they could and they survived. I have raised my chickens and turkeys on the same food, because I'm cheap and can't afford all these special mixes and both are doing well.... Both have the opportunity to free range as well, which I figure what they get for free doesn't cost me...starter and scratch...they love the clover I planted for them as well. I have watering holes thru-out the property so they can drink almost anywhere.