**~~>>Second Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon<<~~**all poultry welcome!

[yinepu]

Quote:
Just hatched out 6 of these myself this past week...

 

[yinepu]

Someone asked about what to feed. I always feed hatched chicks and turkeys 22% protein crumbles, non-medicated. Ducks get less protein although mine start on the 22% for a few days. All my adults and juvies (chickens, turkeys, ducks) eat 18% protein pellets, and in the morning the chickens and turkeys get a mash of the 16% protein layer pellets (with the calcium) and some flax seeds in water. Hot in the winter, cool in the summer. It helps get them outside in the winter and gives them something to do/pick at to relieve boredom.

My chicks grow well and strong and I do not have problems with them as adults. I think the extra protein does them well. That's my management style.

I also add regular white sugar to their water when they first hatch for the first few days. It gives them an energy/calorie boost. It does increase the risk of poobutt so you have to watch for that, but I don't brood chicks or turkeys without sugar water. I add a tablespoon of sugar to the first day or two quart of water. Then a teaspoon for a day or two, then one-half teaspoon, then nothing.

there was another post that I didn't quote ..and I should have... (sorry guys)

but anyway,,,,

28% protein is what I was talking about as being bad for chickens.. long term it can do damage to the liver.. 22% .. 24% is perfectly fine inmy experience for layers.. but when you start getting into the higher %s it can cause problems...
heck.. even for meat birds it will cause flip pretty fast if you give them 24% for too long.. which is why most broiler feed is only 18% or less

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
turkeys can survive it though.. adding cayenne pepper to their feed and water helps a lot.. (like a tablespoon per feeder and also to the water...)

there used to be a thread on here where someone experiemented with the cayenne pepper.. which is where I got that from..
Lol.. I'll have to look it up later.. but when I asked my family about it i was told that yeah.. it does work well against blackhead

 

[SilkieSensation]

there was another post that I didn't quote ..and I should have... (sorry guys)

but anyway,,,,

28% protein is what I was talking about as being bad for chickens.. long term it can do damage to the liver.. 22% .. 24% is perfectly fine inmy experience for layers.. but when you start getting into the higher %s it can cause problems...
heck.. even for meat birds it will cause flip pretty fast if you give them 24% for too long.. which is why most broiler feed is only 18% or less

I have 22% "meatbird" feed in my area & the regular 18-20% chick starter/grower. I mix the 2 for my birds because I ferment so everything goes together. This gives the meaties a bit more of what they need while keeping it low enough for the chicks.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
22% is still ok for the average meaties (lol.. which is why they are selling it as meatbird feed).. but if you ever get a bloodline where you start having issues with flip.. you can bet they are protein sensitive.. I had a batch last year that even 18% was too much for them..it was just an extremely sensitive bloodline.. lost a lot of birds until I dropped it down to 16%.

I just wish they weren't so darn touchy.. some bloodlines can do fine with 24%.. others you'll lose every single meatbird if you have them on it

edited to add:

that's why I'm raising Bresse, Euskal Oiloa and Dorkings now!.. gonna avoid the cornishX in the future

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
turkeys can survive it though.. adding cayenne pepper to their feed and water helps a lot.. (like a tablespoon per feeder and also to the water...)

there used to be a thread on here where someone experiemented with the cayenne pepper.. which is where I got that from..
Lol.. I'll have to look it up later.. but when I asked my family about it i was told that yeah.. it does work well against blackhead

and here's the blackhead cayenne pepper thread as promised!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/134230/hope-this-saves-a-turkey-from-blackhead

 

[SilkieSensation]

22% is still ok for the average meaties (lol.. which is why they are selling it as meatbird feed).. but if you ever get a bloodline where you start having issues with flip.. you can bet they are protein sensitive.. I had a batch last year that even 18% was too much for them..it was just an extremely sensitive bloodline.. lost a lot of birds until I dropped it down to 16%.

I just wish they weren't so darn touchy.. some bloodlines can do fine with 24%.. others you'll lose every single meatbird if you have them on it

edited to add:

that's why I'm raising Bresse, Euskal Oiloa and Dorkings now!.. gonna avoid the cornishX in the future

I only have about 6-8 Cornish cross. Most of my meaties are red or black broilers so are slower growing. I do have 2 Broad Breasted White poults in the mix though.

 

[yinepu]

Just to clarify..

Yes.. you can feed a turkey poult 18%, 20% or 22% feed and so on

some people will swear that a lower percentage feed will kill a turkey.. that's simply not true..
BUT the lower % feed will result in slower growth than a poult that is fed 26% or 28% or 30%

so if the goal is a nice filled out bird by thanksgiving.. you may come up a bit short of it's a heritage bird


the bigger concern for the well being of the poult is that the feed, regardless of protein % have enough niacin for leg and joint growth... simply because it doesn't matter how well the bird is growing if the hocks and hips are weak and the bird goes down...


26%, 28% and 30% feed has proven to cause liver issues WHEN FED LONG TERM to layer chickens.. and will usually cause flip in the majority of meat bird bloodlines
You can usually feed it SHORT TERM with no issues.. however some strains of meat birds can't handle it for more than a week before they start to die from flip.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
they should be fine.. just keep an eye on them.. like I said before ..22% is usually ok for meaties (though some of the diehards on the meatie forum may disagree, insisting that you should never go over 18%)... but 22% especially for the red and black broilers sounds about right..

when you get into the cornishX you will see problems a lot faster if you go too high on the protein

 

[SilkieSensation]

they should be fine.. just keep an eye on them.. like I said before ..22% is usually ok for meaties (though some of the diehards on the meatie forum may disagree, insisting that you should never go over 18%)... but 22% especially for the red and black broilers sounds about right..

when you get into the cornishX you will see problems a lot faster if you go too high on the protein

I have noticed my poults are a bit smaller than I expected, but I just figured I ended up with 2 hens.