Turkeys!

[lux_interior]

I was going to post this in the Turkey section.... but that seemed to be full of people with pet turkeys, and mine are not pets.....

Anyway, I bought three turkeys today, 2 are mine, 1 is my uncles. We named them Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving 2, and Christmas.

I've never owned turkeys though... so I need some info... we bought them "Purina Chow Animal Feed" as recommended by the feed shop store owner... but I was wondering what the best thing to feed them is? Or I guess... what can I feed them to make them very big, and succulent dinners???

Thanks in advance!!

 

[bargain]

We feed turkey feed, but also give them fresh grains and they have access to grass/grubs etc

Be careful to keep their protein ratio up high and not overfeed as some breeds tend to get "warbled" legs if they grow too fast due to rushed feeding.

Hope this helps.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

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You are in for the best tasting turkey you ever had. Are they BB type turkeys?

Steve in NC

 

[Buster52]

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Well, I'm growing mine for meat, and find a lot of very useful information there. There are some very serious meat producers in that forum.

 

[CARS]

This year was the first year I didn't raise broad breasted turkeys (I tried quail this year instead).

I believe my feed mill was mixing my feed at around 28%. I raised them in a section of my barn, right next to my chickens. I never had any problems with raising them together. Some state that they shouldn't be raised together or on the same ground because of disease (blackhead is the one that comes to mind).

Last year I had some scheduling problems with the processor and butchering was delayed for a few weeks. The birds over 20#'s (yes, 20#'s) had to be split in half. There is no way my family was going to eat a 25#bird

May I suggest that Thanksgiving #2 be smoked? If you haven't smoked a bird yet you should give it a try!!!

Turkeys do make good pets too. Whenever I was working in the barn they would press their heads against the fence and watch every move I made. I would cup my hands and share a beer with them. I never gave them scraps though, I save my treats for the long life flock of chickens.

 

[pdpatch]

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Since you already stated what you want, Use a wild game feed.

If they are still Chicks/poults use a wild game starter, or Wild Game starter/grower, This has the needed extra minerals to them started correctly. Use this for about 4 to 7 weeks. If the feed is a combination Starter/Grower continue to use this. Its should be around 28% protein.

Most people on this board don't use a finisher type feed. But you if want to you can mix your own. 3 parts wild game feed, 1 part fancy scratch, and 1 part sweet feed.

The fancy scratch has other grains in it besides corn, Sweet feed usually has oats and molasses added.

Taste is a subjective thing, what taste good to one person may not be to another. But generally you should have some sort of grass and bugs for them to eat. This will add flavoring to the meat. But Heritage Turkeys usually taste better then Great Whites or BB Bronze.

Succulent is a term commonly associated with how moist and tender the meat is. Moistness and Tenderness can be controlled by how you rest and age the birds after butchering, and somewhat by how they are raised.

Here we rest/age all poultry in ice water for about 48 hours before doing anything with them such as cutting up, smoking, freezing or cooking. Although some add salt to make brine, around here we don't.

Tom

 

[Buster52]

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Why is that?

I confess I don't get the whole food stage thing.