turkeys

[ChickenJerk]

well i ended up buying 5 day old braod bronze beasted turkeys today their in the brooder sleeping they told me to butcher them in 20 weeks wich would be end of august correct?
With your feed plan they will not be as big as the feed store was thinking they would be at 20 weeks. i heard of putting a fine layer of fat on them before they get the deed done so i should feed strait cracked corn the last week of life? Nope. That will only cause the to loose weight. If you want to put a fat finish on them keep the protien up and and add dietary fats.i am also going to be feeding them only 20 percent protien for their entire life and they will be free ranging Certainly not enough protein to start them and not enough either to make up for the nutrional dilution the forage causes.

 

[BirchHatchery]

i heard that they put weight on so fast that a lower protien diet will make em so they dont get as big as fast?

 

[BirchHatchery]

i ended up gettin the 5 turkeys 50 lbs of medicated Turkey starter 28 percent protien that should get them off to a good start the reason i wanted to feed them the lower 20 percent protien is to slow down their growth like i do with the cornish rocks

 

[chicken pickin]

Just curious how everything is going with your turkeys? Just last week I bought 4 broad breasted whites(5 weeks old from the feed store) And this is a learning process for us so I was just curious how other people feed(what kind, how much protein, medicated or not, and what kind of housing and run set up they have) Id love to see pictures if you have any?

 

[Oregon Blues]

I just got my first Broad Breasted Whites and I gotta tell you, I sure like turkeys. These are some friendly and trusting birds.

Mine spent a couple of days in my duckling brooder, and then they started to fly, so got moved into a large dog crate with the brooder lamp tied to the door. They now have enough feathers so I can put them outside in a covered dog run for the day and then move them back inside at night.

I just call them and they run to me to be picked up.

I bought a 50 pound bag of medicated 28% pheasant starter for mine and they will finish that and then go onto a 20% turkey pellet. They get a spoonful of plain yogurt mixed into their water for good intestinal health, and a little pinch of flax seed every day. After the pheasant starter is used up, I will be putting a niacin tablet into their water.

They are so lovely, I secretly hope the hatchery made a mistake and they aren't really broad breasted whites, so that I can keep them. (sigh). I like them so much that I have purchased some turkey hatching eggs to get some heritage turkeys that I can keep. I'm afraid I am an instant turkey addict.

 

[LilyD]

I feed a non medicated turkey starter that has 28% protein. My guys are 7 weeks this week and around 7 or 8 pounds already. I will be processing them probably the end of August unless they get too big. I was told to weigh them live and then take their live weight and divide by 15% and that is what they will be processed. I am looking to try and get a finished bird around 15 to 20 pounds no bigger so depending on how fast they grow I might have to process them sooner. I had them free ranging but they will pretty much chase anything that moves. They love to follow anything lol. So they would run after joggers going by on the road. After that I put them in a pen I just move it periodically as their area gets too beaten down.

 

[mstricer]

Aren't turkeys fun. I love my midget whites. According to what I've been reading the toms can get up to 20 lbs and the hens 12 lbs. My niece a couple years ago wanted turkeys for her 8 th birthday, I took her to Meyer and we got 2 BB white. She did such a good job, they were almost too big for the oven. She grew one to 26 lbs and the other was 23 lbs. Now that's a good job for a little girl.

 

[chicken pickin]

Aren't turkeys fun. I love my midget whites. According to what I've been reading the toms can get up to 20 lbs and the hens 12 lbs. My niece a couple years ago wanted turkeys for her 8 th birthday, I took her to Meyer and we got 2 BB white. She did such a good job, they were almost too big for the oven. She grew one to 26 lbs and the other was 23 lbs. Now that's a good job for a little girl.

That is a fantastic job for a little girl. Im a little nervous to see how big my BBWs get i most definitely want them to fit im the oven. I just gave 2 to family friends of ours today so I now have 2 left they are about 6 or so weeks old I think I may have 1 tom and 1 hen but those are just guesses

. I think I may move them outside to there turkey house tomorrow.