Wanting to get turkeys, but I'm at a toss up.

[omegorchards]

After looking at your feed I can say that it is lacking. I really don't like to have any byproducts in my feed. You just don't know what you are getting. I also thing a source of animal protein is very important, and your feed doesn't have any. Have you looked for any locally milled feeds? They are more likely expensive per pound but the thing is: your birds eat far less good pounds of feed when the feed is high quality. So if you feed cheaper feeds your birds will often eat more, and the per pound savings are never realized. I buy my feed in bulk 55 gallon containers. They weigh about 350 pounds each. This gives me a 15-20% savings. Plus its better than dealing with bags, which are hard to stack and are rodent damage prone.

But you could make your feed work if you provided high protein "snacks" for your birds. You can feed them hard boiled eggs and meat scraps. Table scraps can be a great source of protein but watch out for salt- Chinese food wont do.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now.

 

[omegorchards]

I almost forgot- do you have a source of cheap milk in your area?

 

[orumpoultry]

Fresh whole milk, no. But I'm getting milk does ( post kidding, they're actively producing ) in a month or so once I finish fixing my old goat pen.

 

[orumpoultry]

After looking at your feed I can say that it is lacking. I really don't like to have any byproducts in my feed. You just don't know what you are getting. I also thing a source of animal protein is very important, and your feed doesn't have any. Have you looked for any locally milled feeds? They are more likely expensive per pound but the thing is: your birds eat far less good pounds of feed when the feed is high quality. So if you feed cheaper feeds your birds will often eat more, and the per pound savings are never realized. I buy my feed in bulk 55 gallon containers. They weigh about 350 pounds each. This gives me a 15-20% savings. Plus its better than dealing with bags, which are hard to stack and are rodent damage prone.

But you could make your feed work if you provided high protein "snacks" for your birds. You can feed them hard boiled eggs and meat scraps. Table scraps can be a great source of protein but watch out for salt- Chinese food wont do.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now.

There are several local mills about 30 miles from my house, which isn't that bad for out here in the sticks. Plus, I work only a few miles from one. Never used it before... I go to my local ( 6 miles from the house ) lone star feed store, or buy from work depending. Lone Star Feed is only found in TX... They also have acco, and a few other Texas only brands. There is ONE place to buy in bulk, but not sure how they run as I've never been to any.

 

[User105877]

A blue slate Tom strutting makes for a quiet a sight.

 

[FarmTillURdead]

Bar Q Farm sounds like a great feed! I wish we could get some of that!!

orumpoultry - Ask your local feed store if you can get a feed with more protein in it.
I have bought a game bird chow/maintenance that is 28% protein and mixed it in with the flock raiser.
I don't show any of my birds so 100% nutrition isn't a big deal for me.
I know as a human I don't get 100% of my daily allowances and I do alright. I even eat better than most folks out there who live on fast food.
I will be up at the feed store in a few days and I will get you the name of it.
I didn't care for it though - the feed was very fine and mealy. I felt like my birds were going to inhale it into their lungs as fast as they chowed it down.
But it might work for you and your needs.

 

[orumpoultry]

I am definitely not liking the Flock Raiser. I got it from work, I got it because I didn't know what else to get. I'm going through a list of the feeds available on their website, and I'm not liking what I'm finding. I still haven't made my way to the mill so I'm not sure... I have about 30 lbs of flock raiser left. I found something called Game Bird Maintenance ( I think it's a Dumor product ) and Game Bird Grower, gonna get the info off of those.

But also
MY BOOK ARRIVED TODAY

So, I'm definitely coming up short on finding good feeds for my birds. Let alone good grower feeds.

When it comes to nutrition for my chickens, I'm above and beyond. With a mix I created for my game birds, and a separate mix for my layers... I may just have to come up with my own mix for the Turkeys as well. But, I'm not really sure if I will be able to come up with the RIGHT mixture.

 

[omegorchards]

I firmly believe that poultry need to get most of their protein from animal sources. Birds don't get what they need when feed purely plant sources of protein. You can feed a plant protein based feed so long as you supplement with regular animal protein snacks. Fish powder is a great source as you can purchase this in bulk bags of 50 pounds. Since fish powder is very dry and birds generally wont eat such a powder you should mix it into a wet mash.

Farmtillurdead is right: you dont have to feed balanced feed daily. But over time you do need to make sure that your birds get their balance of feed. For me I provide a well balanced feed, the Q Bar Farms referenced earlier, during the winter because my birds arent getting much protein from their pasture. However, this feed is expensive and not necessary year round. In the summer I give my birds free choice hoppers, one of each containing wheat, oyster shell, oats and cracked corn. The birds recieve a wet mash 2-3x per week that is made of Q Bar feed, milk from my Jersey and diatam. earth. This program makes for a very healthy and vigorous flock. But the key is the pasture. Birds need pasture to thrive to their max potential.

 

[lengel]

I may be completely off base here but I have always provided my birds with a variety of options including fresh veg, grasses, grains, egg shells and commercial feed as backup. They get all of their protein from free range. I don't worry about specific content and believe that they'll eat what they need when they need it. My birds are very active and we've never had any significant health issues.

 

[omegorchards]

I may be completely off base here but I have always provided my birds with a variety of options including fresh veg, grasses, grains, egg shells and commercial feed as backup. They get all of their protein from free range. I don't worry about specific content and believe that they'll eat what they need when they need it. My birds are very active and we've never had any significant health issues.

Sounds like a good system. Free range solves many problems with bird diets.