What is in deer feed pellets and howoes it differ from turkey feed?

[Celie]

Well there are cautions regarding deer corn and alfatoxins. You might check the label to see if it mentions the alfatoxin content??? Sorry I don't have turkeys but I have read about deer corn having problems. Don't know what is in the deer feed, though.

Corn is not listed under ingredients!

 

[Celie]

Celie, your turkeys are going to be delicious!

My turkey pellets (20%) are basically whole wheat and soybean with added minerals and vitamins. I start my turkeys on a 28% game bird/ pheasant food. It's expensive, so once they are well started, I switch to the 20% food. I'll have to go out and see if the tag is still on the last bag of game bird feed. I would prefer to keep them on the game bird feed, but the budget just won't stretch.

How about this? Do you have a place to feed out of the weather? Put out a feeder of the deer pellets and a different feeder of a good turkey or game bird feed and let them choose. As long as they are well fed, they tend to pick out what will balance their diet. They will probably eat more of the turkey food and less of the deer pellets, but there might be something in the deer pellets they need.

Warning: they should not be fed salt (except in miniscule amounts) and there might be a lot of salt in the deer pellets, because salt attracts deer. That would make them a poor choice for turkeys.

Cooked pork would probably be OK. Perhaps as 10% of the diet. As for fish, I don't know if that would flavor the meat or not, but they can have fish while they are younger. Then take it away when you get closet to butchering.

My guys love cat food. I can get cat food that is 38% protein, but it is way to expensive to feed it as anything but treats.

I grow snow pea plants for them and they get peas and plants and all. there is good protein in pea plants. My guys also eat clover, which contains protein. Those are treats, not a balanced diet.

Best luck to you.

Thanks to all who gave the much needed advice. I will try putting out different feeds and see which one they go for. We do have plenty of clover on the property and they eat all they want free ranging, and today they are competing with the ducks for the acorns the rain knocked out of the trees. They like the green ones the best. They ate a zillion crickets, as usually, and learned to open the rabbit feeders. They come running any time anyone steps out of the house and knocks on the back door if it goes ten minutes past their dinner time. They eat a sack of flock raiser right now every day, and that's just the 24 turkeys that hatched out this year (staggered from March through August), plus their 4 parents,( 2 adult hens and 2 adult Toms) from last year's hatch. That is besides all they forage from the fields, fruit trees,(I haven't gotten a single fig and only 2 pears), lots of crickets as we are surrounded with woods and pastures, which they graze also. Maybe I am feeding them too much? I thought birds (unless they were Hybrids) did not overeat? These guys are getting really big. How much should I be feeding a 5 month old heritage turkey?