And in a personal subsidiary farm, and in industrial poultry farming of turkeys is gaining more and more momentum. This is a profitable agricultural industry, which provides benefits in several directions at once: the sale of young animals, turkey meat, eggs and down.
General characteristics of turkeys
Turkeys are the largest domesticated bird. They are characterized by a significant difference in the mass of males and females. If males weigh on average up to 20 kg, then the mass of adult females averages 10 kg, i.e., 2 times less.
These birds have a bright plumage of a very different color - snow-white, bluish with a green tint, rainbow shine, silver-gray, bronze and blue-black. The powerful beak of males is decorated with a beautiful bright red outgrowth-earring. These are strong, muscular and fast birds. A turkey can run at a speed of 50 km / h and is able to fly to a height of 2.5 m.
Breeding turkeys
Turkeys flock in the spring and winter, laying an average of 50 or more eggs for 2.5-3 months. Chicks hatch for 28 days. Excellent hens are made from females; they never throw their nests. They are often used on goose or duck masonry. The turkey very carefully takes care of its brood - heats the chicks, takes care of their food and jealously protects from dangers.
In order for the turkey to be a good catch, she herself must sit her chicks. Receptions almost always peck. Experienced business executives advise planting turkeys at the end of daylight hours, after allowing her to sit on eggs for a couple of days to satisfy the brood’s instinct.
Keeping and feeding turkeys
The turkey poultry house should be spacious, dry and warm, without drafts and damp.
To prevent the death of a bird from diseases, it is necessary to vaccinate turkey poultry on time and strictly observe sanitary and hygienic standards for their maintenance.
Turkeys are not picky about food. Even from conventional feed they gain weight very well. Good eat oats, corn, wheat, barley. They love green food: nettle, wild leek, feather of green onions, dandelions, other greens, which must be given in large quantities. In the summer, it is advisable to keep them on pasture.
Large-breed turkeys are grown using special balanced compound feeds with vitamin and mineral supplements. Intensive technology allows you to get real giants weighing up to 30 kg!
Steamed buckwheat is very useful for chicks, as well as dairy products: cottage cheese, yogurt, milk powder, and hard-boiled eggs are also added to the feed. As mineral additives, crushed river shells, eggshells, chalk, calcium gluconate can be given . Be sure to add fish or meat and bone meal to the diet.
Very important when growing turkeys is proper drinking. There should be plenty of water, it should be clean and at room temperature. It is very important to protect the chicks from getting wet, as they are very affected by moisture.
Variety of breeds
The breeding method, keeping conditions and diet largely depend on the breed of turkeys. Conventionally, they are all divided into the following groups:
- Lungs. The rocks of this group are lightweight. The mass of males is only 10-12 kg, females - up to 5 kg. However, they are very egg-laying, hardy, not susceptible to disease. The most common representative - Tikhoretsky black turkey, Norfolk black, white Dutch, small Beltsvilsky.
- Medium. The weight of adult turkeys in this group is 15-16 kg, turkeys - 7 kg. They are represented by more productive meat-type breeds. These are Moscow white, Moscow bronze, Moscow fawn, North Caucasian white, North Caucasian bronze and others.
- Heavy. These are large and very large beef turkeys. The weight of adult males is 25-30 kg, females reach a weight of 11 or more kg. The main breeds of turkey broilers: bronze broad - breasted, white broad-breasted, Canadian broiler broad-breasted, cross big 6 and others.
In homestead non-specialized farms, the so-called "local" turkey breeds obtained by unsystematic crossbreeding of different species are most often grown. They are distinguished by good survival, unpretentiousness to the conditions of detention, resistance to various diseases. However, these are low-productive breeds. Their average weight does not exceed 10 kg.
Canadian Broiler Broad Breed Description
Canadian turkeys are highly productive broiler birds. To obtain this species, a long selection was conducted, as a result of which these giants were bred.
Chicks are not picky about food, grow well from any feed. But to get high-quality meat, preference should be given to high-calorie nutritious feeds with vitamin and mineral supplements. With proper cultivation, turkey poults gain weight very quickly and by the 6th week they weigh 5 kg. They are clean, do not rake the earth. They need a lot of water. The drinkers should always be clean. It is desirable to give water cold, room temperature.
After 90 days, the carcass already has an excellent presentation, so turkeys at this age are slaughtered for meat.
The egg production in females is good, begins at nine months. Almost all eggs laid hatch.
Features of Canadian Turkeys
- The bird gains optimum weight in just 3 months, after its growth sharply slows down. Further feeding is unprofitable for two reasons:
- With high feed consumption, a low increase in live weight of the bird.
- The complexity of selling too large carcasses.
- It is believed that Canadian is the largest breed of turkeys. An adult male with intensive feeding can reach a record weight of up to 30 kg.
- Chicks of this breed of turkeys are very sensitive to various diseases. Especially often suffer from intestinal and infectious ailments. In addition, they tolerate dampness very poorly and have low adaptive ability to adverse climatic conditions. This causes certain difficulties in their maintenance. Much attention should be paid to preventive measures for the prevention of diseases, as well as the improvement of the house with maintaining a constant temperature of + 22-25 ° C. This was the main reason that Canadian turkeys were not widely used among business executives.
- The weight of an adult turkey reaches 25-30 kg, and the weight of an adult turkey does not exceed 11-15 kg. This difference causes difficulties in mating, so artificial insemination is practiced when breeding Canadian breeds. Therefore, the purchase of chicks of this breed should only be from professional breeders.
Description of White Broad Breed
The breed was bred in the USA in the 60s of the last century. The birds are distinguished by a beautiful snow-white plumage with a small black bow on their chest. They have a large oval body, a wide convex chest, a neat head and a long bright red earring-outgrowth on a strong beak.
This meat breed is widely used in modern industrial poultry farming. The live weight of males reaches 25 kg or more, females - 11 kg. Therefore, the bird deservedly claims to be the "largest breed of turkeys." They are less early than the Canadians. Reach a weight of 7 kg or more at the age of 18-20 weeks. Their advantage is excellent adaptability to the content in the cells.
This breed, along with meat, has good reproductive qualities. Females begin to lay their eggs at the age of 9 months. The laying period is several months. During this time, the turkey lays about 100 eggs, 85-90 of which are fertilized. The female is a good brood hen. From 30 eggs, 20-25 chicks are hatched. They hatch weak, need a dry and warm place of keeping.
White broad-breasted turkeys are finicky in nutrition. They are fed mainly high-calorie nutritious feeds with special additives of vitamins, minerals and medicines.
Turkey breed Big 6
Of great interest are birds of such a breed of turkeys as Big 6. This is a super-heavy cross, reaching a weight of 30 kg. The meat yield exceeds 80% of live weight. No other pet has such an indicator.
Outwardly, the birds are very similar to turkeys of a white broad-chested breed. The plumage is also white with a characteristic sheen. The hybrid was obtained by a British company in 2007 by crossing male heavyweights with female lightweight breeds. This made it possible to obtain stronger offspring with high meat productivity.
Young animals, like other heavy breeds, become slaughtered after 3-4 months of intensive fattening with special feeds.
The specifics of growing broiler turkeys
Many professional poultry farmers are interested in heavy species. To achieve maximum profitability and reduce losses when growing large meat breeds of turkeys, their general specificity should be taken into account:
- It is best to use special feeds with vitamin and mineral supplements.
- The diet of young animals should be rich in protein foods.
- Vaccinations, food additives of antibiotics and other drugs are mandatory according to the recommendations of the veterinarian, since these birds are susceptible to infections and gastrointestinal diseases.
- The optimal period of detention before slaughter is 3-4 months. During this period, the weight of the carcass reaches 6-7 kg. Further fattening reduces profitability.
- For fattening, meat is used by males.
- Given the difficulties of mating due to the significant difference in the weight of turkeys and turkeys, chicks need to be purchased only from professional breeders.
The nutritional value of turkey meat
Turkey meat has an excellent taste, it is soft and juicy. It is a leader in the amount of protein, which makes it a valuable product for athletes. Also, this meat is rich in vitamins of group B. Turkey meat contains many trace elements, especially valuable selenium - a powerful antioxidant.
The meat does not contain allergens, is well absorbed, which is why it is the basis of diet and baby food.