Home-breeding turkeys

The largest poultry that provides a sufficient amount of dietary meat and eggs is the turkey. For many hundreds of years, farmers have been raising birds on their farmsteads, because consumer demand for turkey meat does not decrease, but only increases, especially during the holiday period. But keeping a large bird has some peculiarities. Undoubtedly – a current topic, which is discussed in detail in the article and video.

Interested in raising turkeys at home for beginners?

Where to start raising turkeys at home?

To gain experience, many novice poultry farmers buy a turkey family, which can consist of only one adult male and several females. About 4-6 laying turkeys are enough so that in a short period of time they lay enough eggs and sit down to incubate them. It is not recommended to purchase more than 8 females, otherwise the turkey will not be able to fertilize them all. Already on the 27th day, turkey poults are born, which require careful care.

Some decide to buy chicks rather than adult birds. Breeders advise adopting babies at the age of 3 months, as they are already strong and do not require special care. As they grow older, the birder will have time to learn all the secrets of keeping these giants among birds. Already from the 8th month of life, turkeys reach sexual maturity and they will be able to lay eggs and hatch them. You can put the eggs in an incubator and avoid problems with an inexperienced female.

Farmers who decide to raise turkeys at home first determine where the walking area will be located.

Turkeys at home sit on eggs in one of the spring months. To successfully breed turkeys at home, it is worth equipping a special, roomy nest in which the female will have enough space. In a cramped nest, she may accidentally crush several eggs. You should not lay more than 16-18 eggs under one hen. You can determine the optimal amount by looking at the turkey itself. If she sits on the eggs and easily covers them without opening her wings, then everything is fine. The nest must be prepared for incubation in the following sequence, namely:

the bottom is covered with a small amount of dry earth;
the ground is covered with a dense layer of hay or straw;
the nest is placed in a secluded and darkened place in the poultry house;
Next to the hen you should place a drinking bowl, feeders with food and a container with river sand.

An experienced hen can lay more eggs. Experienced female turkeys cope well with their parental responsibilities. They are very careful with the eggs they incubate. The chicks are carefully protected and protected. The female will teach the offspring everything necessary. Experienced breeders have noticed that hens protect their eggs so much that they may not even leave the nest to take food and water. You need to carefully monitor whether the turkey has eaten and if not, then lift it from the nest and bring it to the feeder. While she is eating, it is worth examining the appearance of the eggs and removing any cracked or crushed ones from the nest.

To successfully breed turkeys at home, it is worth equipping a nest

Secrets of keeping turkeys at home with video

Turkeys, when properly bred at home, will not cause any additional trouble to the farm owner. The bird tolerates frost well and it is not necessary to heat the turkey poultry for them. However, they need to be kept on a thick bedding of dry straw and hay. The poultry house needs to be prepared for winter and all sources of cold air from outside must be eliminated so that there are no drafts. When the litter becomes dirty, it needs to be replaced with fresh litter. This not only promotes cleanliness, but also helps prevent dampness.

Farmers who decide to raise turkeys at home first determine where the walking area will be located. These large birds need space to roam and a spacious house. Since this is a heavy bird, you should not place nests and perches at high heights in the barn. When trying to rise high, turkeys can injure themselves, which is extremely undesirable. It is recommended to install perches in the house at a height of no more than 50-60 cm. One individual needs approximately 30 cm of space on the perch.

Advice from experienced farmers will help you keep turkeys at home without any problems

We invite you to watch a video about raising turkeys at home:

Interested breeding turkeys at home for beginners? Videos and proven advice from experienced farmers will help you cope with raising these large birds without much difficulty. Continue reading on the website

In our country, few farmers raise turkeys for meat, since it is too troublesome and expensive. But turkey is valued much higher than broiler chickens. In addition, the demand for dietary meat is constantly growing. In this article, we will take a closer look at raising turkeys at home, and try to figure out how to build a profitable, promising business from this activity.

Breed selection

Before you start raising turkeys at home, you need to choose the breed that you will breed. The success of your business largely depends on this. First of all, decide for what purpose you want to raise turkeys. There are breeds that are distinguished by high egg production. They are profitable to buy if you plan to sell eggs and young animals. Turkeys of meat breeds grow quickly and gain weight well.

The biggest problem is that many turkeys were developed through random crossbreeding. Such individuals have good endurance, but have low egg production and meat quality. Males gain weight no more than 8 kg, and females - 5 kg. These breeds can lead your business to bankruptcy. But experts have a different opinion. They believe that these turkey breeds require little care and have excellent survival rates, making them perfect for home-rearing for beginners. Experienced farmers do not recommend purchasing young animals from poultry farms. The simplest and most affordable option is households.

The most popular breeds

Broad-chested white. Adult males of this breed weigh on average about 25 kg. The weight of females reaches 10 kg. They produce 120 eggs per year. Such a bird can be raised in any climatic conditions, since it has a high level of adaptation;
Bronze broad-chested. The male weighs approximately 15 kg. The weight of the female is 9 kg. They lay 120 eggs per year, of which about 80% are fertilized. Turkeys of this breed can be slaughtered for meat after 20 weeks;
Cross BIG-6. This breed can be used to raise turkeys for meat at home. The weight of the male reaches 25 kg, and the female of this breed weighs 11 kg. When raising such birds, artificial insemination should be used, since males that are too large can seriously injure females during mating.

Premises and equipment

In order for raising turkeys to bring a stable income, you need to create good living conditions for the birds.

The choice of premises depends on three important factors:

Climatic conditions in the region;
Method of keeping turkeys;
Number of heads in the herd.

In the wild, turkeys can withstand temperatures down to -15 degrees. This is a non-critical limit, but despite this, in order for the bird to be healthy, it is necessary to constantly maintain a favorable temperature in the room. When keeping young animals in cages, the temperature in the poultry house should not be lower than +32–35 degrees. An adult bird feels comfortable at +17 degrees.

If you plan to raise turkeys in cages, you should remember that per 1 sq. meter can accommodate no more than 15 heads of day-old chicks. In the second month of life, their number should be reduced to 8 pieces. Next? per 1 sq. per meter you can keep no more than 4 heads.

It is most profitable to raise turkeys in regions with a hot climate. In this case, they can be grown in open areas, which allows significant savings on the construction of a poultry house and heating.

Turkeys can be kept on the floor or in cages. Cage housing requires the construction of a capital farm for raising turkeys. It is necessary to create a special microclimate in the poultry house. Thanks to this, you can significantly increase production volumes.

The cage growing method is used for breeding medium and light breed turkeys. For heavy breeds, floor housing should be used, since making cages for males weighing 25 kg is quite problematic. The cage system can be used for fattening females or for keeping young animals for breeding. Laying hens are also often kept in cages and artificial insemination is carried out.

If you are planning to build your own turkey farm, you should remember that birds cannot be kept in cages for their entire lives. Therefore, you need to make sure that in addition to the cages, the premises provide pens for floor keeping. Usually young animals are kept in cages, after which they are transferred to grazing or to a pen.

Lately it has been bringing good profits. If you build a hangar for storing vegetables next to your farm, you can earn decent additional income.

Feeding

You can organize raising turkeys at home as a business only if you are able to create the necessary conditions for them. The main problem of every farmer is quality feed. If you produce them yourself, the profitability of raising turkeys will increase significantly. Having your own feed base is an excellent help for running such a business.

So, what to feed turkeys? Particular attention should be paid to various grain crops. It is most profitable to sow oats. The seeds of this crop are cheap, besides, it improves the soil and is a good green manure. To add variety to your diet, you can also grow wheat and legumes such as soybeans. Birds readily eat both grains and greens. Spilled grains have a positive effect on the immune system.

It is also necessary to introduce chalk and various vitamins into the bird’s diet so that turkeys lay high-quality eggs. Particular attention should be paid to vitamin E, which is given to chickens from the first days of life, in order to reduce the mortality of young animals. In addition, vitamin E should also be fed 2 weeks before slaughter of adult birds. This significantly increases the shelf life of meat.

Breeding Features

If you carefully study all the features of raising turkeys at home and follow simple rules, the business will bring good profits. To eliminate the risk of disease, the following conditions must be created for the bird:

No dampness or drafts;
Dry and clean litter;
High-quality food;
Young animals must be kept separate from the adult herd;
The bird should not be stressed.

Cereals or legumes are sown on the poultry run. These areas must be rotated annually. One part of the territory is allocated for walking, while the other is fallow at this time, that is, resting. Thanks to this, the yield of forage crops significantly increases.

If you decide to organize raising turkeys at home as a business, you need to take care of professional veterinary care. All birds must be vaccinated to prevent the spread of disease in the flock. Vaccination of one individual costs approximately 50 rubles.

Breeding broiler turkeys

Large, heavy breeds of turkeys quickly increase their live weight. Thanks to this, in just two months you can get delicious, nutritious meat.

Let's take a closer look at the step-by-step cultivation of broiler turkeys:

In order for turkey poults to grow quickly, from the first day of life, it is necessary to give them special nutritious feed containing grains, milk powder, cottage cheese and meat and bone meal. In chicks, the esophagus is much longer than in an adult bird, so food stays in it longer and the turkey feels full. But if you use low-quality feed, the food will be retained and thereby cause poisoning;
The main enemy of young animals is drafts and high humidity. Therefore, you should constantly maintain a certain temperature in the room, approximately +30 degrees. If you are raising white turkeys, the temperature needs to be raised another 2 degrees because light colors absorb heat less well;
For broilers, bedding made from sawdust or shavings should not be used;
Turkey chicks need to be fed 20 hours after they are born, otherwise they will start pecking at everything. This is due to the fact that day-old young animals do not have developed vision and sense of smell;
Turkey poults respond to brightly colored food and light tapping.

Business plan

In order for your enterprise to be profitable and bring good profits, you need to draw up a detailed business plan for raising turkeys, that is, calculate all expenses and future profits.

Expenses

One square meter of an insulated poultry house will cost about $40. To maintain a herd of 500 individuals, you need to spend 10 thousand dollars on construction. The room must be equipped with heating and ventilation systems. This will require another 80–100 thousand rubles.

In addition, money is needed to set up a turkey poultry house and a yard for walking. Another 25-30 thousand rubles will be spent on building materials, drinking bowls and feeders. If you plan to keep birds in cages, one cage battery for 70 birds will cost 30 thousand rubles. When drawing up a business plan, do not forget to take into account the costs of purchasing an incubator and equipment for a slaughterhouse - 30-40 thousand rubles.

One hatching egg costs 60–100 rubles. Young animals can be bought for 100–150 rubles per individual. An adult breeding bird costs 1.5–2 thousand rubles. Feed for the entire period of raising turkeys for 500 heads will cost you approximately 150–250 thousand rubles. If you prepare feed yourself, this expense item will be significantly reduced.

Profit

The main income from raising broiler turkeys at home is meat. Other breeds are bred to produce eggs for incubation and poults. Hatching eggs are sold for 100 rubles per piece. Day-old chicks can be sold for 150 rubles. for one individual.

Typically, turkey meat is sold whole carcasses or divided into separate parts. One kilogram of turkey meat costs 200–300 rubles. Such products are sold to resellers or meat shops. In addition, cafes, restaurants and supermarkets buy turkey meat. Turkey eggs are also in great demand. Young animals are usually sold at the market to individuals or farms. If you want to organize a home business in rural areas raising turkeys, this is the best option that allows you to earn good money without a large initial investment.

In different regions, such a business may show different profitability. In the first year it is 60–80%. This indicator largely depends on the initial costs and the number of heads in the herd.

To increase the profitability of the farm, you can organize in parallel with raising turkeys. According to experienced farmers, this is one of the most profitable and promising areas of entrepreneurial activity in agriculture. Demand for pork is consistently high. Moreover, it does not fall even during the financial crisis.

At first it can be adjusted. Such a business will not require large financial investments and has a quick payback. Profit can be made both from the sale of meat and from the sale of young piglets. Vietnamese pigs primarily eat grass. Thanks to this, the costs of dry food are significantly reduced, especially in the summer. You can get your first income from breeding Vietnamese pigs in just six months.

The turkey is a bird that appeared in our latitudes relatively recently, compared, of course, with other types of poultry. Breeding and keeping turkeys became available to us with the discovery of America by Columbus - the homeland of large birds. Nowadays, meeting a turkey in a farmstead is a common thing and it is impossible to surprise them. But still, not everyone is familiar with these birds and not everyone knows how to care for them. That’s why we’ll talk today about who turkeys are - breeding at home and raising turkeys will be described in detail in our review!

To begin with, we note that such a branch of poultry farming as turkey breeding has its clear advantages. Turkey meat has less cholesterol than other poultry meat. But it contains a lot of vitamins, amino acids and microelements. Turkey is considered dietary meat; it is easily digestible and hypoallergenic. Turkey liver stands out as a source of folic acid and rare vitamin K. This is why turkey breeding is popular!

For those new to poultry farming, we note that it is better to start raising turkeys at home by purchasing young animals at the age of 3-4 months. At this age, turkey poults are already grown up and strong, which means that the requirements for their maintenance are not so strict. In the future, having raised a good breeding flock, you can start breeding turkeys yourself. In order for the livestock to reproduce “on its own,” 8-12 turkeys require at least one male. A turkey that has celebrated its fifth anniversary and a turkey that has passed its fourth year are not suitable for the tribe.

Breeding turkeys at home does not always require an incubator; they take advantage of the turkeys’ extreme desire for incubation. The maternal instinct of these birds is very developed. From the beginning of incubation to the birth of a small turkey, approximately 27-28 days pass. The female will raise and educate her offspring with special care, which will make life much easier for the breeder. The only thing you need to make sure is that the mother turkey eats on time, because she devotes herself to the process of incubating and raising the chicks so selflessly that sometimes she even forgets to eat.

So, having a self-renewing turkey stock, you can provide yourself and your family with quality meat. For slaughter, individuals are usually used that will not be used in the future for breeding, whose age is 8-10 months, and whose weight has exceeded 10 kg. Typically, by the age of 10 months, a good turkey will gain weight of about 15 kg. Turkeys are usually slaughtered before molting. Then the feathers from the carcass are easier to remove and there are no so-called stumps left.

Breed selection

Choosing a turkey breed is a start before breeding and keeping these birds. in poultry farming there is not as much as, say, chickens, but there is also a choice. Let's list the most popular ones.

North Caucasian bronze

The most famous and adapted bird to our latitudes, it is quite easy to breed. The meat productivity of an adult male is 14 kg, that of a female is approximately 7 kg. A turkey begins to lay eggs at about 9 months of age and lays eggs for about six months. As a result, we have an egg production of 80 eggs per year with light fawn speckled shells.

White broad-breasted

Quite an advantageous breed to keep. Turkeys are divided into three types:

heavy, the male weighs about 25 kg, and the female – 10 kg;
medium, the weight of the male and female is 15 and 7 kg, respectively;
light, 8 kg males and 5 kg females.

Oviposition begins at 9 months of age, lasts about 7 months and totals 120 eggs. In the video below you can see firsthand how attractive these birds are!

Bronze broad-breasted

Outwardly, it is very reminiscent of the North Caucasian bronze rock. This is how much meat you can get from them: from a male - 14.5 kg, from a female - 8 kg. The advantage of this breed is the high percentage of fertilization and hatchability of eggs, as well as good vitality and endurance of turkey poults. It's not difficult to breed it.

Moscow white and bronze

These breeds of large birds are distinguished by their powerful physique, good egg production and high reproductive qualities. A male can be grown up to 13 kg, a female up to 7 kg. This species begins to lay eggs earlier than all others - in six months, provided that they are provided with the correct maintenance regime. In a year, one turkey can lay about 100 eggs with pink speckled shells.

Content Features

Therefore, the second significant requirement for large birds, after a spacious pen, is the presence of dry, high-quality bedding; otherwise, bird care is minimal. Heavy poultry, like chickens, sleep on roosts. Bars with a cross section of approximately 7x7 cm are placed at a height of 70-80 cm from the floor. The distance between perches is again set based on the large size of the birds - at least 60 cm.
Premises requirements
Turkeys are often housed in former chicken coops, the main thing is that the size of the chicken coop allows this. The room in which turkeys live must be thoroughly ventilated, warm and bright. Sometimes the building on the leeward side is additionally insulated. The bedding in the turkey poultry requires special care; it is changed about 2 times a week, without waiting for severe contamination. In the summer, turkeys should spend most of their time walking, which makes care easier.
Considering that this bird is prone to obesity, frequent walks and mobility will help the birds gain muscle mass rather than gain fat. Try not to allow sudden temperature changes in your turkey poultry house. In the warm season, the optimal temperature is 20 C, and in winter, make sure that it does not fall below -5 C. In the video below you can see how turkeys are kept and fed at home.

Winter care
If in the summer your birds spend most of their time on pastures, in the winter they will spend more time in the poultry house and require more care. It is recommended to maintain the temperature in it at a level of slight minus, which may seem strange. However, this temperature prevents the occurrence of dampness, which is destructive for turkeys. Carefully monitor the bedding in the winter turkey poultry; the birds' feet require care and warmth. Don't forget about lighting too.
The optimal duration of daylight hours is 14 hours. Therefore, your birds need a source of artificial lighting. On sunny winter days, turkeys can safely walk along the street. As for the winter diet, it should be more nutritious, because the bird will spend additional energy on heating.
In winter, you need to give turkeys more grain and feed. Add vitamins A and E to turkey mash. Prepare grass or grass meal in the summer - your birds will find it very useful in winter. When raising turkeys at home in winter, beets, carrots and cabbage are also introduced into their diet; sprouted grains will be very useful for them.
Video “All about turkeys”
The most detailed video about the largest poultry at the end of our review!

Turkeys are considered the largest of all domestic birds, second, perhaps, only to ostriches, which no one has yet been interested in breeding on their own plots. Turkey breeding is considered one of the most profitable industries in poultry farming, which is associated, first of all, with the large weight of these birds, as well as with their increased egg production. It is most profitable to raise at home not just turkeys, but turkeys of meat breeds, the so-called boilers. From just one boiler you can get more than 13 kilograms of delicious dietary meat, which makes excellent-tasting cutlets.

Rules for feeding turkeys

To get a sufficient amount of meat, turkeys need to be fed correctly, expect that turkeys will graze like geese, or ducks, in terms of feeding they are most similar to chickens, that is, in addition to pasture, they need additional feed enhanced with vitamins and useful minerals . It is best to fatten turkeys by following a special technique, which involves the almost complete exclusion of fiber-rich feed from the birds’ diet. Turkeys need to be fed with special compound feed, from which the meat of young birds acquires a rich, juicy taste.

Expecting to get full-fledged adult turkeys on the farm after 3-4 months, you should feed the birds in accordance with a certain diet. Newly born turkey chicks should be fed at least 9 times a day over the next 10 days. From the 10th day of life, the number of feedings decreases, but the total proportion of food in them increases noticeably. From this period, turkeys should be given as much green food as possible, which contains a large amount of the vitamins and minerals they need.

A good food for turkeys is mash, similar to what is usually fed to ducks and geese; in addition, turkeys eagerly eat leftover homemade food, peelings and stubs.

Turkeys should be fed at least 3 times a day, since it is this diet that leads to a noticeable increase in weight in birds. There should not be more than 6-7 hours between feedings. In the evening, turkeys and turkeys are fed whole grains - corn, wheat, oats and barley. In the morning and at lunchtime, the birds are served wet mash of corn, wheat and oatmeal mixed with herbs.

Wet and dry food should be placed in separate feeders, otherwise they will need to be washed and dried several times a day. Dry food can be in the feeder constantly; if necessary, it will only need to be updated, while wet food should be placed in the feeder no later than 20 minutes after its preparation.

Turkeys will not eat sour and spoiled porridge; it is better to throw it away to pigs and even geese, who eat everything they are given without going overboard.

During the period of sexual activity, turkeys should be switched to intensive fattening, provided with additional feeding, which should be given in the late afternoon, since during the day, turkeys are busy hunting females and have no interest in food. The evening diet of males should include sprouted grains and vegetables. At the same time, the diet of females should contain components such as yeast and feed with a high content of vitamin B, which improves the quality of eggs intended for incubation.

In summer, the amount of additional feed can be reduced and turkeys can be almost completely transferred to free-range housing and pasture. In winter, turkeys can be fed with hay, birch leaves and even spruce paws added to the usual mash.

It should be remembered that the height, weight and susceptibility of turkeys to various types of viruses depend on how complete the feed is, therefore farmers involved in breeding turkeys should pay attention to the presence of large feeders on the farm, the size of which should be sufficient so that everyone can receive feed turkeys at the same time.

Turkey diet in grams

Type of feed	Number of eggs per month
Type of feed
Cereals
Wheat bran

Meat and fish

Boiled or grated potatoes
Carrots, carrot tops
Seashells, chalk
Bone flour

The main rule of feeding turkeys is not to overfeed, and also not to feed the birds too fatty foods, since in this case, instead of meat, the poultry farmer will receive a large amount of unnecessary fat after slaughter. Turkeys need several times more food than other birds, so if there is not enough of it on the farm, you should make additional purchases.

Keeping a turkey at home

To get a large amount of meat and eggs, you need not just buy several turkey poults and release them into a pen, you also need to organize their proper feeding, maintenance and care. Adult turkeys are unpretentious to their living conditions; they can easily tolerate a lack of space in the room, overcrowding, poor lighting, heat and cold, but small turkey poults are extremely picky about all these factors.

In the first days of life at home, small chicks should be kept in a cardboard box, which it is advisable to bring into the house at night and only expose it to the sun for a day, carefully watching to ensure that the turkey chicks do not become hypothermic, overheat, or that a cat does not climb into them. Naturally, a domestic cat may not be eager to taste turkey meat, but it is quite capable of scaring the chicks into a state of panic. Having panicked, the turkey poults will begin to crush each other, and most of them may die.

So, for the first 5-7 days of a turkey brood’s life, it should live in a fairly spacious box, where they need to be heavily fed and watered. Small turkeys are fed exactly the same as chickens - finely chopped boiled eggs and grated fresh cottage cheese. In the second week of life, turkey poults can be transferred to small cages and kept outside all day. It is desirable that the cages be portable, then they can be placed on grassy lawns, and thus the turkeys will have the opportunity to get the amount of grass they need without leaving the cage. It is important that in the room where the turkey poults are located, the air temperature does not fall below 23 degrees Celsius; chicks are especially susceptible to colds, so they should be protected from any drafts, cold and moisture. It is necessary to carefully ensure that the daylight hours for small chicks are not less than 13 hours a day; if necessary, additional lighting should be provided in advance.

From the age of three weeks, turkey poults can be left out of the house and transferred to a permanent habitat in a dry, insulated poultry house. This transfer can be carried out earlier, if the weather and the fatness of the turkey poults permit.

When releasing turkey poults to graze, you should inspect the area in advance for the appearance of bees. Turkey poults, just like chickens, love to peck everything that moves, swallowing a wasp or bee, turkey chicks can die from lack of air. The chick's throat will swell and oxygen will stop flowing into the lungs; it is extremely difficult to help in this situation.

It is important to remember that turkeys are clean birds, so cleaning their feeders and permanent location should be included in the weekly farm household plan. Timely cleaning will allow you to avoid many diseases that make raising turkeys a less profitable and profitable business.

Turkey diseases

Like all poultry, turkeys get sick quite often, this statement especially applies to those individuals whose age has not yet reached 4 weeks. Improperly balanced feeding, lack of vitamins and minerals the birds need in the feed, cold, dampness and drafts can lead to very serious diseases, some of which can lead to disastrous consequences.

Tuberculosis is considered the most dangerous disease in turkeys. Any bird that has had close contact with a carrier of the disease or contaminated food or water can become infected with tuberculosis. The disease is characterized by increased lethargy of turkeys and the appearance of nodular formations on exposed skin areas. The first signs of tuberculosis are easy to diagnose yourself - the turkey loses orientation and loses its appetite.

There is currently no treatment for tuberculosis in turkeys; all infected birds must be slaughtered and burned, or buried with lime. The meat of an infected turkey should not be eaten in any form; it can cause serious human illness.

If turkeys are left in an unheated room in severe frosts, then it is likely that in a few days we can expect the development of respiratory microplasmosis - inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose. The main sign of the disease is the bird's loss of vision and appetite. Microplasmosis, just like tuberculosis, cannot be treated; most often, the sick bird dies.

If turkeys are kept together with chickens and other birds, they may well become infected with smallpox, a disease that, in principle, is not characteristic of turkeys. A sick turkey avoids illuminated places, it shows signs of apathy and lethargy, and brown spots appear clearly on its legs and neck. It is useless to treat smallpox in turkeys; infected birds should be immediately slaughtered and burned, and birds that remain uninfected should be immediately given a vaccine, having previously treated the poultry houses, feeders and drinkers with disinfectants.

Turkeys suffer most from coccidiosis, a disease caused by protozoan bacteria. Infected birds noticeably lose weight and stop moving and eating. The disease can be treated with antibiotics, which can be added to food and water.

When breeding turkeys, it is important to remember that proper feeding and care will ensure that after 3-4 months a small turkey chick, whose weight barely reached 150 grams, will turn into a large, strong turkey, or turkey, weighing up to 12-15 kilograms. Keeping turkeys requires not so much money as attention and care, since it is the care shown to the birds that determines whether they will grow up healthy and well-fed, or lean and thin.

Among the poultry raised on Russian farmsteads, turkeys have no competitors in terms of speed of weight gain and size. Therefore, an increasing number of poultry enthusiasts are choosing to breed, keep and care for turkeys at home.

The choice in favor of turkeys is easy to explain. In six months, with a well-chosen diet, compliance with housing conditions and proper attention, a tiny chick turns into a huge bird. The weight of an adult turkey, depending on the breed, can vary from 8 to 30 kg. And although turkeys are a little smaller, by the age of six months they weigh at least 6–8 kg. What adds to the attractiveness of the species is that in Russia there are several well-proven breeds that are suitable even for novice poultry farmers for breeding turkeys at home.

And yet not everyone succeeds in getting a truly large, healthy bird? Why do farmers and homestead owners sometimes experience high mortality in young animals, poor weight gain, or disease?

The cause of most problems is the same - a lack of or improperly organized care for chicks and growing birds.

Features of breeding turkeys at home for beginners

In most cases, turkeys are bred to produce tender dietary meat. If you purchase young animals for spring-summer fattening, then in the fall you will be able to feast on turkey meat from your own farm. Eggs, which are not inferior in nutritional value to chicken eggs, are also used for personal needs.

The main hassle of caring for turkeys at home comes at the time when small turkey chicks appear. In the first days and weeks of life, they require constant attention and special nutrition up to 10 times a day. Upon reaching the age of one month, turkey poults become stronger and switch to feed and grain mixtures. They can and should be released for walking, which allows you to save on green feed and prevent the birds from accumulating excess fat.

At home, to breed turkeys, novice poultry farmers only need to purchase one family, consisting of a male and 4–5 turkeys, for which one nest is prepared.

Turkeys begin to lay eggs at approximately eight months, producing several dozen eggs per year. Bird offspring can be obtained through incubation. To ensure that the young are of the same age, the eggs are removed from the nest and stored in an upright position at a temperature of 10–15 °C. At the same time, long-term storage negatively affects the quality of the embryos.

You can read in detail about breeding turkeys at home and the features of incubation in specialized literature and other articles on the portal. If it is decided to entrust the hatching of the offspring to a turkey, a spacious nest is built for the bird, raised above the floor level. The structure is surrounded by a side, and a soft, loose bedding is made at the bottom. After 26–28 days from the moment the hen sits on the clutch, turkey poults appear.

At first, turkey poults are kept under additional lighting and at elevated air temperatures:

in the first five days the air should warm up to +33 °C;
the next week the chicks are at +27 °C;
from the eleventh day the room temperature drops to +23 °C.

With proper care of turkeys, breeding and keeping them at home will not be difficult even for poultry farmers with little practical experience. In addition to maintaining the required temperature, turkey poults, until they become stronger, are protected from drafts and dampness, as well as from infectious diseases. To do this you need:

ventilate the house very carefully;
Be sure to clean the litter and remove uneaten food;
equip the place where the chicks are kept with safe drinking bowls.

From the first day of life, turkey poults receive a balanced feed based on wet mash and green vitamin supplements. As they grow older, dry grain mixtures or specialized feed are introduced into the diet.

A video about the peculiarities of raising turkeys at home will be an excellent help both for beginning poultry farmers and for those who have experience in keeping other poultry and are just looking at turkeys.

Keeping turkeys at home for beginners

The cornerstone when breeding and keeping turkeys at home is caring for the bird, organizing its feeding and housing. Being in clean, dry poultry houses, receiving enough nutritious feed and having the opportunity to walk, turkeys grow well.

Maintaining a comfortable temperature, good lighting and the number of heads per unit area is of considerable importance. In cramped conditions, even with other care, turkeys look depressed, are more susceptible to disease, and grow worse.

On average, the bird stocking density per square meter should not exceed:

15 heads for chicks up to 5 days of age;
10 heads for young animals that have reached the age of 1–2 months;
5 heads for turkey poults up to 4 months inclusive;
1–2 individuals for an adult bird, depending on breed and weight.

When creating conditions for keeping turkeys at home, novice poultry farmers need to take care of high-quality ventilation of the premises, removal of excess moisture, which is inevitable when there is a large population in a poultry house, as well as acceptable temperatures in summer and winter:

Air humidity should be maintained between 65–70%.
In the warm season, the house should not be hotter than plus 18–20 °C.
In winter, make sure that the poultry house does not freeze and that the temperature in it does not fall below –5 °C.

If the temperature regime is not maintained, there are drafts throughout the poultry house, the bird feels unwell, gets chilly in high humidity, or, conversely, suffers from overheating. As a result, turkeys do not lay eggs well, and young animals hardly gain weight.

When keeping and breeding turkeys at home, care includes mandatory cleaning or replacement of bedding, making sure that it is always dry. The wet layer is changed, and if the turkeys are kept on deep bedding poured over a layer of slaked lime, then it is only sprinkled. Such coating should be changed in spring and autumn, simultaneously carrying out complete cleaning and disinfection of the premises.

In home breeding, birds often suffer from lack of exercise. Turkeys have joint problems and the headband accumulates fat rather than meat. Such problems can be avoided if you include walking the birds in caring for turkeys at home. For this purpose, fenced areas with feeding troughs and drinking bowls are installed on the site or outside its borders.

Staying outdoors in combination with eating succulent green food gives good results, expressed in the rapid development of young animals and an increase in egg production of adult turkeys.

Turkey breeding as a business: profitable or not?

The main goal of breeding and keeping turkeys is to obtain tasty and healthy meat. By six months, the carcass of a bird that reaches slaughter weight contains up to 80% of this valuable food product, which is superior to chicken and rabbit meat in a number of indicators. Moreover, there is more truly dietary white meat in turkey than red.

In small farms that raise turkeys for personal use, the eggs of this bird are also used for food. In a year, you can get up to 100 large eggs from a laying hen, which are in no way inferior in taste and nutritional value to chicken eggs, but are better stored.

With proper care at home, turkeys grow and gain weight much more actively than geese, chickens and ducks, that is, in fact, they are leaders among poultry. Depending on the breed, the weight of an adult male can reach 8–30 kg, and a turkey can reach 12 kg.

The most significant investment of money and labor in turkey stock occurs in the purchase of eggs, incubation and the first month of life of the chicks. Costs then fall due to the inclusion of cheaper grain feeds and free grazing in the diet.

So is turkey breeding profitable or not as a business? An increasing number of farmsteads from which the characteristic cry of a large bird can be heard proves that turkeys have a great future in farms and household plots.