Rearing Turkeys

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 91, Issue 6, 15 December 1955, Page 573

Rearing Turkeys

IT is often remarked that turkeys are difficult to rear, but the management of young turkeys (poults) during the brooding period is today similar to, and no more difficult than, that of chickens. That poults must not be subjected to damp and cold draughts is true, but neither must young chickens. However, young turkeys are inclined to be shy eaters at the start and in this respect differ to some extent from day-old chicks. In this article, the third of a series on turkeys by the Animal Industry Division, details are given of the rearing of young turkeys.

A Brooder house with outside sunporches. Robertson photo. TURKEYS may be reared naturally with the use of turkey hens or hens or artificially by brooders. Natural rearing is suitable only where a few turkeys are raised and is not practised in commercial turkey production; After Incubation Day-old turkey poults should be transferred to their brooding quarters, whether natural or artificial, as soon as the hatch has been completed and the poults have been removed from the incubator. Poults can soon be affected adversely if they are kept from food and water for more than 24 hours after hatching. Consequently, if they are to be dispatched from the farm to buyers at a distance, they must be sent away promptly and by the quickest means of transport. If ordinary chick boxes are used for transporting poults, the number of . poults placed in a box should be at , least one-third less than the normal • chick capacity. Large boxes with a greater height than those used for chicks are desirable. Natural Brooding Where a turkey hen is used for brooding she may be given 20 to 25 poults. Generally, however, it is more convenient to use broody hens of some heavy breed and then each mother may be given 8 to 10 poults. Care must be taken to ensure that the hen used is freed of all lice before being given the poults. The hen and poults should be housed in a well-constructed coop having an s attached wire run. A suitable type of coop affording ample room for the hen • and poults during bad weather should be of a lean-to type 4ft. long, 24ft. wide, and 2|ft. high at the front ■ falling to 2ft. at the back. This is a large coop and consequently comparatively costly, but it provides the protection so necessary for poults in the

early stages and such birds successfully brooded to 8 weeks of age are valuable. A portable wire run 6ft. long and Ift. high covered with small-mesh netting should be attached to the front of the coop to protect the young birds from vermin, cats, and other enemies and to prevent the poults from straying. If the young birds are allowed to run out on to grass in this wire run, the grass must be kept short and the coop and run should be moved daily to fresh ground. The ground used for the coop and run should be in a sheltered position and should not have been used previously for any kind of poultry, at least not for some years. Fine wire-mesh floors are sometimes used for these outside runs with the ■object of preventing birds from having direct contact with the soil to reduce the danger of disease. Litter should be placed in the coop and removed regularly to maintain clean conditions. The hen should be fed twice daily with grain and the food for the poults placed out of her reach after the first 2 to 3 days, during which the hen will teach the young poults to feed. Artificial Brooding Two aspects of artificial brooding which must be considered are the type

of brooder house and the brooding equipment. Both may be similar to those used for chick rearing. However, rearing of poults intensively with the aid of “sunporches” similar to those shown in the illustration at the top of page 573 is recommended. An orthodox multiple pen brooder house normally used for chickens is suitable for turkey poults. A square foot of floor space per poult should be provided and is adequate for birds up to 8 weeks of age. The brooder house should provide ample light and good ventilation. The house should face north, but in districts in the North Island where the weather becomes hot during October to December it may be desirable to site the house north-east to avoid some of the hot summer sun from midday onward. Where sunporches are not used and poults are kept in the brooder house beyond 8 weeks, for example, to 12 weeks, lj sq. ft. per bird should be provided. The sunporch may have a stout wire netting floor or. be made of slats. If it is raised off the ground and a concrete floor is placed underneath, there is no difficulty in cleaning up the droppings from time to time. A sun-

porch may provide up to j sq. ft. per bird of floor space. Thus 1 sq. ft. in the brooder house and J sq. ft. in the sunporch will take care of poults up to 12 weeks of age. If netting is used in the sunporch, it should be fin. to lin. mesh and of a heavy gauge. Where available, and if the turkey raiser is prepared to face a heavy initial cost, interwoven , lin. and 10gauge wire flooring is strong and durable. The sides of the sunporch can have an Bin. board at the bottom with 3ft. netting on top. Boards to a greater height than Bin. may be placed at the ends or sides of sunporches if added protection from wind is considered necessary. Brooder Equipment In New Zealand any of the efficient electric hovers used for chickens are suitable for poults. Each bird should be allowed 12 sq. in. of hover space. Thus. a 3ft. 6in. diameter hover will accommodate up to 100 poults for the 4 to 5 weeks they require heat. The period for supplying heat will depend on the weather and the time in the breeding season when the poults are being reared. Dull emitter infra-red units may be used for brooding. With battery brooders, which are also

used for turkeys, approximately 1/3 sq. ft. per bird of total cage space should be allowed. Poults should not be retained in battery brooders for more than 2 to 3 weeks, preferably for 2 weeks. In floor brooding it is probably an advantage to use wire frames, under the brooder of a type similar to those used for chickens. These should be covered with hessian for about a week or be packed tightly underneath with litter (chopped straw) for the same period. This tends to conserve the heat during the. first few days and prevents the young poults from catching their hocks in the jin. netting. Use of metal or wooden surrounds for the first few days is desirable to prevent poults from wandering away from the hover. These surrounds also prevent any undesirable ground draughts from striking the poults under and round the hover. Generally the young birds will indicate . whether the temperature under the hover is satisfactory. If it is too low, birds will tend to crowd under the hover; they should spread out comfortably round the perimeter. As a guide, however, a check should be made before the poults are put under the hover to see that a temperature of 95 degrees F. is registered just under the edge of the hover. Ample watering and feeding space is a first essential in the successful rearing of poults. For the first week jin. of watering space per poult should be allowed and thereafter jin. When dry mash is fed lin. of hopper space per bird should be provided. Lack of hopper feeding room will result, in retarded growth and poor feathering.

Feeding during Brooder Stage In turkey production the main object is to obtain well-grown and well-fleshed birds which reach killing stage as early as possible compatible with the breed used. Thus an efficient ration from the start is necessary. The best results are obtained when a high level of protein is used, particularly during the first 8 weeks. The vitamin A and D content of the ration must be made approximately double that considered satisfactory for chickens and the fibre content of a mash fed at the start should be low. Poults during the first 8 weeks are commonly fed mash only. There seems to be no advantage in feeding grain at this stage. Some coloured marbles placed on the mash in troughs have been found to attract the young birds when difficulty is experienced in getting them to start to eat. They peck at the marbles and then start on the mash. Some American turkey raisers report that a few day-old chicks put in with the turkey poults will induce the latter to eat, as the young chickens feed readily, thus setting an example for the turkeys. The following mashes are recommended for the first 8 weeks: — lb. lb. Bran .. .. 10 Bran .. . . 15 Pollard .. 18 Wheat meal .. 22 Wheat meal .. 24 Ground oats .. 10 Maize meal .. 15 Maize meal .. 15 ♦Meat meal . . 20 Lucerne meal . 5 Milk powder .. 10 *Meat meal . . 20 Ground Milk powder . . 10 limestone .. 1 Bone flour . . 1J Bone flour .. 1J Ground Common salt . i limestone .. 1 - —■ Common salt . i 100 -- ♦ 58 to 60 per cent, protein.

To both of the mashes given should be added either 11 pints of a fish oil containing 1000 units of vitamin A and 100 units of vitamin D or j pint of a fish oil containing 2000 units of vitamin A and 200 units of vitamin D. The inclusion of 4oz. of manganese sulphate per ton of mash is also advisable. This small quantity can be incorporated in the mash most easily by first mixing it in with the salt. The first mash given contains no lucerne meal and if this mixture is used, birds must receive an adequate daily feed of greenfeed such as fresh lawn clippings, finely chopped silver beet, or any other young succulent greenfeed normally used for chickens. With the second mash, which includes lucerne, daily supplies of fresh green food are not as necessary, provided a really good lucerne meal is used. Many turkey raisers, however, prefer to feed adequate amounts of greenfeed daily during the brooding stage, as from experience they are convinced that young turkeys thrive better when fresh greenfeed is given. Feeding after Brooding Stage The first point to be decided after the brooding stage is whether growing turkeys are to be run intensively or on free range. The deciding factor will be whether the turkey raiser has adequate clean ground over which to range the young poults. Turkeys are subject to a disease known as blackhead, which can be controlled by drugs, but is best prevented by sound management. Where fresh, clean grassland or lucerne can be used for ranging turkeys without any fear of overcrowding little trouble

from blackhead is likely. On the other hand, inadequate land which has been used previously for . raising turkeys may soon become contaminated. Unless sufficient range is available, turkeys are better confined intensively in good housing with sunporches. Under such conditions the risk of blackhead is again reduced considerably. Poults on Free Range Where poults are run on free range after the brooder house stage they must be given some protection against cold winds and sudden falls of heavy rain. This protection can be given by portable lean-to shelters containing plenty of perching space (approximately 12in. per bird). These shelters are only a tier of perches protected at two sides and the back with a lean-to roof and built on skids so that they can be moved on to fresh ground as required! Generally such shelters are used for only a limited timeonly as long as it takes to harden off the birds completely from the time they leave the brooder house. Thereafter birds are usually allowed to roost on perches set up in the open as shown in the illustration on this page. Where turkeys are 1 raised on free range, land having a well-drained soil should be chosen and some low cover, such as a hedgerow or hurdles specially put up for the purpose, is desirable to shelter birds during windy weather. Turkeys are easily frightened at night and an unexpected, bright light or prowling dogs will often cause panic among them. Raising Turkeys Intensively Where insufficient ground is available to have birds on free range and consequently there will be a grave risk of contamination turkeys are best kept intensively until maturity. The type of house chosen will depend to some extent on the district and weather, but usually in New Zealand either a lean-to type of house completely open at the front with outside sunporches or a full-span roof house mainly open at the sides and front is suitable. Perching space in the open-fronted house should be provided in the house and feeding and watering space in the sunporches. In the full-span roof house slatted floors are preferable to heavy-gauge wire netting floors. The wooden slats used for such a floor should be of lin. x lin. or Ilin. x Ilin, boards placed lin. apart. There is much in favour of building a house of this type on sloping ground so that the sunporches can be built on piles well above ground level. This permits cleaning out under the sunporches, where a considerable quantity of droppings accumulates. When a full-span roof , house is used the whole floor can be made of slats,

but these must be well above ground level to allow cleaning to be done. In either type of house the perches should be low to prevent leg, foot, or breast injuries. Overcrowding should be avoided to prevent feather picking and cannibalism. The smaller breeds of turkeys are best for intensive housing, but the larger birds, such as the Mammoth Bronze, can be handled successfully. Large-type turkeys should be allowed an average for both sexes of 6 sq. ft. per bird where reared to maturity in confinement. This figure applies to the house and sunporches where the latter are employed and to house floor space where no sunporches are used. Feeding Growing Turkeys After the brooder stage, when birds are 6 to 8 weeks old, two major changes in the rations are made. Birds from 8 weeks of age to maturity are fed grain and the protein level in the mash is lowered from 24 to 26 per cent, used in the starter mash to about 20 per cent. When grain is used with this mash the protein intake is lowered further, but should not fall below 16 per cent. The method of feeding most commonly practised in modern turkey raising is to place dry mash and grain in separate hoppers available to the birds at all times. Though wet mash is very palatable to turkeys, there appears to be no advantage in feeding mash in this form. Where turkeys receive a wellbalanced and concentrated mash with grain no special fattening rations are required before they reach marketing size. - Birds on free range which have ready access to greenfeed need no lucerne meal in the mash. Where turkeys are maintained intensively the

inclusion of a good lucerne meal is desirable. The following mashes are recommended for birds from the time they are 8 weeks old until they are mature: —• lb. lb. Bran .. .. 15 Bran .. .. 10 Pollard * .. 22 Pollard .. 20 Wheat meal .. 25 Wheat meal .. 25 Maize meal .. 15 Maize meal .. 15 ♦Meat meal .. 20 Lucerne meal . 7 Ground *Meat meal .. 20 limestone .. 1 Ground Bone flour .. IJ ■. limestone .. 1 Common salt . J Bone flour .. —— ■ Common salt . i 100 lOO * 60 per cent, protein. Ground oats may replace part of the wheat meal and pollard where oats are available at an economic figure for feeding. Good oats (heavy) are an excellent food for turkeys. If meat and bone meal (45 to 50 per cent, protein) is used in place of meat meal (60 per cent, protein), the amount.included should be increased by 21b. to 31b. and the bone flour omitted. Turkeys on good free range do not require vitamins A and D in fish oils. With the mashes quoted a grain mixture consisting of wheat, maize, or barley may be fed with up to 50 per cent, of heavy oats. The following table provides a guide to food consumption up to 7 months of age: — AVERAGE FOOD CONSUMED PER BIRD lb. lb. First month .. 1J Fifth month .. 17J Second month .. 6| Sixth month .. 19 Third month ..: 10 Seventh month . Fourth month . 14J This gives a total of 93|lb. of all foods fed to maturity. Where growing turkeys are kept intensively care should be taken to supply hard grit for their gizzards as an aid to efficient digestion.

. — / •• «?«»»■ .1 •> '»■"* ’«'» ' NEW ZEALAND MEAT ON THE UNITED KINGDOM MARKET * '■” r ax’s®!*® ... <.. . .

In this year, the first year of free trading in meat since 1939, New Zealand will export about 240,000 quarters of chilled beef, all of which will go to the United Kingdom. Next year, if suitable shipping space is available, the volume of this class of meat may be over 400,000 quarters. The return to free trading and current overseas marketing trends are compelling New Zealand producer organisations to give closer study to the preferences and buying habits of the British housewife. Officials. of producer bodies have been active in reviewing all the stages of transport, handling, and storage of produce and in reorganising these where necessary to meet the demands of the new phase of marketing. Reports indicate that in general the good name of New Zealand produce is being maintained. The New Zealand Meat Producers Board began an extensive advertising campaign in Britain which opened at the end of the bulk selling period. Quality competitions among consignments of New Zealand meat arriving on the London market are another way ’ of helping to maintain quality.