Turkey Breeding in New Zealand

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 100, Issue 5, 16 May 1960, Page 443

Turkey Breeding in New Zealand

By

J. H. JONES,

Poultry Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Oamaru THE increasing interest. being shown in turkeys, especially the demand for them at Christmas, indicates that the turkey raising industry could expand, though an effort to make turkeys popular throughout the year would be necessary. An article in the April issue of the ''Journal" advised breeders on qualities required in breeding stock and methods of housing the birds. This article describes general management of breeding stock, feeding, and incubator management. A concluding article will appear in a later issue.

WHEN the method of housing the breeding stock has been decided on (for the beginner the free range system is unhesitatingly advised) the selected first-year hens (those eight to nine months old) should be settled in their breeding quarters at least a month before mating begins. As a precaution against damage by the male birds’ claws when mating the hens should be fitted with canvas saddles and the claws of the gobblers, if excessively sharp, clipped. Approximately one gobbler to 10 hens should be mated, and for flock mating a reserve team of gobblers should be kept in a separate pen to take over if fighting is excessive. Broodies Egg production will suffer during the hatching season if prompt attention is not given to broody hens. About half of the broodies can be recognised by the common signs of nesting at night, hissing, and walking on tiptoe, but others present a little more difficulty.' Examination of the vent will show this to be dry in the non-layer and moist and larger in the layer. The safest plan is to remove all birds which are found in the nest at night and coop them on a slatted or wire floor. If well fed and watered in sight of the rest of the flock, they can be returned in three to six days.

Artificial Lighting

As Christmas in New Zealand is in midsummer, producers do not have to hatch poults early to have them ready for Christmas, but in northern hemisphere countries night lighting is used extensively with breeding stock to encourage early egg production.

Lighting stimulates the glands controlling the reproductive system, and as the male organs respond more slowly than the female, the gobblers are given lights three to four weeks before the hens. Lighting will not increase the rate of production, but it will give an earlier and longer hatching season.

The system commonly used overseas is to give a 14-hour day, with lights early in the morning. A 40-watt bulb to 100 sq. ft. of floor space is adequate and lights are arranged to illuminate the food and water troughs and all perches. It is important in areas away from the coast that precautions be taken to prevent the water from freezing.

Egg production generally starts three weeks after lighting and in three weeks production is at 50 per cent.

To avoid disease the turkey breeding flock should at all times be segregated from any other poultry and the young turkey growing stock. In intensive conditions or where disease is known or suspected to be present some breeders regularly dose the breeding stock to keep worms, coccidiosis, and blackhead under control. All breeding stock should be tested for pullorum disease before being put into the breeding pen. Feeding Breeding Birds « In feeding breeding stock the object is to maintain the stock in good condition and health and to produce sound hatching eggs capable of producing healthy poults. When the turkeys reach the breeding pen they should be in prime condition with plenty of vigour, for they will normally lose weight during the breeding season. There is little fear of overfeeding the turkey hen before she starts to lay. It will be noticed that food consumption often decreases as the hens near production. The breeders’ diet must provide all the needs of the parents to enable them to cater for the balanced growth and development of the embryo during the 28 days of incubation and initial stages of life. The diet must be complete, properly balanced, and contain a variety of high-quality protein in addition to being well fortified with vitamins, particularly A, D, E, and riboflavin, and have adequate minerals, especially calcium, phosphorus, and

manganese.

Only the best food, in fresh condition to avoid loss of vitamins, should be fed. Breeders on free range on good pasture, or where receiving goodquality green feed, can often overcome some of the deficiencies in the rations, but intensively housed breeding stock must be given a complete diet which contains all the essential requirements. In practice the requirements of the breeding stock are supplied by feeding a good-quality breeders’ mash or pellets with wheat or mixed grain, with free access to water and limestone or shell and metal grits, and a daily supply of fresh green food. Birds kept intensively and not fed fresh greens should receive dried dehydrated lucerne meal incorporated in the mash. The protein intake should be maintained at 15 to 16 per cent of the total food. The value of milk powder, yeast, whey products, green food, and cod liver oil as sources rich in essential vitamins in the breeders’ diet has been well demonstrated as an aid to high hatchability. Care must be taken that too much green feed is not consumed to the detriment of other essential nutrients. System of Feeding The system of feeding turkey breeders most favoured in New Zealand is to supply mash ad lib in troughs or hoppers, with a controlled feed of grain on the ground once a day. A better method is grain in hoppers opened for two hours in the afternoon. To ensure an adequate protein intake the grain must be regulated according to the protein content of the mash, but generally it should not exceed 40 to 50 per cent of the daily food consumption.

The daily food intake of the breeding flock can vary according to the size and breed of the birds and the weather, the intake rising as the weather becomes colder. It is safer to offer more food than can be consumed than to underfeed.

As a general guide consumption of food for the American Mammoth Bronze or Broad Breasted Bronze can be assessed at 7 to 10 oz per breeder per day, or 13| to 19 lb of feed per month. The following breeders’ mashes to be fed with a scratch grain of wheat, wheat and barley, or wheat, barley, and heavy oats will be found satisfactory.

Mash ■- Lb Lb Wheat meal . . 400 420 Barley meal . . 400 Maize meal .. 200 200 Pollard .. . . 400 1 340 (pollard Bran . . .. 280 J or bran) Lucerne meal . . 160 120 Milk powder . . 160 160 Salt (manganised) 20 20 Lime . . . . 20 40 2,000 2,000 To these mashes should be added vitamins A and D, either synthetic or cod liver oil to the manufacturer’s recommendations, and 8 oz of manganese sulphate. This small quantity of manganese can be incorporated in the mash most easily by first mixing it with the salt. Incubation Incubation of turkey eggs is only now being brought to the same level as that for hen eggs. Attempts to use cabinet incubators without the necessary modifications, such as turkey trays to hold the larger eggs, have had varying success in this country. Period of Incubation Turkey eggs require 28 days to incubate and all poults should be hatched within 40 hours at the most after the first poult appears. The peak periods of embryo mortality occur at the fourth, twenty-fifth, and twentyeighth days. Collection of Eggs Hatching eggs must be collected frequently, at least two or three times a day, and in extremely hot or cold weather every two or three hours. Broody turkeys should be dealt with and not allowed to sit on the eggs; otherwise the development of the germs will be affected. The eggs are best stored large end up on spare incubator trays, and if to be kept more than seven days, should be turned every day by tilting the trays at an angle of 45 degrees. The egg storage room temperature should be maintained at as near 55 degrees F as possible at all times and the humidity at 55 per cent. Dirty eggs can be prevented by clean nesting material and frequent collection. Any eggs excessively dirty should be only lightly scraped.

To improve hatchability select only good eggs, as this can also prevent the production of poor types of poults. Eggs can also be candled before setting to check for internal faults and hair cracks. Eggs with chalky or rough shells, poor in shape, and of undesir-

able size should not be set. Eggs of 2f to 3 oz appear to give best hatchability, and those of less than 2| oz or more than 3J oz poor results. The fresher the eggs are the better the hatching results will be. Eggs over a week old show a marked falling off in hatchability. Setting capacity is about two-thirds that of the rated capacity of the incubator for hen eggs. Incubator Room Temperatures The ideal temperature for an incubator room is 60 to 70 degrees F with frequent changes of air (up to eight to 10 per hour). As the hatching of turkeys often lasts until the hotter months of early summer, ventilation will often be the chief difficulty. Incubator Management The four principal factors that affect the number of poults hatched from the fertile eggs set are: temperature, humidity, ventilation, and turning. Each of these factors influences the growth of the embryo - during incubation. The first three factors are interrelated and any alteration of one factor will affect the efficiency of the others. Incubator . manufacturers provide comprehensive instructions for the operation of their machines, but local conditions sometimes necessitate a slight variation in procedure. A record of the conditions of each hatch is therefore of interest and importance for determining the environment which provides the best hatching results. Proper Temperature The necessity for an accurate test of the thermometer and temperature control mechanism cannot be over emphasised, for this is possibly the most important of the principal factors. The limits of temperature variation that can be tolerated are very narrow. Steady temperature during incubation is essential for correct hatching time. It is of the utmost importance that the temperature does not rise above the optimum, as this can cause high embryo mortality and hatching abnormalities such as crooked toes, spraddle legs, and small poults. Low temperatures cause abnormal embryos in the early stages, losses through failure to hatch, and delayed hatching. The most frequently used temperatures with cabinet machines are: Combined setting and hatching machines, 99.5 degrees F. Setting compartment, 99.5 degrees F.

Hatching compartment, 99 to 99.5 degrees F, or 97 to 98.5 degrees F. . Humidity The ratio of moisture in the air to the amount the air is capable of holding at a given temperature is known as . the relative humidity. It is expressed as per cent relative humidity and is assessed from readings of wet and dry bulb thermometers. Eggs normally lose weight during incubation through the evaporation of moisture and this is controlled by the surrounding conditions. Turkey eggs require more moisture than hen eggs, especially during the last four days of incubation. The poult is about 66 per cent of the initial egg weight. The approximate loss of moisture can be ascertained by the size of the air space. If conditions in the incubator are dry, the rate of evaporation from the egg is increased and, conversely, if conditions are too moist, the evaporation is slowed down. The latitude with relative humidity is much wider than with temperature and may possibly be as much as 5 to 10 per cent above or below the optimum without undue adverse effect. In cabinet incubators the optimum relative humidity appears to be: Dry bulb Wet bulb Relative humidity ther- therper cent mometer mometer Degrees Degrees F F 60 for first 24 days .. 99.5 87 70 for last 4 days . . 99.5 90 When temperature is reduced at hatching: 70 for last 4 days . . 98 89 73 for last 4 days . . 98 90 Adequate Ventilation Developing embryos need oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. Ventilation requirements increase as the embryos develop, and are at their maximum toward the end of the hatch with the increased output of CO 2 . In most instances adequate ventilation is provided when the manufacturer’s directions are followed carefully. The ventilation of the incubator room is just as important as that of the incubator itself. Turning the Eggs Turn the eggs at least five times daily up to the twenty-second day to prevent the embryo adhering . to the shell. The period of turning should be as even as possible, ranging from first thing in the morning to as late as practical at night. Some modern turkey

incubators are now fitted with an automatic turning device which can be set to operate at hourly intervals if necessary. Turning the eggs is unnecessary after the twenty-second to twentyfourth day.

Testing the Eggs

Eggs can be tested and infertile ones removed on the tenth day, but it is normal hatchery practice to test the eggs from the twenty-second to twenty-fourth day, when they are being transferred from the setting section of the incubator to the hatching section.

Hatching

The chief requirements for the hatching period are increased moisture and in some machines possibly a slight drop in temperatures during the last, three days, with increased ventilation as the poults start hatching. The poults should dry out slowly and the moisture be reduced for the last few hours, before the removal of the hatch.

It is advisable to keep the incubator closed until the hatch is complete, remembering that large and old eggs take longer to hatch than small or fresh ones. The crowded trays also tend to reduce the incidence of “sprawling”, to which newly hatched turkeys are prone. It is not a good idea to help late or weak poults out of the shell, as this: could possibly lead to a reproduction of this weakness. Disease Precautions To avoid the transmission of diseasehen and turkey eggs should not be set in the same incubator. All turkey breeding stock should be tested for pullorum disease, though this disease is not prevalent among turkeys in New Zealand. As a further precaution incubators should be fumigated between hatches with 40 per cent formalin and potassium permanganate; 1{- oz of formalin to J oz of potassium permanganate crystals should be used for each 100 cub. ft. of air space in the incubator. This is done after all debris has been cleared out and all hatching and. incubation equipment thoroughly cleaned. Recording Hatching Results It can be of much interest as well as importance to keep a record of the results of each hatch, such as the number of infertile eggs, dead germs, and eggs that fail to hatch. After the finish of the hatching season a detailed account of the running of the machine and any unusual occurrences can be of much help in avoiding pitfalls and. aiding planning of next year’s programme.