C.C. Sheppard and C.J. FlegalPoultry Science DepartmentMichigan State University

Raising a few turkeys is easy - ifyou avoid some of the hazards that manynew and a few seasoned turkey growersencounter. Here are a few things toremember about turkeys:

1. Turkeys are very curious! Youngturkeys have been known todrown in a half-filled pail ofwater—not just one bird, abucket full of birds, one after theother!

2. They are very friendly! They canbecome pets. This has beenknown to destroy theircommercial value asThanksgiving dinner.

3. They are very susceptible to theblackhead organism; 100 percentmortality can result if theycontract this disease and have notbeen protected with medication.Many chickens carry blackheadorganisms without apparenteffect on the chicken. Therefore,one of the cardinal principles is

never raise chickens and turkeystogether; turkeys must becompletely isolated fromchickens.

4. Turkeys are not stupid, but theyare different. It is important tohave plenty of waterers andfeeders available for them whenthey are a day old and first tryingto find feed and water. They havebeen known to starve to death byeating nothing, or they eat litterinstead of feed and then starve todeath—with feed near by!

What Turkey? What Variety?

There are three turkey varietiesor strains that are more or less readilyavailable. The turkey is native toAmerica and all varieties and/or strainsoriginated in the United States. Six oreight varieties have been developed fromthe original wild Bronze turkey. Thelarge white, sometimes called BroadBreasted White (BWW), is the bird that

most commercial producers raise, is themost available and may have better meatbecause it has had more selectedbreeding pressure than the Bronze. TheBroad Breasted Bronze has fallen fromfavor due to its black pin feathers whichare very noticeable on the dressed bird.

Large Bronze and White Turkeymales (toms) will weigh 25-30 pounds at22-28 weeks. Females (hens) will weigh16-20 pounds at 18-24 weeks of age—ifproperly fed and managed.

The Beltsville White is the thirdvariety or strain that might be available.This strain was developed at the USDAResearch Station at Beltsville, Maryland.It is a small white-feathered bird. Themales will weigh 13-18 pounds at 22-28weeks of age. The females will weigh 8-12 pounds at 18-24 weeks of age,depending on the care and feedingprograms.

Where are turkeys available?Check the classified ad section of farmmagazines in February, March, Apriland May. Vocational agricultureteachers, 4-H agents, county Extensionagriculture agents and MSU PoultryExtension are also possible sources ofinformation. You will probably not beable to obtain a few day-old turkeys,called poults, from your neighbor whohappens to have a tom or two and a fewhens. Commercially, all turkeys areproduced by means of artificialinsemination. When left to their ownmating, the present day turkey flockproduces few fertile eggs. They havebeen so highly selected for meatproduction that natural mating is notsuccessful.

Housing

A small flock of turkeys can besuccessfully raised in an area of

approximately 100 square feet—10 feetby 10 feet. Ten to 12 day-old poults canbe easily started and grown in such anarea. A smaller area (brooding area) isfine for starting the day-old poults, butremember that the birds grow whereasthe pen usually must stay the same size.

One idea that really helps expandthe space is a sun porch. A porch that is8 by 10 feet will provide more space forthe birds. The porch should have one- bytwo-inch welded wire flooring withchicken wire sides and top. Two by foursplaced 16 inches on center under thewelded wire will support the birds. Theporch should be at least one foot aboveground level. A 10 by 10 foot broodingarea and an 8 by 10 foot sun porch willprovide space enough to raise 20 large or30 small turkeys, probably more turkeysthan you want to raise.

Equipment

Keep very young poults warm and dry.Shavings, crushed corn cobs and strawmake very good litter material. Sawdustalso works, but not as well because ittends to pack when wet. Cover thelitter material with cloth, burlap bags or

rough paper (Figure 1) for the first fouror five days. After four or five days have

passed, the birds will have located thefeed and water and will not eat the littermaterial.

Heat

Heat can be provided with a 250-wattheat lamp (Figure 2) hung two feetabove the floor level. This will provide awarm area under the light and coolerarea out beyond the direct light rays.

This arrangement will be satisfactory fora large group of poults. For smallernumbers of birds, a 100-watt light bulband a large cardboard box will get thebirds started.

A cardboard corral (Figure 1),12to 18 inches high and 5 or more feet indiameter, will confine the poults to theheated area for the first few days, whenthe birds are on the floor. The corralshould be removed after five to sevendays to give the birds more area.

Feeders

A hanging feeder (Figure 3) is a goodtype with which to start the birds. It canbe placed on the floor, which will allowday-old birds to eat from it. As the birdsgrow, the feeder should be raised. Thebirds' shoulders should always be higher

than the rump when they are eating. Thebirds should not reach down for feedafter the first few weeks. When theyreach down for the feed, they frequentlybill feed out of the feeder into the litter.Feed is very expensive litter.

When the birds get older, acovered feeder (Figure 4) can be built (across-section plan is shown in Figure 5).Mash in one end and grain (corn, oatsand wheat) in the other end will do asatisfactory job of feeding the larger

birds. The feeder works very well forbirds on range as the feed does not getwet and spoil.

Waterers

Water can be provided by using a small

chicken water fountain (Figure 6) for thefirst few weeks. As the birds get olderand larger, use a water pan with a wireguard (Figure 7).

Feed

Commercial turkey growers mayhave as many as four different feeds togive to their birds as they grow fromday-old to market. You will need to buyat least three different feeds—starter,grower and finisher. Frequently thegrower feed can be made into a finisherby giving the birds access to grains(corn, oats, wheat, etc.). You should usethe feeds as follows:

Table 1 shows the results that might beexpected from feeding well bred BroadBreasted Bronze or White turkeysreasonably good feeds. They willconsume about 4.5 pounds of starterfeed, 20 pounds of grower feed, and 50-55 pounds of finisher feed. The birdswill average 20 pounds each at 24 weeksof age, with the toms about 25 poundsand the hens about 15 pounds.Commercial growers with four feeds(prestarter, starter, grower, and finisher)and good management practices willusually obtain better results.

A Do-lt-Yourself Feed MixingProgram

For producers who have a good,succulent green pasture available forturkeys, the following program might be

Age Feed % Protein

0-6 weeks starter 28-307-13 weeks grower 2114-24 weeks finisher 16-18

used for the small flock of birds. For thefirst eight weeks follow the culturalpractices already presented. The starterration given in Table 2 should be used. Ifyou keep your turkeys out on range, besure to fence the area. They can't fly butwill wander off.

A simple feed formula for birdsthat are out on range can be mixed forthose producers who can get theingredients for either of the growerformulas listed in Table 3 (no vitamintrace mineral mix is used, as it may bedifficult to find). These diets willprovide 20-21 percent protein andshould be fed after 8 weeks of age. At 14weeks of age, the birds also should haveavailable small grains, free choice, in aseparate feed hopper. Figure 4 shows afeeder that can be used for mash in oneend and grain in the other. This mashand grain mixture should be fed from 14weeks of age to slaughter at 20-28 weeksof age in order to provide a finisher feed.The small grains that should be madeavailable for the birds can be made up ofone or more of the following grains:corn, wheat, heavy oats (32 or morepounds per bushel), emmer, spelt, orbarley.

The birds will probably growmore slowly than they would if fed on acomplete, well-balanced commercialturkey feeding program, but do-it-yourself programs will produce goodturkeys if followed properly. Don'tforget the word free choice means thatall necessary items-water, mash, smallgrains, and good pasture- are available atall times.

Disease Control

Disease control in a small flock ofturkeys is not difficult, but CARE,SANITATION, and ISOLATION are

the keys to a successful disease controlprogram. Unsuccessful programs occurwhen the producer fails to take care ofthe birds properly. This results indisease, or at least in birds that do notgrow and gain normally. It has beensaid that if turkeys are not properly caredfor they will look for an opportunity todie! In this regard, they are not asforgiving as chickens.

The diseases that may bother thesmall grower are blackhead, coccidiosisand airsacculitis. All of these diseasesare caused by organisms that are specificfor each disease. Keeping theseorganisms from coming into contactwith your birds can be accomplished byisolation and sanitation.

As mentioned previously,blackhead is a diesease common tochickens. It does not seem to bother thechickens, but it is fatal to turkeys.Several drugs are available and are usedby the commercial grower forcontinuous feeding — as a preventative.But these drugs usually are not availablein small quantities or in locations thatcan easily be reached by the smallgrower.

Coccidiosis is a disease thatthrives in damp, warm litter. Clean,fresh water is spilled and litter gets wet,coccidiosis organisms can grow — andthey seem to be present everywhere.Birds grown on wire (sun porch), drylitter and grasscovered well-drained (nopuddles) soil are almost always freefrom coccidiosis.

Airsacculitis is a respiratorydisease. As the name suggests, it is adisease that invades the air sacs: Thelungs in the turkey are rigid and areimbedded in the rib area. The air sacsact as bellows, drawing air into andpushing it out of the lungs through thenasal openings. The best way to avoid

this disease is to buy the poults from ahatchery that tests for the disease in thebreeder flock. This is one of the veryfew diseases that is transmitted throughthe egg to the poult. There is nosatisfactory treatment for airsacculitis.

Debeaking

Cannibalism can be a problem,but one that the small turkey flockshould never encounter if the birds aregiven enough space. No one is certainabout the cause of cannibalism, butseveral factors seem to contribute to itspresence. Too much of anything seemsto trigger cannibalism — too much heatand light, too many birds in too small abuilding or too long without feed andwater.

A remedy for cannibalism isdebeaking. The act of debeakingremoves a portion of the upper beak andlittle of the lower beak (Figure 8). Thisis easily done when the birds are young.

The tip of the upper beak is removed upto but never more than half-way fromthe tip to the nostril holes in the topbeak. The poultry industry uses electricdebeakers to debeak large numbers ofchickens or turkeys. The debeaker has ahot cutting blade that burns its way

through the beak at the desired point.This burning action cauterizes thewound to stop any bleeding that mightoccur.

The grower with a few birds todebeak can use a pair of sharp wirecutters, a knife, or fingernail clippers (ifthe birds are young). A red hotsoldering iron will cauterize the woundif it bleeds. Just sear the wound for afew seconds.

Marketing Turkeys

Turkeys should be ready formarket on or before 24 weeks of age.Broad Breasted Whites or Bronze tomsshould weigh 25 pounds or more liveweight. When killed, dressed andeviscerated —ready-to-cook— they willweigh 19 or more pounds including theneck and giblets. A 30-pound tom willweigh about 24 pounds ready-to-cook.They lose about 20 percent in the killing,dressing and eviscerating. A live henthat weighs 18 pounds will weigh about14 ½ pounds ready-to-cook.

Commercially, turkey growersmarket their hens at 18-19 weeks andtheir toms at 21-22 weeks of age. Itmight pay to weigh your birds at thatage. If the toms weigh 25 pounds ormore and the hens weigh 16 pounds ormore, think seriously about marketingthem. You can also determine when thebird has enough fat by examining theskin on the breast between the front endof the keel bone and wing socket.Remove a few feathers in this sparselyfeather-covered area and "pinch test" theskin. Pick up the skin with your fingers.It should be creamy (yellow if a lot ofcorn and pasture are in the diet) andabout like folding a blotter in thickness.A turkey that is not "finished" (ready tomarket) will have skin that appears

reddish blue — and there is no fat orlittle fat under the skin or anywhere elseon the bird. Some fat is desirable.

Processing

Processing turkeys takes timeand effort but is not difficult. A strongquarter- or three-eighths-inch rope endan inch block of wood (see Figure 9)will make the task somewhat easier. Tie

the legs with the rope shackle (Figure10) and hang the bird so the head is atleast waist high. Hold the head firmly in

one hand and cut the jugular vein (one

goes from the head to the body downeach side of the neck). The bird will flopso you will want to stoop down belowthe wing action and hold the head firmly— with pressure down to keep the headfrom throwing blood.

After the struggling has stopped,dip the bird into 140-145° F water for 30seconds. Turkeys are large birds so youwill need at least a 5-gallon vat. Be sureto move the bird around so that the hotwater penetrates to the skin. Hang thebird up again and remove the feathers.When using scalding water at thistemperature, the outside layer (bloom)will be removed from the skin. The skinwill look red and leathery if the bloom isremoved and the bird is allowed to dryout. For this reason the bird should becooled in a tank of cold water (a new orvery clean garbage can will work);running water is better than still water.

The cooled and plucked bird isnow ready for evisceration as follows:

1. Remove the head and legs.2. Remove the windpipe and crop

under the neck skin. Cut the neckskin down the back of the neck andremove the neck. The crop is a sackat the base of the neck on the front ofthe turkey and is a storage place forfeed. The crop will be more easilyremoved if the birds are taken offfeed the night before slaughter.

3. Cut open the abdomen between thetip of the keel (breast) bone and vent(anus).

4. Cut around the vent and remove theintestines. Be sure that the heart andlungs are also removed. They are farforward in the body cavity.

5. Wash the carcass and put it into coldclean water until you are ready to putit into a package.

6. Clean the liver by removing theadhering membranes including a

dark green sack. This sack containsbile, which is very bitter; be carefulthat you do not break it or cut itopen.

7. The gizzard should be cleaned. It isa semi-round muscle about the sizeof a man's fist. Inside there is afibrous sack that will contain somefeed. The muscle can be cut and thesack removed —without breaking itif you are lucky. It will be easier toremove the fibrous lining if thegizzard is cold.

8. Remove the oil gland at the base ofthe tail on the back of the bird.

Now you are ready to package thebird. Put the heart, liver, gizzard, and

neck inside the body cavity of the bird.Place the bird in a large plastic (freezertype) bag. Remove as much of the air aspossible and tie the bag. The bird willkeep better frozen if nearly all the air hasbeen removed and the bag has been tiedas tightly as possible.

The bird is now ready for sale,cooking or frozen storage. If it is put intoa freezer, maintain the freezertemperature at 0° F. It is best not toallow the temperature to fluctuate morethan a fewdegrees. Fluctuating temperatures tendto cause more freezer burn (dehydration)than a steady cold temperature evenwhen the bird is well wrapped.

Table 1. Feed Consumption of Broad Breasted Bronze or White Turkeys (Males and Females) fromDay-Old to 24 Weeks of Age.*

Cumulative feed Average live Average Feed per poundconsumption weight (pounds) live weight of live wt. to

Age (pounds) males females (pounds) date (pounds)1 day-6 wks 4.4 3.2 2.8 3.0 1.457 wks-13 wks 24.5 11.4 8.4 9.9 2.4714 wks-24 wks 76.4 25.1 15.7 20.4 3.75

*Source: USDA Turkey Production Agriculture Handbook No. 393.

Cooperative Extension Service Programs are open to all without regard to race, color, or national origin.Issued in furtherance of cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics, acts of May 8,and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gordon E. Guyer, Director,Cooperative Extension Service, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. Price 30 cents.

Table 2. Starter and Grower Feed Formulas. (Feed formulas that might be used ifproducts are available.)

Weight in pounds per 100 pounds of mixIngredients Starter Grower

(0-8 wks of age) (8-13 wks of age)Ground yellow corn 21.50 56.0Standard wheat middlings 30.0Meat scrap (55% protein) . 15.0 5.0Fish meal (60% protein) 10.0 3.775Dried whey (plain or delactosed) 2.45Soybean meal 10.0 20.0Alfalfa meal (17% protein) 10.0 10.0Salt 0.25 0.5A & D feeding oil (good-2250A) 0.25Antibiotic supplement (25 grams ofwide-spectrum antibiotic per pound) 0.05 0.025Dicalcium phosphate or steamed

bone meal 3.0Ground limestone or oyster shell 1.2Vitamin trace mineral mix* 0.5 0.5

-The vitamin trace mineral mix should contain per pound of the mixture:

Vitamin A (USP units) 1,000,000 Vitamin B12 (micrograms) 1,200Vitamin D3 (ICU) 300,000 Butylated hydroxytoluene (mgs) 22,680Vitamin E (milligrams) 1,200 Manganese (percent) 2.4Vitamin K (milligrams) 350 Zinc (percent) 2.2Riboflavin (milligrams) 600,000 Iodine (percent) .048Niacin (milligrams) 8,000 Iron (percent) .8Folic acid (milligrams) 800 Copper (percent) .08d-pantothenic acid (mgs) 1,000 Cobalt (percent) .008Choline chloride (milligrams) 60,000 Bacitracin (aureomycin or terramycin) +

Table 3. Grower Diets (After 8 Weeks of Age) forTurkeys on Good Grass Range.

Ration A Ration BIngredients (pounds)(pounds)Ground yellow corn 50 30Wheat middlings 30 30Meat Scraps(50% protein) 19Salt 1 1Soybean meal 30Steamed bone meal ordicalcium phosphate 6Ground oyster shellor limestone 3

Total 100 100

Calculated Analysis Ration A Ration B

Protein % 20.0 21.0Calcium % 1.9 2.9Total phosphate % 1.3 1.3