What Is The Best Feed For Turkeys?
| Age Of Turkey Poults | Turkey Feed Needed (percent protein) | Alternative Feed Option (if turkey feed ... |
| 0-4 weeks | 28% | Gamebird starter (30%) |
| 5-8 weeks | 26% | |
| 9-12 weeks | 22% | Broiler starter, also called Meatbird cr ... |
| 13-16 weeks | 19% | Gamebird grower (20%) |
What are some of the Good Foods in Turkey?
Turkish delight: 6 delicious dishes to try in Turkey
- Lahmacun. ...
- Turkish Breakfast (Kahvaltı) At this point, I’ve visited 75 countries, and I’m willing to go on record in saying that Turkish breakfast is my favourite meal on the planet.
- Iskender. ...
- Turkish Tea (Çay) and Coffee (Kahve) Everyone in the world seems to know about Turkey’s famed coffee rituals while Turkish tea sits aside, seemingly forgotten.
How do you fatten up a Turkey?
Treats
- Hang fruits or vegetables. This is especially easy with fruits and vegetables that have a stem of some sort. ...
- Load a Net with Treats. Visit your local party store and look for a decorative fish net (like this one on Amazon.com ). ...
- Use a Suet Cage. ...
- Feed Turkeys Treats by Hand. ...
What do you feed a wild turkey?
Wild turkeys are back, but some people aren't too wild about sharing their neighborhoods with them. People have reported turkeys chasing them, attacking their cars, trashing their yards. You might even call them Public Enemy No. 1. But they’re not going ...
What is the best Turkey feeder?
Many custom rations for turkeys include a variety of grains and seeds, including:
- Corn While corn is not the most nutritious food on its own, it can be a great option for providing fat and overall energy. ...
- Black Oil Sunflower Seeds These seeds are widespread in custom mixed feed rations. ...
- Flax Seeds These extremely protein-rich seeds are usually found in most custom rations. ...
What should you not feed turkeys?
Here is some food that you should not feed to turkeys:Low-Quality chicken feed.Dairy foods.Onions.Raw meat.Chocolate.Processed foods.Fruit pits and seeds.Tomato and eggplant leaves.More items...
What can I feed a wild turkey in my yard?
Preferred foods of wild turkeysBeech (Beechnuts are an alternate food source when acorn supplies are low.)Hickory (As with beechnuts, hickory nuts are an alternate winter food source.)Dogwood.Wild cherry.Grapes.Berries.
What do you feed domestic turkeys?
They enjoy nuts, acorns, seeds (including many wild weed seeds), corn, grain, and peas. They eat berries, flowers, bulbs, foliage, and fruit. Domesticated turkeys have different needs than chickens or ducks and should be fed either a turkey formulated feed or a wild or game bird feed to meet their needs.
Do turkeys need special feed?
Turkeys need different feeds depending upon their age, whether they are young poults or adults, and the time of year, mainly are they on a maintenance ration or are they in breeding season.
Can turkeys eat carrots?
Turkeys love to pick at natural plants. They will consume all sorts of leaves and grasses. You can also feed your turkey various vegetable plants like lettuce, cabbage, carrot leaves, and much more.
Do wild turkeys eat vegetables?
Wild turkeys are opportunistically omnivorous, which means they will readily sample a wide range of foods, both animal and vegetable.
Can turkeys eat whole corn?
Whole corn is an excellent choice if you want to feed them. Cracked corn works good too but tends to get covered up quickly if it is snowing or blowing. I've found they also like alfalfa hay, strange as it might seem. They get right into it and eat the green leaves and flowers.
Do turkeys eat oats?
Turkey also eat waste grains in harvested fields of corn, buckwheat, soybeans, oats, and grain sorghum, and they will use food plots, as well. Turkeys foraging in agricultural areas in the fall and spring eat mostly waste grains, wild plants, insects, and young grasses.
Is corn good for turkey?
Since wild turkeys are a ground-feeding type, sprinkling cracked corn in an open area of dirt is a sufficient way to attract them. Seeds- Another easily attainable food source, seeds provide even more nutrition for wild turkeys. Mixing seeds and cracked corn makes a great spread out meal.
Can turkeys eat cat food?
Some cat food can have ingredients that aren't particularly good for birds — things they can't digest, their body can't fully process or is just too much for them. But it can depend on the food, the bird and how much it eats. Filling up on cat food also could stop them from eating the foods that are good for them.
How much should a turkey eat a day?
FEED turkeys daily by broadcasting food at a rate of 2 large handfuls (or 1/2 cup) per turkey per day. To ensure a good distribution of food among flock members, spread it out so that all birds have an opportunity to feed. FEED turkeys until the flock ceases daily visitation or until severe conditions moderate.
Can turkeys eat scratch grains?
Feeding Directions Purina® Scratch Grains can be fed to adult chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys to encourage natural pecking and feeding instincts. Scratch Grains is a grain supplement, not a complete feed and should not comprise more than 10% of the birds' diet.
The nutritional needs of a turkey
At different growth stages, the feed needs to be changed to meet nutritional requirements.
Turkey feed to provide
Turkey can eat a variety of foods, which can be mixed for specific requirements of nutrients.
Fatten up a turkey
Some efficient methods that can be used to ensure a fattened, juicy meal are adding corn and oats to your turkeys’ diets, giving them high protein feed, and keeping feed located in one place.
Conclusion
The role of feeding, especially what to feed a turkey, should not be overlooked when raising turkeys. They are large birds with healthy appetites, thus you can sate their appetites by a wide range of different foods.
Commercial Turkey Feed
For the small flock owner, purchasing bags of commercial turkey feed is often the easiest and most cost-effective way to ensure your turkeys are getting the best nutrition. These bags are readily found at local feed stores and are often labeled as gamebird feed.
Custom Mixed Turkey Feed
Mixing your own feed ration can be the best option if you want to focus on a more cost-effective sole ingredient to provide the right nutrients or if you have a larger flock and prepackaged bags of feed are not enough. Additionally, mixing your own ration can be a great way to ensure your flock is receiving only organic or antibiotic-free grains.
Feeding Turkeys for Optimal Growth
If you are raising meat turkeys and need a quick boost of healthy weight gain, there are a variety of feeds you can offer to help get your birds to harvest size in a short amount of time. Turkeys, in general, have a much higher protein requirement than other poultry, especially when they are young and growing.
What Is Fermented Feed?
Fermenting is a way to take advantage of lactic acid fermentation in your commercial or custom mixed turkey rations. It is a simple and highly effective way to make digestion easier on your flock, leading to larger-sized birds with less feed required.
Raising Turkeys on Pasture
With proper pasture management and periodic flock rotation, raising your turkeys on the insects and vegetation, they forage on their own is an excellent way to raise both heritage and meat breeds. Your flock of turkeys will help to keep bugs, flies, ticks, and other insect pests under control.
Feeding and Attracting Wild Turkeys
Having wild turkeys visit your farm is an excellent way to ensure you have plenty of options during turkey hunting season. Attracting wild turkeys can be as simple as clearing out some dense brush and leaving large trees available for roosting or as elaborate as planting a diverse selection of plants to attract them.
Safe Table Scraps for Turkeys
While you should place most table scraps and leftovers from your home into a compost bin, you might be considering feeding it to your turkeys. Providing a little extra food in addition to their normal ration can help save on feed costs while ensuring nothing goes to waste.
Raising baby turkeys
The road to a mature tom (male turkey) or hen (female turkey) begins with raising baby turkeys, or turkey poults. Temperature and brooder setup for raising poults is similar to baby chicks. One big difference is poults need to be warmer than baby chicks during the first week to 10 days.
Raising adult turkeys
Adult turkeys thrive in spacious outdoor areas as a group of at least three to six birds. Some backyard flock raisers allow their turkeys to free-range with a predator-proof fenced area for nighttime protection.
Choosing turkey breeds
Both toms and hens can be raised for meat, with the main difference being bird size. One of your first choices will be whether to raise traditional or heritage turkey breeds.
What do turkeys eat?
Young turkeys need a high-protein diet like Purina ® Game Bird & Turkey Starter feed from birth to 8 weeks old, while your chicks need a chick starter feed, like Purina ® Start & Grow ® feed, from birth to 18 weeks old or so.
Raising turkeys with chickens
Raising turkeys with chickens can be a delicate topic. Some enthusiasts integrate the two species well while others have noted disease issues. Be sure to research comingling in advance and always follow a bird integration plan.
Discover the Diet of a Wild Turkey
Turkeys are common guests on the dinner table, particularly for holiday meals such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but what would wild turkeys eat if they could plan the menu? Learning about turkeys' preferred foods can help birders better understand these birds' foraging habits and where to find turkeys throughout the year when different food sources are available..
Foods They Eat
Wild turkeys are opportunistically omnivorous, which means they will readily sample a wide range of foods, both animal and vegetable. They forage frequently and will eat many different things, including:
How They Eat
Wild turkeys forage constantly, always seeking out a new meal or snack. They are most frequently found feeding for several hours in the early morning just after sunrise, and will also feed more actively several hours before darkness.
How Their Diet Varies
Though turkeys will eat many different things, their diets can be influenced by a number of factors, such as:
Feeding Turkeys
Wild turkeys are not common as backyard birds, but birders who live near wooded areas may find these large game birds foraging near their feeders. To provide an adequate feeding area for wild turkeys:
Feeding and Watering Turkey Poults
When you first buy your turkey poults, you will want to have feeders and waterers set up and filled, ready to go. This way when the poults first arrive, you can dip their beaks in the water and make sure they start eating soon after settling in. 1
Feeding and Watering Turkeys
As the poults grow, you can switch to a five-gallon metal waterer, or a nipple watering system. 2 Make sure your waterer is sturdy and rugged, as large turkeys are quite strong.
Types of Turkey Feed
Use a chick starter or game bird starter for turkey poults. Protein should be at least 28 percent for this starter, and you can feed it for the first eight weeks. 4 After eight weeks, you can switch to a grower feed. It should have at least 20 percent protein (higher than that required for chickens).
Things to consider while choosing the best wild Turkey feed
To get the most suitable feed for your turkey, you need to consider some factors. In this way, you can guarantee an appropriate diet supply for your flock.
Popular Wild Turkey Feed Brands
There are several well-reputed brands that make fantastic food for wild turkeys. Here are the names of those top-rated manufacturers.
Top 6 Best Wild Turkey Feeds Reviews
Here are the reviews of the top wild turkey food supplements you can get. By the time you finish reading it, you can make a confident purchase.
Our Top Pick – Best Wild Turkey Food
After thorough research, our top pick for the best wild turkey feed is the M anna Pro Gamebird Showbird Crumbles. It’s full of nutrients and vitamins to keep your birds healthy and energetic. If you want to encourage muscle growth, this meal is the most remarkable one you can get.
The Bottom Line
Like any other breed, your wild turkeys will need proper nutrients for fabulous growth. If not, you can never expect a healthy bird on your farm.
Your turkeys will eat 64 pounds of feed by 16 weeks
At 16 weeks old your broad breasted turkeys will have eaten 64 pounds of feed each for toms and nearly 46 pounds of feed each for hens.
Heritage turkeys will eat 73 pounds of feed by 28 weeks
A beautiful Blue Slate turkey at our county fair. This is a breeding tom, look to the lower left for the beard!
Broad breasted turkeys have a 2.5 to 1 feed to gain ratio
Broad breasted turkeys will gain weight at a 2.5 to 1 feed to gain ratio.
Turkeys need high protein feed
Start your turkey poults out on a 28% protein feed. Ideally, you’ll be able to find a feed made specifically for turkeys, but that’s not always the case.
Do not feed chicken feed to turkeys
It may be tempting to feed your turkey poults broiler feed or an all flock feed instead of the more expensive turkey feeds, don’t!
