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what to feed turkey

by Dr. Scotty Heller Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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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%)
Jul 9 2022

FEED turkeys cracked or whole kernel corn, sunflower seeds, oats, wheat, or non-medicated commercial poultry or turkey rations. FEED turkeys daily by broadcasting food at a rate of 2 large handfuls (or 1/2 cup) per turkey per day.

Full Answer

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.

More items...

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. ...

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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 human food can you feed turkeys?

Turkeys like to eat the growing tips of the grass. They will also enjoy any kitchen or garden scraps: lettuce, tomatoes, sweet corn, summer squash, and so on.

What do you feed live turkeys?

Provide cracked corn, millet, milo, wheat, oats, or other seeds and grains. Wild turkeys are not picky and will readily eat less expensive birdseed mixes or will eat the waste seed scattered beneath bird feeders.

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.

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 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.

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.

What fruit can turkeys eat?

Other planting suggestions include black cherry trees, blueberries, wild grapes and dogwood. Wild turkeys consume cacti fruits in arid areas and like many species of wildlife, will even consume poison ivy berries too.

Do wild turkeys eat vegetables?

Turkeys eat seeds, grains, vegetables, and insects. As omnivores, turkeys mostly eat seeds, grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and insects. But they also eat many surprising foods like fish, snails, and lizards. The birds spend all of their awake time hunting, scratching, pecking, and foraging for food.

Is it OK to feed wild turkeys?

Never deliberately feed wild turkeys to attract them to your property or keep them around. Turkeys can survive very well on natural foods and do not need handouts from people.

Do turkeys stay in your yard?

Keep an eye on them, they will tend to stay around home base, but may wander due to their curious nature and herd mentality. If they see you, they will most likely run to you, and follow you around, so be careful of leading them to your garden area! This is generally how it goes until they reach 3 months.

Will turkeys eat sunflower seeds?

Sunflower, milo, and millet are all enjoyable types of seeds to put out for wild turkeys. Nuts- Acorns are a chosen favorite for wild turkeys. But in the wintertime, acorns can become scarce.

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.

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.

Why should you be mindful about feeding turkey chicks?

While turkeys are disease and sickness-resistant, appropriate feed management may help your birds get off to a good start and stay healthy for the rest of their lives.

Buying commercial turkey feed for turkey chicks

Purchasing bags of commercial turkey feed is typically the simplest and most cost-effective approach for small flock owners to guarantee their turkeys are getting the greatest nutrition. There is no need to worry about providing commercial turkey feed for the turkey chicks that you have at home.

What foods can you give to your turkey chicks?

For the long-term health of your flock, make sure you have a good range of grains and a good mix of minerals and vitamins. Turkeys require more protein than other poultry, and they can also benefit from micronutrients that chickens and ducks may not be able to absorb.

Dried peas

Peas are an excellent substitute for maize in summer diets. They’re one of the first things that turkeys of all ages consume, and they’re high in protein for growing birds. Peas are also a low-cost option for huge quantities of specialized feed.

How to Feed Turkeys for Maximum Growth

If you’re growing meat turkeys and need a rapid boost of healthy weight increase, there are many feeds you may use to assist your birds to reach harvest size quickly. Turkeys, in general, require significantly more protein than other fowl, particularly while they are young and developing.

Can you give fermented feed to baby chicks?

Fermenting your commercial or homemade mixed turkey rations allows you to benefit from lactic acid fermentation. It’s a simple and efficient approach to make digestion easier for your flock, resulting in bigger birds that require less feed.

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