Barbecue sauce, blue cheese or ranch dressing One of my favorite things to eat at a fair are the giant, smoky, spiced turkey legs. They're so flavorful and fun to snack on while you walk around enjoying the festivities. Swap option: If you can't find turkey legs, you can use chicken legs instead.
Full Answer
What is the best food for turkeys?
For adult turkeys, you can use a 16 – 20% protein feed. Most feed companies are, once again, going to brand this as a game bird feed. Gamebird and Turkey are pretty much interchangeable when it comes to commercially available feeds. This food will be the staple of your turkey’s diet for the rest of it’s life.
What should I Feed my 5 week old Turkey?
If at 5 weeks old you still have half a bag of high protein turkey starter, just feed it till it is gone and switch when you buy a new bag. At about 13 weeks or so, your turkeys can start eating a regular turkey or game bird feed. At this stage, you can start feeding a lower percentage protein.
How do you attract wild turkeys to your yard?
Native nut-bearing and fruit-bearing bushes, shrubs, and small trees help attract turkeys, quail, and deer to the area as they will feed, rest and nest in areas where food is abundant. The Wild Plum matures as a small tree.
What foods shouldn’t you feed turkeys?
Regardless of how abundant these scraps may be around your farm, these are some of the most common foods to avoid feeding turkeys: These legumes contain naturally occurring insecticides called phytohaemagglutinin which can be dangerous to turkeys, even if fed in small amounts.
What is the best thing to feed turkeys?
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.
What should I feed my meat turkeys?
Rape and alfalfa, as well as lettuce, cabbage, and most any other garden greens, all provide good food for turkeys. As much as 25 percent of the ration can be greens, which can enable you to compete price-wise with the commercial grower.
How do you raise a fair turkey?
House set-up and pre-brood for show turkeysAllow two square feet per poult for the first four weeks of age.Allow at least six square feet per poult from four to eight weeks of age.Allow a minimum of seven square feet per hen from eight weeks to show.Allow a minimum of ten square feet per tom from eight weeks to show.More items...
What do you feed white turkeys?
Adult turkeys will get as much as 50% of their intake from pasture or range grass. Range grass is grass that is four to six inches long. 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 turkeys like eating?
Preferred foods of wild turkeys Generally, turkeys thrive in and near mature forests that produce abundant amounts of mast, the fruits and nuts of woody plants. In the spring, they tend to eat leaves and grasses, and in the fall, they feed more on fruits, berries, seeds and insects.
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.
How much feed does it take to raise a turkey?
Actually, the answer depends on the kind of turkey you raise and how big you want them to get! A broad breasted turkey will eat 64 pounds of feed by 16 weeks and 101 pounds of feed by 20 weeks. A heritage breed turkey will eat 73 pounds of feed by 28 weeks.
Do turkeys need grit?
Turkeys need grit! Turkeys will eat their carcass weight in grit by the time you process them. Starting Day 2 in the brooder, your turkey poults need access to grit. Grit comes in multiple sizes so make sure you're feeding the appropriate size for your birds.
Do turkeys need a barn?
Turkeys are kept inside barns for a few different reasons. It's difficult to rank them in the order of importance, because they are all pretty important! Turkeys are kept inside to: Protect them from predators.
What snacks do turkeys like?
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.
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.
Can turkeys eat pumpkin?
It's safe to feed raw pumpkins to your backyard flock - including chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese. Your birds may peck a whole pumpkin open, but it's best to break it up in pieces.
How long do you let a turkey rest after butchering?
Let it rest for 20 minutes before you carve. That's all there is to it – besides cooking up a batch of mashed potatoes and a saucepot of gravy to go along with your delicious bird. Now that you know how to butcher a turkey, you'll be able to do it every fall on your farm.
Can turkeys eat scrambled eggs?
In the spring, when the turkeys start laying, I offer oyster shell free choice. They also enjoy fresh greens, pumpkin, and extra chicken eggs scrambled.
What is the best age to butcher a turkey?
What Is The Best Age To Butcher A Turkey?The best age to butcher a Broad Breasted Turkey is 16-20 weeks, for heritage breed turkeys it's 24-28 weeks.If you are looking for growth, broad breasted turkeys are your top choice.More items...
Do turkeys eat alfalfa pellets?
Adding timothy hay pellets can also provide roughage without a lot of calories. As these birds are bred to be large, food intake should be restricted with extra greens (pasture, alfalfa, grain sprouts, lettuce, cabbage, swiss chard) and roughage. Turkeys also love fruit, but it should be given in limited quantities.
What to feed a turkey?
Here are some common snacks often offered to turkeys: 1 Watermelon#N#This is an excellent summertime treat to offer your turkeys as it can help keep them hydrated even on the hottest days. All parts of the watermelon are safe to feed your turkeys, including the flesh, seeds, and rind. 2 Apples#N#Most turkeys love apples and will enjoy pecking at them cubed or sliced. Seeds should be removed if possible, but small amounts of seed ingested on occasion are not dangerous to your birds. Applesauce is a great snack option for young birds as well! 3 Peas#N#This is probably going to be the table scrap your turkeys enjoy the most! Peas are a healthy snack to offer your birds and can be offered dried, cooked, or frozen. You can even mix peas into your regular feed ration for extra protein! 4 Spinach#N#If you really want to offer spinach to your turkeys as an occasional treat or snack, doing so in small amounts is fine. Spinach can block the absorption of calcium, leading to bone density issues over the long term if fed in abundance.
What is the best food for turkeys?
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. This can be especially useful in the winter, so corn is common in most winter rations.
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.
How much protein do turkeys need?
As turkeys grow, their protein requirements change. Young turkeys require around 28% protein from the start to ensure they grow quickly and safely.
What do turkeys eat?
Their exact diet depends on the season and available food and their age and stage in life. Turkeys eat insects, snails, slugs, lizards, snakes, and grasshoppers. They enjoy nuts, acorns, seeds (including many wild weed seeds), corn, grain, and peas. They eat berries, flowers, bulbs, foliage, and fruit.
How to attract turkeys to your farm?
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. Native nut-bearing and fruit-bearing bushes, shrubs, and small trees help attract turkeys, quail, and deer to the area as they will feed, rest and nest in areas where food is abundant.
What to plant in a turkey area?
Additionally, consider seeding the area with ryegrass, oats, sorghum, or corn to provide a well-rounded and lush place for turkeys and other wildlife to visit. This helps ensure you have a flock of wild turkeys frequenting and even nesting on your property.
How to decide on a turkey for a show?
Look at your show quality birds one last time and make a decision based on overall frame size (length, width, depth), fleshing, conformation, and breast taper of the turkey. Be sure to eliminate birds from your options with defects that will cause you to be disqualified from the show.
What temperature should water be for turkeys?
Water temperature should be 80ºF for the first 3 days. Bird performance will be negatively impacted if the poults become too warm or cold. Keep fresh air in the houses but avoid cold drafty air on the poults. Time spent in the turkey house is a major key to the success of your project.
How to keep birds from getting cool draft?
Avoid creating cool draft on the birds. Look at litter condition - clean house completely out if not done at three weeks of age. Add 3-4 additional bags of litter if the house was cleaned out at 3 weeks of age (depending on litter condition). Use your best judgment…. .
How many square feet per Purina poult?
This allows the dealer to plan the order and ensure fresh, quality, feed throughout the grow-out period. Allow two square feet per poult for the first four weeks of age.
How long before feeding birds can you add feed to feeders?
12 hours prior to receiving birds, add feed to feeders. Prepare vitamin/electrolyte solution and place in waterer.
Do turkeys eat as much as they can?
The more the birds are stimulated, the better performance you gain at the show. Turkeys do not know they are supposed to eat as much as they can and grow as big as they can. You (along with the help of family members) have to make them do it.
Do Tom turkeys mature?
Toms - continue to light houses - Tom turkeys will not sexually mature at the rate of hens
What is the best feed for turkeys?
Besides commercial feeds that contain high levels of protein, turkeys can be supplied with alfalfa hay as their main feed. In contrast, inadequate or excess protein may be detrimental to the health of turkeys.
How to feed a turkey?
1. Grazing on pasture. Intake from pasture or range grass (grass from 4 – 6 inches long) accounts for 50% of their diets. Wild turkeys often forage near wooded areas. Therefore, you should provide them with ground feeding areas or platform feeders which is large, low enough to accommodate these large birds.
What do turkeys eat?
In the wild, turkeys forage regularly and will eat many various kinds of natural food such as insects, fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, plants, and small vertebrate animals. Turkeys often mainly rely on acorns during the winter season because other alternative food sources may be rare.
Why do meat birds eat rations?
For meat birds, rations are typically formulated to achieve good health and maximum productivity but not too fast to cause any health-related issue.
Can turkeys forage in pasture?
Some farmers allow turkeys to forage freely through pastures and fields or sprinkle vegetable scraps, or toss a handful of mealworms in order to encourage them to forage. A simple tip you need to keep in mind is that your turkey can access fresh, clean, and available water at all times.
Do turkeys need more protein than chickens?
Turkeys can be a fun addition to a backyard flock if you are looking for company, nutritious meat, and eggs. Generally, a turkey needs more protein than a normal chicken. Check out my article below to know about turkey feed and effective methods to raise a fat and healthy flock. 1.
Do market birds need high energy?
Grow market birds require high energy level feeds. However, when feeding potential breeding stock, in order to avoid body fat in birds, the feed should contain a large amount of fiber. When it comes to breeding turkeys, diets with high protein will negatively affect the hatchability of eggs.
What is the best feed for wild turkeys?
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.
Why should you consider the cost of turkey food?
You should always consider the food’s cost because you don’t want to go bankrupt for feeding your birds! Turkeys are an energetic breed, and they need an optimal amount of rations. Hence, you need to get something that will keep them well-fed and won’t burn holes in your pocket!
What is Wagner's bird food?
From turkeys to any wild bir d, this Wagner’s bird food is one of the most excellent ones you can get out there. It is formulated with cracked corn to keep your turkeys well-fed all the time.
How much protein is in turkey feed?
To ensure top-notch muscle buildup, this feed contains 28% protein. Therefore, your turkeys will be growing fast and become strong, which is our topmost priority.
Do turkeys need a diet?
Turkeys are gorgeous creatures, and to maintain their optimal growth, you need to ensure a proper diet. Otherwise, your flocks will grow up in poor health conditions, and you don’t want that!
Do wild turkeys need nutrients?
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.
Is turkey supplement good for birds?
This is a complete supplement that will keep the bird well-fed all the time. In this way, the turkeys will always be at their best behavior, which is pretty impressive.
What is the best feed for a turkey?
The best feed for turkeys is a 28% unmedicated turkey starter for day old poults, which will be gradually transitioned to a 12% unmedicated maintenance ration for adult turkeys.
What is 12% turkey feed?
Once your turkeys get to adult size, they are fine with a 12% feed as a maintenance ration. 12% non medicated poultry feed should be really easy to find at most any feed store. Notice that 12% is a maintenance ration, not a breeding/laying ration.
What is the best feed for a day old poult?
For your day old poults, use 28% feed or a gamebird starter which will be a 30% feed. Poults need a much higher protein feed than most other young birds and the appropriate day old poult feeds are noticeably more expensive than what would be fine for chickens.
What is starter feed for poults?
As the name “starter” suggests, it is the first feed your new poults need. It will be a bit higher in protein than the grower and come in smaller pieces, called a crumble, so it’s easier for the poults to eat.
Does turkey feed change as it grows?
Protein % needed will change as turkey grows. You’ll notice in the table at the beginning of the article, the percent protein in the feed changes as the poults grow. This is normal for any feed ration.
Can you use turkey starter instead of broiler feed?
Sometimes it can be hard to source a higher protein feed for your poults, and it’s easy to think well what about using a broiler feed, instead? Short answer: Don’t do it. The only acceptable substitute for turkey starter is gamebird starter.
Do turkeys need different feeds?
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. What is the best feed for turkeys, based on their age, and when do turkeys need switched to a different feed?
What to eat at a fair?
Turkey Rub. One of my favorite things to eat at a fair are the giant, smoky, spiced turkey legs. They're so flavorful and fun to snack on while you walk around enjoying the festivities. Swap option: If you can't find turkey legs, you can use chicken legs instead.
How long to refrigerate turkey legs?
Repeat with the remaining 3 turkey legs then refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.
