Here are some common snacks often offered to turkeys:
- Watermelon This is an excellent summertime treat to offer your turkeys as it can help keep them hydrated even on the...
- Apples Most turkeys love apples and will enjoy pecking at them cubed or sliced. Seeds should be removed if possible, but...
- Peas This is probably going to be the table scrap your turkeys enjoy the...
How much feed does a Turkey eat per day?
- Season: Turkeys, like all animals, select food sources that are most abundant and easiest to reach. ...
- Geography: A bird's location greatly influences the foods it can find. ...
- Age: Young wild turkeys can forage for themselves very quickly, and the hen will lead her brood to the best available food sources. ...
What are some of the Good Foods in Turkey?
Top 12 Most Popular Turkish Foods (With Photos!)
- Kebap (yes, with a “p”)
- Köfte
- Hamsi (anchovy)
- Zeytinyağlılar (“those with olive oil”)
- İmam bayıldı (or “the Imam fainted” when he found out the cost of all the olive oil)
- Karnıyarık
- Dolma (stuffed)
- Çiğ Köfte (chee kerfte – raw meatballs)
- Mantı
- Kahvaltı (breakfast)
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?
What Do Wild Turkeys Eat
- Acorns
- Beechnuts
- Hawthorns
- Crabapples
- Cherry
- Blackberry
- Dogwood
- Sumac
- Wild grape
- Chestnut tree
What should you not feed a turkey?
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 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.
What kind of treats 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.
What fruits and veggies can turkeys eat?
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 a turkey eat per 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 table scraps?
Types of Turkey Feed 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.
Can turkeys eat cooked rice?
We've all heard the warning: don't feed rice to birds or don't throw rice at weddings because birds will eat it. Fact is, rice cooked or uncooked won't hurt wild birds at all. The rumor is that uncooked rice hits the bird's tummy and then swells causing its stomach to explode. It's simply not true.
Can turkeys eat banana peels?
Bananas, beginning with the peels to the edible part, can be a great reward to provide to your birds. You should not provide them a raw banana peel. They are thought-about edible as soon as boiled and have some advantages to them!
Do turkeys like water?
Water – Every living thing needs water to survive and a reliable water source is key to keeping wild turkeys on your property. Water sources in open areas are preferred.
Is Cracked corn good for wild turkeys?
Cracked Corn-Corn is chocked full of protein and fiber that makes a great wild turkey food. Cracked corn is simply corn that has been dried and broken into pieces. This process makes it easier for wild turkeys to digest.
Do turkeys eat bird seed?
Foods They Eat Seeds and grain, including spilled birdseed or corn and wheat in agricultural fields. Berries, wild grapes, crabapples, and other small fruits. Small reptiles including lizards and snakes. Fleshy plant parts such as buds, roots, bulbs, succulents, and cacti.
Do turkeys like sunflower seeds?
Whether you want to attract turkeys and keep them on your property or wish to provide food and cover for a couple coveys of quail, there are several easy to plant turkey food plots that can be very beneficial. Millets, sorghum, and sunflowers are all easy to plant warm-season annuals.
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...
What is the best turkey to raise for meat?
Many small flock owners raise commercial-type turkeys because of their high breast meat yield, fast growth, and high feed efficiency. The most popular varieties for small flock production are the commercial varieties Broad-Breasted Bronze (also called Bronze) and Broad-Breasted White (also called Large White).
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.
Our Top Pick – Best Turkey Feed
Our top pick for the best turkey feed is Nutrena Country Feeds for turkeys. Not only does it contain the right mix of nutrients, but it is also multipurpose. You can feed it to a variety of birds and even animals as well.
Top Turkey Feed Brands
There are several brands of turkey feed. Here is the list of the most popular turkey feed brands:
8 Best Turkey Feeds
The ideal turkey feed should contain all the required nutrients and also they shouldn’t be heavy on budget. Let’s take a look at the top turkey feeds.
How to Choose the Best Turkey Feed
Before buying turkey feed, there are a few things you need to consider. Of course, the price will be a significant factor, but you also need to consider the nutrients your turkeys need. Have a look at some of the things you need to remember when buying turkey feed.
How to Know you have the Correct Feed
Most people tend to think birds such as turkeys can eat almost anything. That isn’t entirely true since some foods could be detrimental to the health of your turkeys, especially their chicks.
The Bottom Line
Like any other birds, Turkeys need all the nutrients they can get to grow into strong, healthy adults. Whether you are keeping them as pets, for food or as gamebirds, you need to ensure they have all the nutrients they need by giving them the best turkey feed.
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).
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.