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Broilers – poultry raised specifically for meat production, accordingly distinguished by its precocity. Broiler meat is especially tender and juicy because it is young. Most popular for growing at home turkey boilers crosses: BIG-6, universal, bronze-708, BYuT-8, hidon.
There are no special external differences between broiler turkeys and regular turkeys. Broilers differ in meat characteristics and some maintenance features.
Requirements for keeping broiler turkeys at home
How to raise broiler turkeys at home so that they reach slaughter age productively? They should be provided with the necessary conditions of maintenance, care and feeding.
Turkey poultry
Most often, turkeys are sensitive to temperature conditions, so the first condition: the room must be warm - not lower than 20 degrees.For the same reason, the floor should be covered with hay, sawdust, straw or other suitable material.
All broiler turkeys are afraid of high humidity and drafts: when organizing a turkey poultry, this must be taken into account. In order for fresh air to enter the room, you need to take care of a ventilation system, which you can do yourself.
Some breeds and crosses of broiler turkeys are light-loving; additional lighting will have to be installed for them.
Turkeys value personal space. If another bird encroaches on the broiler’s territory, fights cannot be avoided. Therefore, in one room for 40 turkeys there should not be more than 5 turkeys. If the keeping is in an aviary, the ideal situation would be when there is one broiler male and two turkeys in one place. The area of the turkey poultry should be calculated based on the requirement: square meter per broiler.
To avoid infection of turkeys at home, the poultry house must be kept clean. Before broilers are first introduced, and then every spring, the room is disinfected with hot water with the addition of caustic soda. The litter needs to be changed periodically.
Place for walking broilers at home
If turkeys at home eat a lot and move little, obesity cannot be avoided, as a result of which the quality of the meat will suffer. To prevent this from happening, you need to organize a spacious walking area. The pasture should be seeded with perennials (clover, alfalfa) grass, then during the walk, the turkeys will receive fortified food. Part of the walking area can be sown with useful annual greens: peas, oats and others. This will also reduce feed costs.
You can walk broiler turkeys at home not only in the warm season, but also in winter (not in frost or strong wind). In cold weather, it is advisable to cover the ground tightly with straw. The place for walking broilers should be provided with a canopy that will protect the turkeys from rain and scorching sun. Also, a high fence should be installed around the perimeter of the pasture so that broilers cannot fly over it and escape.
Perches
Broiler turkeys at home sleep on perches, so they need to be built correctly. It is best to install perches in the back of the house in the form of an amphitheater: each subsequent row should be at least 50 cm higher than the previous one. The bottom row should be 80 cm from the ground. The length of one perch is made at the rate of 45 cm per bird.
Perch bars should be thick enough to support the heavy weight of several broiler turkeys. The ends of the logs should be rounded. It is necessary to ensure that the perches are smooth, without splinters or cracks.
Nests
Many novice farmers are interested in the question: do broiler turkeys lay eggs at home? Of course they do. Only usually females are already allowed to be eaten for meat by the time they reach reproductive age. For broilers, egg production is not the main task. Nevertheless, nests in a turkey house are necessary, at a minimum, for breeding broiler turkey poults.
The nest should be located in the quietest, darkest and warmest place in the turkey poultry. To ensure dryness and warmth, bedding is placed at the bottom of the nest. Its condition must be constantly monitored: refill if necessary, clean and change periodically.
The size of the nest should be such that it can comfortably accommodate up to 5 broiler turkeys (usually 60*60 cm). It is better to build a sloped roof over the nest - this way turkeys will not sit on it.
The type of socket for installation is selected depending on:
- poultry house area: one or more tiers;
- number of laying hens: individual or nest designs;
- financial capabilities: purchased from suppliers or made independently.
Feeders and drinkers
Properly selected equipment for feeding and watering broiler turkeys at home is the key to their rapid growth and health.
When choosing feeders, you should be guided by the following rules:
- The use of the feeder must be safe for broiler turkeys being raised;
- for broiler turkey poults, it is necessary to choose feeders made of rubber or silicone, since chicks are born with soft beaks that can easily be injured on hard edges or the bottom;
- Galvanized feeders should not be used for dairy products, otherwise broiler turkeys may become poisoned as a result of a chemical reaction;
- choose feeders that provide each broiler with at least 40 cm of personal space, otherwise the turkeys will start fighting (there are cases of death).
- There should be different containers for different feeds. For dry ones, bunker-type feeders are convenient, for feeding - sectional ones, for grass or hay - mesh ones.
- Feeders should be installed at a level equal to the height of the broiler's back.
- It is necessary to further strengthen the structure so that strong and heavy broilers cannot overturn the feeder and be left without food.
Like any living creature, a turkey at home cannot survive without water. The fluid requirement of broilers is higher than that of other poultry. Therefore, in the access area of turkeys, fresh and clean water should be available in drinking bowls around the clock.
The best of the drinkers is the nipple one: firstly, the water in it is always clean and not stagnant; secondly, the broiler turkey receives exactly as much water as it needs; thirdly, water does not accumulate anywhere, which means that turkeys will not be able to spill or splash it. It is better not to install this type of drinking bowl for very small turkey poults - for them this design will be quite complex. A vacuum drinker is ideal for broiler turkeys at home.
Just as with feeders, each broiler turkey should have its own place at the watering hole - at least 4 cm.
If simple drinking bowls made from improvised means are installed in the turkey poultry, you should constantly monitor the availability of water in them and its purity. It is also necessary to ensure the safety of broiler turkeys when using the drinker: to prevent the possibility of the container falling or liquid spilling.
Instead of open containers, it is better to install a vacuum drinker - you can easily make it yourself at minimal cost.
The principle of operation and the manufacturing process of a vacuum drinker, see the video
Feeders and drinkers need to be washed, periodically disinfected and, if necessary, replaced.
Caring for broiler turkeys at home
Broiler turkey poults at home require careful, proper care, only then will they grow quickly and be healthy.
Main conditions:
- temperature: not lower than +35 degrees;
- proper nutrition;
- 24-hour lighting;
- absence of dampness and drafts;
- prevention of infectious diseases: ensure that the temperature of drinking water is not lower than 25 degrees Celsius for newborns, and room temperature for slightly older turkey poults; make sure that the turkey poults do not get wet; so that the litter is clean and dry; monitor the general condition and appearance of broilers;
- ensuring the safety of turkey chicks at home (according to statistics, the most common cause of death of turkey chicks is considered to be injury);
- providing opportunities for walks in the fresh air.
Broiler turkeys at home are susceptible to infection by parasites: periodons, lice eaters, ticks, fleas, bedbugs and others. Arthropods can live on feathers, skin and inside.
How to determine the presence of parasites in broilers
- The turkey begins to clean its feathers and itch, because it is bothered by severe irritation on the skin where the parasites are located.
- The broiler's productivity decreases, while its appetite increases.
- Visual confirmation: Some parasites may be visible when examining a broiler.
Infected turkeys pose a risk to other healthy broilers as the parasites can be passed from one host to another.
Prevention of parasite infection in broiler turkeys at home
Preventing the appearance of parasites is easier than getting rid of them, so do not neglect the following recommendations:
- Inspect broiler turkeys at home for the presence of parasites. For this purpose, several broilers are selected from different parts of the turkey poultry farm. During the inspection procedure, there should be enough light so that even small parasites can be seen. The head, legs and anus of broilers should be examined.
- Periodically, you should check all the structures of the turkey poultry house, as well as the walls and floor, for the presence of blood-sucking parasites, as they can be found in bedding, crevices, and under droppings. To determine whether there are parasites in the flooring or dust, you need to put the material in a white container and inspect it there.
- To identify parasites that attack turkeys at night, the test will have to be carried out in the dark.
- In order for broiler turkeys to clean themselves at home, you need to install a box in the turkey poultry, into which half-and-half sand and ash are poured.
Prevention of escapes of broiler turkeys
Domestic turkeys can fly at speeds of 20 km/h because they are bred by crossing with wild turkeys, which can fly at up to 90 km/h. In addition, turkeys are freedom-loving.
To prevent broilers from escaping, you can use the following methods:
- Trimming the feathers on the wings.
- Fastening the wings to one another (with tape or rope).
- Cauterization of wings in newborn turkey poults.
- Walking broiler turkeys in a fenced area.
Feeding broiler turkeys at home
Since the main goal of raising broiler turkeys at home is to obtain high-quality meat, it is very important to properly organize the feeding process. Each breed or cross of broilers will have its own feeding scheme. Let's look at the general principles.
Feeding turkey poults at home is required every two hours. Only born chicks are given a mash of crushed millet and eggs. The next day, grated carrots are added to the food, and on the third day, greens (they should be chopped very finely).
The freshness of the food should be controlled: wet food should be prepared no earlier than 20 minutes before feeding and removed half an hour after the food is distributed.
Young broiler turkeys at home are given food 4 times a day. Food should be balanced, fortified and of high quality. The diet includes special supplements. For better grinding of food, add fine gravel with limestone.
Adult birds are fed: grain, vegetables, grass (fresh - during its growth season and hay - in winter), meal, cake, dairy products. As a vitamin or mineral supplement they give: chalk, fish oil, eggshells, yeast, shell.
Some farmers think that the more food you give turkeys, and the more caloric the food, the faster the broiler will grow, and the sooner it can be used for meat. This is wrong. With such an organization of feeding, broiler turkeys at home become obese, which has a bad effect on the meat.
Conclusion
Raising broiler turkeys at home is an ideal way to quickly obtain juicy, young, tender meat.
