Part 6

Heavy, aluminum, clinch pigeon-wing bands are well adapted for marking young turkeys. The bands can be applied in two ways:

According to the first, the band is first made round and clinched, then slipped over the baby poult's toes and flattened so that it will not come off but at the same time will allow for some growth of the leg. When the poult is about 4 weeks old the band is transferred to the wing by unclinching and inserting it in a hole made in the middle of the web between the first and second joints of the wing and about one-fourth inch from the edge. The band is again clinched and made round so that it is not easily flattened and its lettering can be read easily. According to the second method of application the band is put directly into the wing at hatching time, a thin knife blade being used to make the hole for the band, near the edge of the web and midway between the joints of the wing. Turkey poults, when good sized, may be tattooed on the wing for identification. When the breeding turkeys are selected as they approach maturity, heavy wing bands or heavy permanent leg bands may be used if the birds were not marked at an earlier age.

FEEDING GROWING TURKEYS

Success in turkey raising depends mainly upon the combination of feeds given the young poults. Poor-quality feeds, lack of vitamins, and shortage of proteins, especially if the poults are closely confined, are the more common causes or failures. Some difficulty may be experienced in getting artificially brooded poults to eat, as a young poult is much less active than a chick; but if several small troughs are provided there should be no serious trouble from this cause. Dipping the beaks of backward poults in milk or water, or feeding oatmeal flakes may induce them to eat. Poults brooded with hens, of course, do not need this special attention.

After the poults are from 6 to 8 weeks old they may get some of their living from a good range, but the use of additional feed, preferably a balanced ration of mash and scratch grain, will give better growth and result in early maturity and greater returns above feed cost.

In natural brooding the turkey hen, while confined to the coop, should be fed mash and given some tender green feed. Water and gravel or grit should, of course, be kept before her all the time. In feeding the hen and her brood it is advisable to feed the poults outside the coop and the hen inside in order to prevent the hen from wasting the feed intended for the poults.

For the first 24 to 72 hours after hatching, poults can live without feed, the yolk of the egg which they absorb before hatching being sufficient to maintain them for that length of time. As soon as they are put into the brooder house or with the hen they should be fed. If they are not fed for the first day or two they should be kept in a darkened coop or incubator. However, leaving the poults in a darkened incubator for only 12 to 24 hours and feeding them as soon as they are removed to the brooder seems to be better and is now becoming a general practice.

The first feed may be a mixture of finely chopped, tender green feed, and dry starting mash. Hard-boiled eggs, ground or crumbled, may also be added if desired. This feed should be placed on clean boards or in little feeders made of laths as illustrated in figure 12. It is a good plan to keep the feed before the poults at all times from the very beginning so that the backward poults will learn to eat and their growth rate will not be retarded. Milk, if not too high priced, may be kept before them in easily cleaned crockery, tin, wooden, or graniteware receptacles which the poults cannot get into or contaminate. After the first few days the green feed, unless it is available in the yards, may be spread on top of the mash in the feeders. Turkey poults appear to be easily harmed by eating large quantities of tough, fibrous litter or green feed; hence the selection of a tender green feed is most important.

FEEDING DURING THE FIRST 6 TO 8 WEEKS

The use of a well-balanced, all-mash ration is the simplest and most practical method of feeding poults during the first few weeks of their lives. Many commercial starting mashes are available or good home-mixed mashes may be used with excellent success. The protein, mineral, and vitamin contents are the main points to be considered. Milk in some form is very desirable, dried milk being preferable. Liquid milk is a fair feed, but the dried form is preferable at least for starting rations.

The following starting mashes are recommended for feeding turkey poults during the first 6 to 8 weeks. Mash No. 1, fed without liquid milk, is preferable.

STARTING MASH NO. 1 Parts by weight Yellow corn (ground) 17 Whole oats (pulverized) 15 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent protein) 12 Wheat bran 12 Wheat middlings or shorts 12 Dried milk 10 Alfalfa leaf meal 10 Fish meal (60-percent protein) 10 Cod-liver oil 1-1/2 Salt (fine, sifted) 1/2 ------- Total (crude protein 25 percent; crude fiber 6 percent) 100

STARTING MASH NO. 2 Parts by weight Yellow corn (ground) 33 Wheat middlings or shorts 20 Wheat bran 10 Whole oats (pulverized) 10 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent protein) 10 Alfalfa leaf meal 10 Fish meal (60-percent protein) 5 Cod-liver oil 1-1/2 Salt (fine, sifted) 1/2 ------- Total (crude protein 19 percent; crude fiber 6 percent) 100

Starting mash No. 2 is advised for feeding when liquid skim milk or buttermilk is kept before the poults at all times. Some water is furnished, allowing one dish of water to several of milk. These starting mashes are fed without scratch grain; but water, green feed, and hard grit such as fine gravel, coarse sand, or commercial granite grit should be supplied. The green feed should be chopped fine and scattered on top of the mash in the feeders once or twice daily, allowing all the poults will consume in about half an hour. Tender alfalfa tops, onion tops, lettuce, and tender, short lawn clippings, preferably those containing clover, are all good feeds. Tough green feed should be avoided as it may cause impaction. Green feed as picked by the birds from the yards is most desirable. In that case hand feeding is not necessary. The mash in dry form should be kept before the poults at all times, but only enough mash to last for a day or two should be supplied at one time. About 1 inch of feeder space per poult (including both sides of the feeders) is desirable. This should be increased to 2 or 3 inches after about 2 or 3 weeks. Plans for feeders are shown in figure 12.

FEEDING FROM 6 TO 8 WEEKS TO MARKETING TIME

Rations for growing the poults after the age of 6 to 8 weeks may include mash and whole grain or liquid milk and whole grain. Many turkeys are grown and fattened on grain supplemented with whatever insects and green feed can be obtained from the range. A better plan is to provide sufficient protein and minerals to give normal growth. The minimum feeding advised is to allow each day one liberal feeding of a 20-percent protein mash, or to furnish all the milk the birds will drink with a feeding of whole grain. Either the mash or the liquid milk should be used with liberal feedings of whole grain for fattening in the fall.

Good growing mashes suitable for different conditions may be made as follows:

GROWING MASH NO. 1 Parts by weight Yellow corn or barley (ground) 25 Oats or grain sorghum (ground) 25 Wheat middlings or shorts 20 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent protein) 19 Wheat bran 10 Salt (fine, sifted) 1 ------- Total (crude protein 19 to 21 percent) 100

GROWING MASH NO. 2 Parts by weight Yellow corn or barley (ground) 32 Soybean oil meal 26 Wheat middlings or shorts 15 Wheat bran 10 Oats or grain sorghum (ground) 10 Steamed bonemeal 4 Ground oystershell or limestone 2 Salt (fine, sifted) 1 ------- Total (crude protein 19-1/2 percent) 100

GROWING MASH NO. 3 Parts by weight Yellow corn (ground) 35 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent protein) 15 Wheat bran 10 Wheat middlings or shorts 10 Oats or barley (ground) 10 Alfalfa leaf meal 10 Dried milk 9 Salt (fine, sifted) 1 ------- Total (crude protein 20 to 21 percent) 100

GROWING MASH NO. 4 Parts by weight Yellow corn (ground) 20 Wheat middlings (standard or brown) 15 Oats (finely ground) 15 Wheat bran 10 Alfalfa leaf meal 10 Yellow corn gluten meal 10 Dried milk 10 Meat scrap (50- to 55-percent protein) 5 Steamed bonemeal 2 Ground oystershell or limestone 2 Salt (fine, sifted) 1 ------- Total (crude protein 20 percent; crude fiber 6 percent) 100

These growing mashes are all fed with scratch grains consisting of such grains as corn, wheat, barley, and oats. Corn, wheat, or barley may be used as the only scratch grain except with growing mash No. 4, which should contain from 50 to 75 percent of oats. A good grain mixture may be made of 40 parts of corn, 40 parts of wheat, and 20 parts of oats. Mashes 1 and 2 are for flocks having access to a good green range. In mash No. 2 soybean oil meal, which has proved to be a good source of protein and is also good for fattening, is substituted for meat scrap. Mash No. 3 is a more complete ration and is advised for all conditions where the turkeys do not have an abundance of growing green feed.

Other combinations of grains and byproducts may be used successfully, the exact selection depending largely on availability and cost of feeds. It is best to use at least two grains, and preferably three or four, in the ration. Corn is the grain most commonly used in feeding turkeys. Not more than 60 percent of the entire growing ration should consist of oats or barley or a combination of the two. Yellow corn tends to produce a deep-yellow skin color while white corn, barley, and wheat produce turkeys with light-colored skins.

If the birds have all the milk they will drink along with whole grains, they will consume enough milk to make good growth, if no water is fed. A mixture of 30 percent of corn, 30 percent of oats, 20 percent of wheat, and 20 percent of barley is satisfactory; so is a free choice of several grains. However, the whole-grain and liquid-milk method works well only when the birds are on a good, green range and is practical to use only when milk products are cheap. Some loss from pendulous crops is to be expected when liquid milk is consumed liberally and this is one of the chief objections to its use. The milk receptacles should be set on a wire screen and covered to protect them from the weather and from contamination with droppings. Sanitation is especially important when milk is used.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR FEEDING

Feed should be kept before the birds constantly from hatching to market age. During the first 6 weeks feed starting mash. During the seventh and eighth weeks feed a mixture of equal parts of the starting and growing mashes. From 9 to 12 weeks feed the growing mash. From 13 weeks to marketing feed growing mash and scratch grain. No scratch grain is fed during the first 12 weeks. If a change is made from mash to the whole-grain and liquid-milk method, cut down the mash gradually until the poults learn to drink the milk and to eat the whole grain freely.

Cod-liver oil is necessary in starting rations, but as a rule it is not necessary in a growing ration unless the birds are confined. In that case, about 1 percent should be added to the mash. A good grade of plain cod-liver oil is advised for use in turkey feeds. Fish meal, though an excellent feed, may impart an undesirable flavor to turkey meat. Fish meal and cod-liver oil should be omitted from the fattening ration during the last 8 weeks before the birds are marketed. Birds should not be moved, or feeding arrangements radically changed in the last 6 weeks before marketing.

Feeding the growing mash wet is a common practice in some localities. Like the dry-mash and scratch-grain system, it produces fine-quality turkeys although the labor in feeding may be greater. With this method the turkeys are fed all they will eat of a moist, crumbly mash placed in troughs with sufficient trough space provided to accommodate all the flock at one time. Only as much mash as the birds will clean up in 30 to 60 minutes is fed twice daily. Tail picking seldom occurs during moist-mash feeding if the ration is complete.