Feeding Turkeys

We’ve learned that male turkeys (toms) can grow from cute little fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand birds to 40+ pound not-so-cute big birds in about 19-20 weeks. How do they do that?

First, a lot of this has to do with the genetics and breeding of the birds. Katie and Bart use a breed called a “Broad Breasted White” turkey. These turkeys have been bred specifically to grow a lot of breast muscle, relatively quickly.

The second part of this growth is all about feeding and nutrition. Katie and Bart’s birds are never force fed, but they always have access to as much food as they want to eat.

(Photo courtesy of Katie Olthoff, On the Banks of Squaw Creek.)

All the turkeys will learn how to eat from the automatic feeding system, but the poults (baby turkeys) are also given supplemental feeders (like the one pictured above) during their first few weeks of life. This gives the poults plenty of options and access to food while they are learning how to eat, drink, and act like birds.

After a few weeks, the supplemental feeders are taken out, and the turkeys are left with the automatic feeding system, shown in the photo below.

(Photo courtesy of Katie Olthoff, On the Banks of Squaw Creek.)

Feeding turkeys is a serious business. The food changes seven times over the course of the birds’ lives. It is always a corn- and soybean-based food, but has different levels of extra vitamins and minerals added, depending on the stage of growth the turkeys are in. Katie and Bart have a nutritionist that evaluates the food and will adjust the vitamin and mineral content based on the birds’ ages, growth rates, and the nutritional value of the corn and soybeans used in that particular batch of food.

The texture of the food also changes as the birds get older. You can see in the photos above that the poults have a finely ground food, sort of like bread crumbs. The birds are small, and can’t handle food in larger sizes. As the turkeys get older, they are gradually switched from the crumbs to a larger pellet.

Here’s how the automatic feeding system works…

Each barn has a feed storage silo outside. The bottom of the silo is connected to the turkey barn with a pipe that comes in just under the barn’s roof.

That pipe goes across the ceiling in the front of the barn, and has a branch that drops down into a silver box (hopper) at the beginning of every chain of feeders. In the photo below, you can see one hopper attached to a chain of feeders (the red and green containers sitting on the ground), and another chain of feeders in the background.

When the feeders on the ground get low on feed, the hopper automatically dispenses more feed out, down the length of the pipe that connects the chain, and into each feeder container. While this process is completely automated, Bart checks every feeder, every hopper, and each storage silo every day to make sure they are working right.

Water is also very important for these birds. The automatic water system works in a similar way to the feed, with chains of water containers stretching the length of the barn. Bart also checks every water container every day to make sure they are working right. Before the water gets to the turkeys, there is a place where Bart can add probiotics, chlorine, or occasionally antibiotics to the water. Probiotics are used in the very young birds to help with their digestion (they are given every other day until the birds are 5 days old). Chlorine is occasionally added to the water to keep bacteria from growing in the water lines or in the water containers.

Antibiotics are used if the birds get sick, and after consulting with a veterinarian. Antibiotics are very expensive, and are not used unless they are necessary. Just like in cattle and pigs, every antibiotic has a withdrawal time (a specific length of time between the last dose of antibiotic and the time the animal can go to market). If Katie and Bart do need to use antibiotics to keep their turkeys healthy, they keep very strict records of which antibiotic was used, what dose, which birds, and when it was given.

In the photo below, the row of red and green containers is the food containers; the two rows of green and white containers are the water containers.

The automatic feeding systems in the finisher barns have the same set up as the ones in the brooder barns. The only difference is that the feed containers are larger for the larger birds, and are held up off the floor a little so it is easier for the birds to reach.

Each barn has its own feed storage silo outside. The 20,000 poults in the brooder barn will eat up to 3 tons of food per day. As the birds get bigger, they will eat more. Once the birds are close to 20 weeks old and 40 pounds, one flock of 20,000 birds (2 finisher barns) will eat up to 12 tons (that’s 24,000 pounds!) of feed every day. Talk about a grocery bill! (That’s a little over 1 pound of food for each bird every day.)

To keep up with that demand, each finisher barn has two storage silos outside. These silos are refilled 2-3 times every week.

You’ll notice that I didn’t mention anything about hormones. That’s because turkeys are never fed (or injected with) hormones. They don’t need any hormones to help them grow faster – they grow plenty fast on their own! In fact, it is illegal to use hormones of any kind in turkeys. So rest assured, even if the label on your turkey doesn’t specifically say it, there are no hormones given to any turkeys in the United States, ever.

What surprised you the most about how turkeys are fed? Will this change how you shop for turkey in the grocery store?

Don’t forget – June is National Turkey Lover’s Month! Stop by the National Turkey Federation to get more information about turkeys, and to browse lots of turkey recipes!

For more turkey information, check out these articles:

• Brooder Houses for Turkeys
• Turkeys in the Finisher Barn
• Grown-Up Turkeys
• Feeding Turkeys
• Ventilation in Turkey Barns
• Cleaning Turkey Barns