How to Raise a Turkey
A turkey can be much more challenging to raise than certain other animals. You should always do your research before agreeing to take care of any kind of animal, even one as common as a cat. Animals are complex creatures and each comes with their own unique set of needs and requirements for proper care. Here is what's required for turkeys. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Turkey
- Pen (fenced in area)
- Turkey food
- Water
- Litter
- Heat lamp (if in cold climate)
Instructions
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Make sure you have a proper pen for the turkey. The turkey will need at least a space of 10 feet by 10 feet. You can make it a little larger, but don't make it too large as turkeys get confused quite easily. The pen needs to have a water dish, a hanging feeder and a litter area.
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Second you will need to understand how to feed your turkey. Turkey's are quite dumb and have been know to drown in a small amount of water or starve to death because they ate their litter instead of their food. To make sure this doesn't happen, you will need to cover up the litter area until the turkey has learned where the food and water dishes are located. Make sure that the water dish isn't too full so the bird doesn't drown. Turkeys eat corn, oats and wheat. Make sure you grind it all up into a grainy substance first.
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Know what precautions to take for the turkey to be safe. There is a disease you must be aware of called blackhead that is fatal to turkeys. Chickens have it and can give it to turkeys, so you must isolate them from any chickens. After you have the pen set up, make sure you keep it sanitized and as clean as possible. Coccidiosis is a disease turkeys can get when their litter area is not kept clean.
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Pay attention to the attitudes of the turkeys. Some turkeys can be aggressive toward other turkeys and can peck them to death. Those turkeys will need a cage of their own. It is said that turkeys enjoy the company of others, but if this happens you may have to isolate the offending turkey.
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If you are raising a turkey to eat than it should be ready at 6 to 8 months of age. If you want the turkey a little fatter than you can wait another month or two. If you are raising your turkey to be a pet, then disregard this step.
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Tips & Warnings
Some turkeys have been said to make friends with other farm animals. If you allow this to happen, make sure you keep the turkey away from the chickens.
If you don't live in a warm climate, get a heat lamp for your turkeys. Turkeys don't do well in cold climates.
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The Roddys will be raising their own turkey this year and attempting to provide, by farming, our own Thanksgiving dinner.( If it doesn't go well, we will be ordering Chinese take-out!)
