Turkey Production At A Glance

Turkey Production At A Glance

Introduction

Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are native to the New World. They have been

regarded as traditional thanksgiving and Christmas fare since the Pilgrims hunted

wild turkeys to grace their tables on the first Thanksgiving Day. Although

commercial turkey production does not occur in Botswana, the consumption of

turkey meat has increased over time in the past six years as epitomised by

increased imports from overseas via the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Recent

report (April 2005 to March 2006) estimated turkey meat consumption in

Botswana to be about 536.5 tons. This represents 1.3% of total annual chicken

meat. The interest in turkey rearing has increased substantially in Botswana,

hence the need to prepare this manuscript for use by poultry extension agents to

guide turkey hobbyists, as well as, prospective farmers on turkey management.

Housing

The main reason to provide housing for birds is to provide protection from the

weather. Housing also provides protection from predators, reduces the spread of

pathogens and provides protection from vandalism. Additionally, housing enables

the separation of birds according to age for easy management. In the case of

small flocks, simple structures may be built using locally available material. For

commercial production, turkeys are raised under intensive conditions similar to

those of broiler chickens.

Factors to consider in constructing a commercial turkey house include:

Orientation: The orientation of the building with respect to the sun and

prevailing winds is important. An east-west orientation is preferable as it

minimizes heat gain in summer. The house must be constructed in such a

manner that it takes into account the prevailing winds to enhance drying of

manure or litter.

Width: The house should be no more than 10 m wide. Widths greater than

10 m have difficulties with ventilation, especially if open-sided houses are

used for rearing.

Length: Any length could be used.

Distance from other poultry houses: The house should be a reasonable

distance from other houses to minimize disease spread. Given shortage of

farmland in Botswana, a minimum distance of about 10 m is recommended

though longer distances would be ideal.

Topography: The topography should be high and level with no abrupt

slopes. A relatively level area requires less site preparation, thus reducing

construction costs.

Drainage: A porous soil and gentle slope will enhance dryness.

Floors: Solid floors are preferred over earth floors as they are durable and

easy to clean disinfect.

Type of house: Poultry houses can be open-sided (rely on natural

ventilation) or environmentally controlled (temperature and ventilation are

controlled). Open-sided houses are common in Botswana because they are

cheaper to construct and maintain than environmental houses.

Preparing for Arrival of Poults

The poultry house should be cleaned and disinfected and allowed to rest for at

least 7 days prior to poult placement. Also, equipment such as feeders, drinkers,

brooders etc. should be cleaned and disinfected. Fresh litter (straw, wood

shavings etc.) should be spread over the floor area and brooder guards/rings set

up. Wood shavings are the common litter used in Botswana. Litter provides

insulation from the floor and will soak up moisture from the droppings. It also

helps to prevent damage to the birds’ legs due to slipping on slippery surfaces.

The depth of the litter should be 8 to 10 cm. Feed and clean water should be

provided before poults’ arrival. Feed may be placed in flat surfaces such as egg

flats or box lids to encourage poults to feed. The producer should introduce

poults to water by dipping their beaks in the water immediately they are placed

on the floor. Poults may be encouraged to drink and feed by hanging bright 100

watt bulb 1 m above litter level. Furthermore, poults may be encouraged to eat

by placing feed in small silver-coloured trays, and to drink by placing coloured

marbles in the drinkers. The heat source should be on 24 hours before the arrival

of poults.

Brooding

The term brooding refers to the period of the poult’s life extending from oneday-

old to about 6 weeks of age. Poults are usually placed in brooder rings for

the first 5 to 6 days. From 7 days to 5 weeks of age depending on the sex of the

bird, they are given from 0.9 to 1.4 m2 (1 to 1.5 square feet) of floor space per

bird. During this time, the poult needs supplemental heat, special starter feed,

and protection from exposure to disease. One way of reducing disease exposure

is separately locating the brooding phase from growing and reproductive phases.

Sources of heat

In Botswana, the main sources of supplemental heat to poults are gas brooder

stoves, mbaula that uses coal and to lesser extent paraffin stoves. Brooder

stoves provide poults with supplemental heat from time of placement until they

are relocated to growing facilities. The stove is suspended from the roof and can

be raised or lowered as needed.

Brooder Guards/Rings

In the early stages of brooding, it is ideal to confine newly hatched poults to a

smaller space to keep poults close to brooder stoves for heat, feed and water for

the first 5 to 7 days of age or longer in colder weather. Brooder guards usually

consist of a 30 to 45 cm wide strip of hard board which has been cut to an

appropriate length in order to form a ring 2.4 to 3.6 m in diameter. It is set up in

the pen where the chicks are placed, and is removed once they are a few days

old and are starting to jump out. The size of the guards is increased as poults

get older to give them enough room to move about or to move away from

brooder as temperature gets higher than they can tolerate.

Brooder Stove Arrangement and Temperature

Usually, each brooder has 3 drinkers and at least 3 feeders. As mentioned

earlier, to encourage day-old poults (DOP) to start eating and drinking, 3 to 5

clean egg flats or some news papers may be placed around each brooder with

feed sprinkled on each one. Drinkers are placed next to the feeders.

Depending on the season, brooders should be adjusted in such a way that it

provides a comfortable environment for the poults. The height of the brooder

stoves may need to be increased slightly each day after 2 days of age. Brooders

in curtain type buildings do not have to be raised often, but need to be adjusted

to keep poults from roosting on them and burning their foot pads.

The temperature for DOPs should be around 35 °C, as DOPs need plenty of heat.

This temperature should be reduced by 1 °C every 3 days until a temperature of

21 °C is reached. Temperatures are used only as guides because the best way to

adjust the temperature for the comfort of the poults is to observe their behaviour

(Figure 1). As shown in Figure 1, if poults crowd near the heat source and chirp

loudly, the temperature is too low. If they move well away from the heat source

and start panting, they are too hot. Ideally they should be fairly quiet and spread

evenly under and around the heat source.

Lighting

Constant lighting at a fairly high intensity (20-50 lux) is required to aid poults in

getting used to their new environment as well as to find the water and feed.

Light intensity is lowered to 5 lux after about 5-7 days. At this light intensity it is

nearly impossible to read a news paper in the shelter. The lower light intensity

helps to minimize cannibalism.

After 3-7 days, lighting programs that reduce the number of hours of light a day

during the growing period can be used to reduce the incidence of various

metabolic diseases and lame birds when raising broilers or turkeys. Reducing

daylength to 8-12 hours per day, even having lights on only during natural

daylight hours should help reduce the number of lame and diseased birds. If

continuous light is used, an hour of darkness should be provided daily to prevent

crowding and piling up in corners (causing suffocation) when a power failure

occurs. Birds raised for egg-laying purposes should be provided a maximum of 8-

10 hours of light daily until they are sexually mature and produce eggs, which is

usually at 20 weeks of age.

Nutrition and Feeds

During the first week of brooding, small amounts of feed should be provided in

feed trays, box lids, egg flats and/or spread on newspapers on litter to

encourage them to feed. Also, placing feed and water close together in the first

few days of brooding assists the chicks to eat and drink, thus reducing mortality

due to starvation. However, after a few couple of days feed should be placed

immediately adjacent to drinkers to prevent wet feed and dirty water.

Debeaking (beak trimming)

Poults should be debeaked in order to control feather picking and cannibalism,

especially if they are raised in confinement. Debeaking is done at 10 days of age

to prevent cannibalism.

Desnooding

The removal of the snood or dew-bill (the tubular fleshy appendage on top of the

head near the front) is referred to as “desnooding”. It helps to prevent the head

injuries from picking or fighting and may reduce the spread of erysipelas should

this disease get started in the flock. The snood can be removed at one-day-old

by thumbnail and finger pressure. After about 3 weeks, it can be cut off close to

the head with sharp, pointed scissors.

Toe Clipping

Toe clipping or removal of toenails is usually done at the hatchery, but toes of
turkeys as old as 5 weeks can be clipped when turkeys are debeaked. Toe
clipping can improve the grade of processed turkeys. Turkeys in large groups,
especially when excited, often step on each other causing scratches or skin tears
on the backs and sides. The problem is aggravated with increased flock sizes and
densities, especially when turkeys are reared in confinement.
The most common form of toe clipping involves cutting the inside and middle toe
(front) on each foot. Toes can be cut with surgical scissors, a nail clipper or a
modified hot-blade debeaker.

Nutrition and Feeds

Nutritional requirements of growing turkeys and breeders have been extensively
researched. The modern turkey nutritionist uses formulas developed by scientific
research and modifies these to meet the needs of a particular strain of turkey. A
turkey diet containing 24% and 28% crude protein (CP) should be fed until 8
weeks of age. Ideally, a diet containing 28% CP should be fed for the first 4
weeks of life and thereafter CP reduced to 24% for the next 4 weeks. The
protein level is further reduced to 20% and fed until marketing age. A
conventional feeding program for turkey toms (males) and hens is given in Table
1.
Table 1 Turkey diet specifications according to age

Diet        Age          CP   ME   Meth   Meth&Cys Lys Ca   AvP
Starter 1 0-2 weeks 28 2850 .70 1.1 1.70 1.4 .8
Starter 2 2-4 weeks 26 2950 .62 1.0 1.60 1.3 .7
Grower 1 4-8 weeks 23 3050 .60 .9 1.45 1.2 .6
Grower 2 8-12 weeks 20 3150 .55 .82 1.30 1.1 .5
Developer 1 12-15 weeks 18 3225 .50 .79 1.00 .9 .45
Finisher 1
12-16 weeks 16 3300 .45 .65 .9 .9 .45
Finisher 2  15-18 weeks 16 3350 .40 .62 .8 .8 .40
Finisher 2  15-20 weeks+ 16 3250 .38 .60 .75 .9 .40

CP – crude protein; ME – Metabolizable energy, Meth – methionine; Cys – cystine; Ca –
calcium; AvP – available protein;
- female;  - male.
Source: Leeson & Summers (1997)

Health Management

It appears that turkeys are susceptible to diseases, indicating that they require a
much higher level of management and skill other domestic fowls. There are four
primary causes of disease: genetics, nutrition, environment and infection. This
section mainly focuses on diseases due to infection.

Diseases

Some common diseases of turkeys include blackhead, Newcastle disease (NCD),
erysipelas, fowl cholera, fowl pox and haemorrhagic enteritis. These diseases are
discussed in the sections below.

Blackhead (Histomoniasis)

Turkeys are susceptible to black head (Histomoniasis). The disease attacks
turkeys of all ages. Poults aged 6-12 weeks may show few symptoms except for
ulcerated blind pouch. Older birds stand with ruffled feathers and drooping
wings. Diarrhoea is usually present and the faeces may vary from bright green to
sulphur-yellow.

Haemorrhagic enteritis

Hemorrhagic enteritis is an acute gastrointestinal disorder affecting young
turkeys. In its most severe form, it is characterized by depression, bloody
droppings, and substantial mortality.
Hemorrhagic enteritis is geographically widespread and considered
endemic in areas where turkeys are raised commercially. The usual
route of infection is oral, and virus is often introduced onto previously
uninfected premises via personnel or equipment contaminated with
infectious faeces. Turkey poults aged less than 4 weeks are resistant
to infection due to age-related resistance or, the presence of maternal
antibody. The virus may survive under moist conditions in litter
beyond the refractory period. Large quantities of virus are shed in the
faeces facilitating rapid spread of disease. Morbidity usually
approaches 100%.
In addition to good biosecurity, prevention hinges on the use of
vaccines which are administered in the water at ~4-5 weeks of age.

Erysipelas

Erysipelas occurs sporadically in poultry of all ages. Turkeys are susceptible
regardless of sex or age. Outbreaks usually occur suddenly, with a few birds
being found dead followed by increasing mortality on subsequent days. Mortality
may range from less than 1% to 50%.
The causative agent is Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. The organism is shed in
faeces from infected animals and contaminates the soil, in which it may survive
for long periods depending on temperature and pH. The onset of cold and rainy
weather is associated with disease occurrence. Poultry, as well as other animals,
may be carriers and shed the organism without showing clinical signs of disease.
In addition to causing mortalities, the disease reduces the fertility status of toms.
Marketing losses may also result from condemnations or downgrading of
carcasses due to the evidence of septicaemia or lack of finish. Erysipelas is
controlled by vaccination using both inactivated and live vaccines.

Newcastle disease

Although NCD is not a major problem in turkeys, it is always wise to vaccinate
against it because it leads to serious disruption of egg production in turkey
breeding hens. The NCD vaccines available in Botswana are Hitchner B1 and La
sota. These are usually given via water (orally). The NCD vaccines could be
purchased at Livestock Advisory Centres, Feed Centre Botswana, Gaborone
Veterinary Clinic etc.

Fowl pox

Fowl pox vaccine has been used successfully to protect flocks in the last many
years. The vaccine is available locally in the retail outlets. Turkeys should be
vaccinated at 2 to 3 months of age but those to be used as breeders should be
re-vaccinated before production. Revaccination at 3-4 months intervals may be
helpful, depending on the level of risks.

Parasites

As in other poultry species such as chickens, parasites affect the turkeys by
causing discomfort or significant mortalities in birds, thus reducing the birds’
productivity levels. The most common parasite of turkeys is the fowl mite and
roundworms are a very common internal parasite. The fowl mite is
distinguishable from a fleck of dust only by the fact that it moves quite rapidly.
The predilection site for fowl mite is tail feathers, as well as, the fluff at the rear
of the keel. Fowl mites are effectively using chemical dusts such as karbadust. A
regular, once-a-month deworming with an appropriate dewormer containing
piperazine citrate will reduce roundworms to a harmless level.

Biosecurity

Biosecurity is utilization of measures which can stop or slow down the
introduction and spread of infection into or between components of production
systems. It includes managing people, equipment, pests and their potential for
carrying diseases into a flock. Biosecurity must be a priority to control infectious
disease and minimize introduction of pathogens into flocks.
Biosecurity measures
include:

allow only necessary visitors to production sites;

install fence enclosures;

control movement of workers and equipment between shelters,
production sites and age groups;

provide foot baths, showers and protective clothing at strategic points;

reduce microbial load on trucks and equipment by washing and
disinfecting at critical times;

locate production sites strategically in relation to other production sites
and movement of poultry to minimize transfer of disease causing
organisms;

control rodents and wild birds effectively, both of which are potential
disease vectors; and

confine pets away from commercial poultry.

Immediately following depopulation, the buildings and equipment should be
thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before new birds are introduced. Manure
should be removed and disposed of at least 1 km away from the production
sites. Mortality disposal should also form part of the biosecurity protocol.

Marketing

Traditionally, are sold at Christmas and Easter as big birds, ranging from 2.5 to
over 5.0 kg in size (dressed weight). However, this requirement is gradually
changing as families prefer to buy smaller one-meal birds all year round. It is,
however, apparent that sales of turkey meat are high at the conclusion of the
year.

Hens are marketed between 14 and 16 weeks of age. At this age hens will
typically weigh from 14.7 to 17.5 pounds. Toms are often marketed between 17
and 20 weeks of age and will weigh 26.4 to 32.3 pounds. Market age is
determined by the product being produced. Most integrators produce both whole
bodied and further processed products.

About 70% of all turkeys grown are further processed. For this market, the
industry prefers to grow toms, because their larger weight is advantageous.

However, many hens are also further processed even though the unit cost is
higher with the lighter weight. About 16% of all turkeys are processed for the
whole body market. A larger proportion of hens are sold as whole body due to
the preference for further processing the larger toms. About 14% of all turkeys
produced are processed as parts. In the past, parts like wings and drums were
often sold at greatly reduced prices. Today, these parts are used extensively in
further processing and often end up as part of a further processed product such
as ground meat.

References

Anon, 2004. Best Management Practices for Turkey Production. National Turkey
Federation, Washington DC. 3.
Arrington, L.C., 1980. Market Turkey Management-Brooding. North Carolina
Regional Extension Publication #115.
Bolla, G., 2005. Raising turkeys. Agfact A5.0.9 (Fourth edition).
Ensminger, M.E., 1992. Poultry Science (Third Edition). Interstate Publishers,
Inc. Danville, Illinois, USA. 329-356.
Leeson, S. & Summers, J.D., 1997. Commercial Poultry Nutrition (Second
Edition). University Books, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. 302.
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, 2000. General brooding and rearing.
Scott, H.M., 1940. Turkey Management. Circular 200. Agricultural Experimental
Station, Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. 20-21.
The Merck Veterinary Manual, 2006. <
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University of California.
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Care Practices (Second Edition). University of California, Davis. 11-12.