Feedback on Turkeys

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Widmer's estimate of 100 pounds of feed per turkey is shocking...though actually, if the birds are kept confined, even that figure is on the low side. The commercial producer's allowance is probably closer to 75 pounds. I give my flock something like 15 pounds each before I release them, and after that any ration they get is food that would otherwise be wasted...or grasshoppers. Unless you have nothing growing for miles, or neighbors who keep German shepherds—or unless you simply like to build things—there's no reason why you can't raise your birds the same way.

The main difference between range and caged turkeys is that the latter are unhappy and under stress. I tried to raise some last fall by keeping them confined most of the time...and lost about a fifth of the flock. The rest grew slowly and were plagued by illnesses. In the end I sold them for about what they cost me...and not to my regular customers, since the birds had been given drugs out of necessity. I had to dispose of them a little cheaper to people who didn't care. Chickens will grow caged—and eat one another if overcrowded—but turkeys will pine.

I've covered my main objections to the Widmer article, but I'll get in a few minor points while I'm at it. For one thing, it's no use taking advice on livestock breeds from a book that's 20 years old. Like several of the previous excerpts from Practical Animal Husbandry the turkey chapter refers to varieties which are now very hard to get. Also, new kinds have been developed since that time. The primary breed raised here and in nearby Cuero, "turkey capital of the world", is the Broad-Breasted White. Breeds come and go in popularity, and there's no reason to assume that the favorites of 20 years ago were "better"...they may or may not have been.

One more thing: Unless MOTHER's readers plan to spend their time on nothing but raising turkeys, they might wonder why Widmer suggested using sand for litter. That might be OK if you're keeping poults in a cardboard box. Otherwise, you're going to get tired of shoveling sand...and poor, too, unless you live on a beach.

Another trouble with that idea is that the turkeys will be disrupted every time you evict them to change the bedding. One finding of modern agribusiness that might shock the Toowoomba folks is that animals—including poultry—like to be left alone. Stress of any kind is to be avoided. A litter like fine hay (nothing too coarse) works better, and instead of changing it you can just add more from time to time and replace the accumulation when you move the birds out.

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