hi. need some advice here. I read through the archives and am slightly confused over the difference in opinions concerning turkey feed. I'll be getting my first poults this coming week and have some feed decisions to make. my local feed store offers medicated chick starter, grower mix, layer crumbles and pellets. no gamebird mixes or waterfowl mixes. so...given these choices what would those of you who have raised turkeys recommend? these guys will start in the dining room for the first few weeks then move to an outdoor brooder (if I can find it under the snow). after that they'll most likely share a yard with the chickens. am aware of blackhead dangers (separate yard not likely this season) but am unsure whether medicated chick starter is the best approach. opinions? here are the choices:

medicated chick starter crumbles

unmedicated grower crumbles

homemade concoctions (mashed boiled eggs, 3-way mix, etc)

thanx in advance

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), March 22, 2002

Answers

When we first wanted to raise turkeys for Thanksgiving, we were told there is NO WAY that you can raise turkey poults withOUT medicated feeds. Well, we raise and grow all of our own meat, plus sell it, and our niche in the market is meat with NO hormones, NO chemicals, and NO medications. So, we decided to try it anyway. We have a poultry feed mixed for us with some extra stuff in it like fishmeal, kelp, etc. The only thing that we did different for the turkeys was to add some grass or greens to their brooder and some raw goat or cow milk. They did WONDERFUL!! Also, when the turkeys were about 1 week old, we received our next shipment of meat chicks. We put them all in together in the brooder with no problems. We raise all of our meat poultry in movable pens, so they are moved onto fresh ground each day. We did have those chickens and turkeys together for a bit, until we butchered another batch of chickens and had another pen to separate them in. Hope this helps.

-- Marci in NE Ohio (Marci@amazinggrazefarm.com), March 22, 2002.

Medicated or not, the deficiency your going to have using chick starter is the protien level. Its too low for turkeys, and will probably lead straight to leg development problems(so I am told). We also had a problem getting turkey or gamebird starter at first, but the feed mill had a product called broiler starter. This was very high in protien, like 24% if I remember correctly. We mixed it with the chick starter, and had no problems. As for medication, we have never used it on any of our birds(turks, chickens, ducks, pigeons,guineas,pheasants) and as yet have had no problems. Sanitation, particularly dry floors/litter is the key (in my opinion). Crumbles or Mash (the powdered stuff), I've used both, and have seen absolutly no difference, in our case the mash is a bit cheaper, and thus we use it! (money always talks the loudest!) We give new chick/ducks/turks mashed-up egg in the brooder, occasionaly (heck, i've seen the wife give chicks left over bacon, chopped-up, when I didn't get to it first!) We also put a general vitamin powder in the waterers once a week when there in the brooder, but just one day per week. Hope this helps some.....

-- TonyG (nothere@here.com), March 22, 2002.

Every year we would get turkey poults and every year we would lose some - until I stumbled onto this idea. It sounds wierd, but the poults aren't very good eaters at first. What I do to encourage them to eat is cut up chives (I have lots) with a pair of scissors into little tiny pieces and sprinkle them over their food. At first, it seems like it is the movement of the falling food that attracts them. Once they learn to eat the chives they will gobble almost any amount. Maybe the vitamins help some too. Anyway, I have not lost a single poult in the three years I've done this. Just a thought.

-- Darcy in NW WA (gatecity@cows.com), March 22, 2002.

My grandmother always fed her young turkeys boiled egg and chives or green onions.

-- HV (veggie@ourplace.com), March 22, 2002.

I'd go with the chick starter and feed additional chopped egg to start with, but I'd get after the feed store to get turkey starter shipped in for you in the next week or so. They should be able to have access to it. If these are BB type turkeys they really have to have the higher protein. They are like broiler chicks that way and won't do well with lower protein feeds.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), March 22, 2002.

Most feed stores will be happy to get their customers what they need.Ask them to order game bird food.

-- SM Steve (ureal@msn.com), March 23, 2002.