PAGE 2

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES

The information presented herein represents the views of the author as of the date
of publication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author re-
serve the rights to alter and update their opinions based on the new conditions.

“Bourbon Red
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
turkeys are
whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
handsome. They any informational storage or retrieval system without expressed written, dated and
signed permission from the authors.
have brownish to
dark red plumage
This report is for informational and educational purposes only and the
with white flight author does not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities resulting from the use
of this information. While every attempt has been made to verify the information
and tail feathers.”
provided here, the author and his affiliates cannot assume any responsibility for
errors, inaccuracies or omissions.

Any perceived slights to any specific people(s) or organization(s) are purely unin-
tentional.

FAST-START GUIDE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU RAISE TURKEYS
 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Why Raise Turkeys Page 4

Terminology Page 8 –11

Common Types of Heritage Turkeys Page 12 –14

Feeding Page 15 –16

Interesting Facts About Turkeys Page 17

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WHY RAISE TURKEY?
 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 5

Why Raise Turkeys?

Whether you're looking to supplement your income or provide a tasty home grown meal for the family, you'll profit
either way raising turkeys. The benefits are widespread and include a built- in pest control
service. Turkeys eat bugs, mosquitoes, ticks and flies.

Animal welfare groups such as Farm Sanctuary claim that turkeys are bright and social animals that can make suit-
able companion animals. US President George W. Bush noted the long tradition of keeping
turkeys as pets in his 2001 National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation speech. Bush noted that Abraham Lincoln's
son Tad kept a turkey as a White House pet.

Turkey droppings are being used as a fuel source in electric power plants. One such plant in western
Minnesota provides 55 megawatts of power using 700,000 tons of dung per year. The plant began
operating in 2007. Three such plants are in operation in England.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 6

Turkeys have been around for a long time. Turkey history actually starts millions of years ago. Their
fossils have been found in Pleistocene deposits which means that they have been around more than twelve thousand
years and their predecessors go back 50 to 60 million years to the Eocene period. Since the modern domesticated
t u r ke y i s a d e s c e n d a n t o f t h e W i l d T u r ke y, i t i s s u r mi s e d t h a t a n c i e n t
Mesoamericans had chosen to domesticate this species rather than the Ocellated Turkey which is found in far south-
ern Mexico.

Turkeys require most of their care and attention during the first couple months. After this time they
become much easier to care for. Turkeys are friendly and curious by nature.There are many reasons to raise turkeys.

1. Turkeys as food
Turkeys are traditionally eaten as the main course of large feasts at Christmas in much of the world, as well as
Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, though this tradition has its origins in modern times, rather than co-
lonial as is often supposed. Sliced turkey is frequently used as a sandwich meat or served as cold cuts. Ground tur-
key is sold just as ground beef, and is frequently marketed as a healthy beef substitute. Without careful preparation,
cooked turkey is usually considered to end up less moist than other poultry meats such as chicken or duck.

Wild turkeys, while technically the same species as domesticated turkeys, have a very different taste from farm-
raised turkeys. Almost all of the meat is "dark" (even the breast) with a more intense flavor. Turkey is often found as
a processed meat. It can be smoked and as such is sometimes sold as turkey ham. The white meat of turkey is gener-
ally considered healthier and less fattening than the dark meat, but the
nutritional differences are small.

2. Turkeys as pets
While most that raise turkeys raise them for eating, some keep turkeys as a pet. This has been known to destroy their
commercial value as Thanksgiving dinner.
And some do both, keep some as a pet while eating the others. There are many different breeds of
turkeys; however there are two varieties, domestic and wild. The wild turkey lives and breeds in the wild and some
are kept as pets. It can fly and is said to be smarter than the domestic. The domestic turkeys are the type eaten on
thanksgiving and they cannot fly. The domestic and wild turkeys are physically
different.
Animal welfare groups such as Farm Sanctuary claim that turkeys are bright and social animals that can make suit-
able companion animals. US President George W. Bush noted the long tradition of keeping
turkeys as pets in his 2001 National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation speech. Bush noted that Abraham Lincoln's
son Tad kept a turkey as a White House pet.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 7

3. Turkeys provide built-in pest control service

Turkeys may have the most varied diet of any animal known. They eat a variety of foods depending on availability,
preference, and nutritional needs. All age classes eat insects when they are available. In the summer turkeys eat large
quantities of insects, grass seeds, berries, and green leaves. Turkeys eat bugs, mosquitoes, ticks and flies too.

4. Turkey dung as fuel

Turkey droppings are being used as a fuel source in electric power plants. One such plant in western
Minnesota provides 55 megawatts of power using 700,000 tons of dung per year. The plant began operating in 2007.
Three such plants are in operation in England.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

TERMINOLOGY
 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 9

Adult Male Turkey known as “Tom” in US but “Stag” in Britain

Adult Female Turkey known as “Hen”

Baby Turkey or Young Turkey known as “Poult”

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 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 10

Diagram of Male and Female Turkey

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 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 11

Terminologies Descriptions

Tom Adult male turkey

Hem Adult female turkey

Poult Young one of turkey

Snood or Dew bill The fleshy protuberance near the base of the beck

Caruncles The fleshy protuberance on the head and neck usually pink
or red in color which appear from about 5th week of age

Dewlap A large flap skin seen immediately below the chim

Bread A tuft of hair attached to the skin of the upper chest region

Strut Mating behavior of male turkey

Shooting the red The development of caruncles and this is supposed to indicate the
(Similar to an ulcer) most difficult time in the life of young turkey

Debeaking Poults should be debeaked to control feather picking and cannibal-

ism. Debeaking can be done at day old or 3-5 weeks of age. Re-
move the beak at about one half the distance from nostril to the tip
of the beak.

Desnooding Removal of the snood or dewbill is to prevent the head injuries

from picking and fighting. At the day old the snood can be re-
moved by shumbnail or finger pressure. At 3 weeks of age it can
be cut off close to the head with sharp scissors.

Detoeing or toe Clipping is done at day old by removing the tip of the toe just to
clipping the inside of the outer most toe pad including the entire toenail.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

COMMON TYPES OF
HERITAGE TURKEYS
 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 13

Types of Commonly Known Heritage Turkey Species

Auburn Turkey Beltsville Small White Turkey

Black Turkey Bourbon Red Turkey

Broad Breasted White Bronze Turkey

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 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 14

Buff Turkey Midget White Turkey

Narragansett Turkey Royal Palm Turkey

White Holland Turkey

Slate Turkey

Sweetgrass Turkey

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

FEEDING
 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 16

Feeding Turkeys
FEED turkeys cracked or whole kernel corn, sunflower seeds, oats, wheat, or non-medicated commercial poultry or
turkey rations.

FEED turkeys daily by broadcasting food at a rate of 2 large handfuls (or 1/2 cup) per turkey per day. To ensure a
good distribution of food among flock members, spread it out so that all birds have an opportunity to feed.

FEED turkeys until the flock ceases daily visitation or until severe conditions moderate.

FEED turkeys where you have observed turkeys feeding naturally in the past. Preferably this is in close proximity to
winter roost sites (often pine stands). Doing so minimizes movement (and energy expenditures) between roost sites
and feed sites.

DO NOT …. BE ADVISED that irresponsible

wildlife feeding can result in: the

DO NOT feed turkeys unless there is 15 or more inches of soft powder snow spread of disease and parasites;
on the ground for a period of 10 or more days. Doing so is wasteful and
increased rates of predation by wild
unnecessary.
and domestic animals; human

DO NOT feed turkeys during spring or fall or during the winter when there is habituation by wildlife and resulting
incomplete snow-cover or patches of bare ground. animal nuisance problems, and; the

illegal taking of wildlife.

DO NOT feed turkeys within 100 yards of an occupied dwelling, adjacent to
busy roads, in areas of high visibility, in residential areas or in areas where
pets, predators or vehicles pose a threat to traveling or feeding turkeys.

DO NOT treat turkeys in such a way as to diminish their natural wariness of humans; keep human
contact to a minimum.

DO NOT feed wild turkeys in areas that facilitate contact with game-farm turkeys; doing so will re-
sult in cross-breeding and diminished wildness in our native birds.

DO NOT forget that wild turkeys are a public resource; turkeys range widely (over several square
miles) and are hunted throughout the state, where biologically sustainable.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

INTERESTING FACTS
ABOUT
TURKEYS
 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 18

June is Turkey Lovers Month.

Wild turkeys can walk almost as soon as they hatch and they can fly at two weeks of
age.

The turkeys crop is also called the craw. When turkeys feed they swallow lots of food which is stored in their
crop. They then go to a safe place to loaf and process the food.

The turkey's crop expands as it is filled which is probably why in The Practical Housekeeper: An Cyclopedia of
Domestic Economy (written in 1857), Mrs. Elizabeth Fries Ellet explained how to make balloons from turkey's
crops.

Turkeys don't have teeth, but they grind their food (even hard seeds and nuts like acorns) in their second
stomach, the gizzard. This is the muscular stomach below the crop which is the glandular stomach. Look
for the gizzard in the giblet bag.

Turkeys and American Thanksgiving are so interrelated that Thanksgiving is often

called Turkey Day.

1621 - When Pilgrims celebrated their thanksgiving feast they ate unspecified fowl, maybe turkey. The
Wampanoag tribe participated in this three day celebration.

1789 - George Washington proclaimed that a day of Thanksgiving be celebrated on

November 26 of that year.

1863 - Abraham Lincoln called for a day of Thanksgiving to be observed as a national

holiday.

Thanksgiving in the US is the fourth Thursday of November, in Canada it is the second Monday of October.
2007 - Hunters who are tired of picking shot from their turkeys will soon be able to season the bird when they
shoot it using shotgun shells filled with seasoning. It is called Season Shot - Ammo with Flavor.

A power plant in Benson Minn uses turkey poop for fuel to produce electricity. The plant was built by
Fibrowatt and it is the first in the country to use animal litter for fuel.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved

 WWW.HOWTORAISETURKEYS.COM PAGE 19

Turkeys are very curious! Young turkeys have been known to drown in a half-filled pail
of water-not just one bird, a bucket full of birds, one after the other!

They are very friendly! They can become pets. This has been known to destroy their commercial value as
Thanksgiving dinner.

Turkeys are not stupid, but they are different. It is important to have plenty of waterers and feeders available
for them when they are a day old and first trying to find feed and water. They have been known to starve to
death by eating nothing, or they eat litter instead of feed and then starve to death-with feed near by!

Disease control in a small flock of turkeys on a farm is not difficult, but CARE, SANITATION, and
ISOLATION are the keys to a successful disease control program. Turkey can't be raised with chick-
ens because there are some diseases that can kill turkeys but don't seem to bother the chickens.

© Copyright Andrew Grey | All Rights Reserved