Tips for starting a turkey flock off right

Providing poults feed and water immediately and placing them in a properly heated house leads to significant performance improvements.

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Turkey flock success begins with attention to small details at the beginning of the birds life. Courtesy Hybrid Turkeys
Turkey flock success begins with attention to small details at the beginning of the birds life. Courtesy Hybrid Turkeys

Providing poults feed and water immediately and placing them in a properly heated house leads to significant performance improvements.

As part of the virtual Midwest Poultry Federation Convention, held on August 12 and 13, 2020, Peter Gruhl, director of global customer service for Hybrid Turkeys, reviewed the company’s advice on giving the young turkeys the best chance for success.

Peter Gruhl

Peter Gruhl, Hybrid Turkeys (Courtesy Hybrid Turkeys)

Immediate feeding and watering

Turkey flock success begins with attention to small details at the beginning of the bird's life. When the poults arrive on the farm, they need access to feed and water as soon as possible.

During the first few days of its life, Gruhl said, the turkey’s shank grows at the fastest rate of its entire life. In the first 12 days, the shank doubles in size and increases in diameter. The growth rate continues at a rapid pace over the next five weeks.

The turkey’s intestinal tract is also growing rapidly during those first few days. Feeding and watering the bird properly over the first 48 hours is critical for the growth of the intestinal tract. Research shows the development of the intestines is tied to immune system health. If the bird is fasting, then the immune system is suppressed and the development of the system is delayed.

Hybrid recently performed a trial where it compared the results of turkeys fed right away with those of turkeys withheld from feed for 24 hours. At seven days of age, the flock fed upon placement weighed an average of 11% more than the other flock. The flock withheld from feed also dealt with significantly higher mortality.

Setting the correct temperature

Clearly, Gruhl said, early growth in the turkey’s life matters. Establishing the correct floor temperature profile in the turkey house encourages good poult activity levels and strong early water and feed consumption. When birds are growing, they are developing a healthy gut and a healthy immune system. This helps improve the effectiveness of vaccination programs and impacts the rest of the bird’s life.

Ideally, a poult’s body temperature should be between 102.5 to 104.5 F (39.2 to 40.3 C), as assessed using a vent thermometer. A turkey house should be heated to help birds maintain this body temperature and to attract them to feeders and drinkers. If it isn’t, the birds won’t have enough access to these resources and will be under greater stress. Ideally, the floor temperature should be at about 93 F (33.9 C) to establish optimal growth rates.

Establishing proper airflow helps maintain a constant, proper temperature. Air should not flow from the side of the barn and then drop to the floor. This chills the birds, makes them bunch up underneath heaters and increases litter moisture. Air should flow in with the proper static pressure so it flows along the ceiling line where it can circulate, warm up the house and draw out moisture.

Because of this, circulation fans are a critical component of a brooding program. These fans reduce temperature stratification, promote uniform temperature in the house, lower humidity, reduce fuel use for heaters and improve the litter quality in the barn.

To prove this, Hybrid tested barn conditions by setting up four barns with varying temperature and circulation conditions. In this trial, the flock in the barn preheated to 93 F and using circulation fans gained the most weight and suffered from the lowest amount of mortality out of the trial group.

Starting poults at the Hybrid recommended level, Gruhl said, improves final weights by 14%. If that’s not possible, even increasing the temperature 12 hours after placement increases flock weight by 6%.

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