Rules for keeping turkeys in winter

Rules for keeping turkeys in winter

Room preparation

Keeping turkeys at home in winter requires a spacious room. Considering the dimensions of these birds, accommodate one a square meter of mercy should be no more than two birds.

Poultry houses , used for chickens that have enough space and have an attached area for walking the birds, are suitable for placing a turkey livestock.

Moreover, the room, which will be intended for the winter keeping of turkeys, will have to be heated. You can do this in several ways:

• by means of natural heating, in which the necessary temperature regime is maintained by the natural conservation of heat,
• by using artificial heating systems.

During natural heating in the premises for growing turkeys in the winter season, it is checked for any cracks or holes that can be caught.The walls of the building must be insulated. At the same time, we must not forget that sometimes natural heating becomes insufficient to ensure proper thermal conditions. In such cases, electrical appliances and gas boilers, infrared equipment are additionally installed in the premises where the bird is kept.

Creating a comfortable stay

Regardless of the fact that some birds (for example , Siberian turkeys) are able to survive even severe winter frosts, withstanding temperatures up to -15, when caring for turkeys in winter, they should create comfortable conditions that will not prevent them from developing correctly and will not affect the productive indicators of turkeys that carry an egg .

Create comfortable conditions for the bird

Litter

Litter, on which they spend most of their time, is of no small importance in the winter keeping of birds. Warm litter is a thick straw, peat or sawdust layer. To ensure the dryness of the bedding layer, it is changed:

• with an interval of 10 days – a straw filler,
• with an interval of 21 days – a peat or sawdust filler.

Degree

The minimum allowable temperature limit in wintertime in the room is at least -5 degrees.However, such a degree indicator can only be in cases where the window is lower than -15. In the conditions of such a winter, it is recommended to lower the temperature to -3 to avoid mold due to excessive humidity in the room. In all other cases, in the premises for keeping turkeys in the winter at home, the scale on the thermometer should not fall to 1-3 degrees. This is the most suitable thermal regime for poultry, otherwise turkeys rush much less frequently.

Walk

The walking platform for turkeys on the street should be cleared of snow cover, so in birds too sensitive limbs, so they often freeze them in winter cold, which leads to colds.

Walking time at -15 degrees on the street is reduced to one hour. Provided that the temperature regime is more comfortable, the walking period increases to two to three hours.

Lighting requirements

To maintain the necessary illumination, the house, which contains turkeys in winter, should be provided with proper lighting devices, so the level of illumination noticeably affects the productive indicators of egg production.

If there is a properly organized natural lighting in the form of windows in the house, such lighting can be limited without resorting to other lighting devices . Natural light is enough to grow young animals.An adult poultry will require at least 14 hours of daylight, so even if there are window openings in the building, additional artificial light sources can’t be avoided.

Principles of winter feed ration

The disadvantage of a green diet, which is usual for turkeys in the summer seasons, should be compensated for when keeping birds in winter, since turkeys need more energy for wintering, which is mainly spent on their own warming.

When keeping turkey livestock, they switch to three times feeding of poultry; in winter, feeding troughs are transferred under the roof of the house.

The distribution of the feed ration for feeding turkeys in winter is as follows:

• in the morning and evening meals, birds are given cereals and compound feeds,
• in the daytime feeding for turkeys, mixes and juicy food are given.

Among the obligatory food components when feeding turkeys in winter at home there should be corncobs, barley and wheat Foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates and fiber that are useful for turkeys.

As a variety of a leaner winter diet than turkey than summer, you can include chopped carrots and beets, steamed dry herbs.Coniferous branches, acorns and chestnuts can be used when feeding in the form of a separate feed, or as an additive in the blenders.

Some tips

Responses of farmers who keep turkeys at home in winter tend to an alternative placement omashney birds.Instead of the usual for all poultry houses, they adapted to keep turkeys in the winter in greenhouses made of polycarbonate material. Such content has both positive and negative sides. Among the pluses, farmers note the preservation of the thermal regime in the greenhouse, the maintenance of the required daylight hours in a natural way and the availability of space.

To preserve the flooring of the polycarbonate greenhouse, which birds often pierce with their beaks, the floor is covered with slate or plywood sheets.

Among the minuses of keeping turkeys in the winter in the greenhouse, some indicate that in greenhouse conditions it often becomes faster damp than in a conventional building, and the material itself becomes fragile from frost. About the content of turkeys when breeding in winter, you can watch a frequent video.