Fintan and Hilda Hogan, with the help of Paddy and his team, are responsible for the husbandry of our turkeys which is in short the care and rearing of our turkeys.
There is a basic level of care that needs to be taken when rearing or looking after any animal.
With turkeys, this also depends on the breed of turkey you have and numbers.
Like all babies from the start, turkey poults take a lot of minding.
As it is with everything in life, how you start will determine the outcome.
In the case of turkeys the care you give from the moment they are born will determine the quality of bird you will rear.
Fintan’s Top Tips for care in the early stages of rearing are:
1) It is all in the breeding! You need to carefully choose the breed of turkey you are getting especially if rearing outdoors etc. Talk to your supplier and build a relationship with them.
2) Like with human babies, a turkey baby chick (poult) needs to be kept very warm and cosy in the early days.
A level temperature of about 30°c is required to maintain the flock. As the weeks progress, you can reduce these temperature to about 25°c after 4 weeks and then to about 20°c for the remainder of their rearing.
3) You must constantly check turkey’s food and water levels, and keep them topped up at all times, otherwise the birds will get stressed.
4) Try to give your turkeys as much space as possible in their coop, shed, etc. The more room the turkeys have the more comfortable they are and the better they will thrive and grow.
5) Most turkeys need a period of darkness about 8-9 hours to sleep at night.
