The breeding technology of turkey

Turkey, also known as spit chicken, was first domesticated into poultry in Oaxaca, Mexico, about the same time as the Neolithic Age in Europe. The turkey was imported to Europe at the end of the 15th century and was introduced into China even later. it is similar to other Chicken-shaped birds. The female is smaller than the male, the coat is darker, and the wingspan of the turkey can reach 1.5 to 1.8 meters. It is the largest bird in the local open woodland. It is difficult to confuse with other species. The breeding techniques are introduced as follows.

Physical features

The turkey's feathers come in several different colors, such as white, black and gray. After adulthood, the turkey's head and neck feathers fall off, its skin is exposed, it looks plain, but it is arrogant and narcissistic. From time to time, its tail feathers and wings seem to imply that people. I am better than a domestic chicken and no less than a peacock. The turkey has a unique appearance, with a tall, majestic body, a long and broad back, a particularly muscular chest and legs, a bare head and neck, a meat cone on the nostrils and a dermatoma on the lower part of the head.

When the male turkey is calm, the meat cone becomes longer, the dermoma is light blue, when excited, the meat cone becomes smaller, and the dermatoma turns crimson. Different varieties have different feather colors. The male turkey has a distance at the shank, a tuft of hair like a bow tie on the chest, a well-developed tail feather and a fan when excited. The female turkey has a small head, slender neck, underdeveloped dermatoma and is not easy to change color, the shank is spaceless, and the weight is only 2/3 of that of the male turkey.

Economic value

The origin of turkey is in Mexico, and the turkey we raise now is gradually bred by wild turkey. There are many foreign varieties introduced into our country, but in the actual breeding process, due to the problem of inbreeding, many farmers' road to prosperity is getting narrower and narrower, and the final breeding is not successful. In 2005, turkey breeding experts collectively developed a new turkey breed-Baicao turkey, which is very suitable for breeding in China. The survival rate of breeding is more than 95%, which indicates that China's turkey farming industry has entered a new stage.

The turkey meat is tender and delicious. Turkey meat contains 20% more protein than other birds, but 21% lower fat and low cholesterol. Turkey is mainly herbivorous, fresh and tender meat, odorless, no drug residue, pure and delicious taste, suitable for all ages, can not only adapt to high-end dining tables, but also meet the needs of ordinary families, is a good food for both nutrition and food.

Life habits

Turkey is a gregarious life habit, gregarious, often 30 to 50 birds foraging in pastures or fields. Turkey has strong adaptability, can adapt to various types of climate, cold and heat resistance. The turkey is docile, quiet, timid and sensitive to changes in the external environment. If frightened, it will cause a flock of turkeys to stir and whine. Turkey is also aggressive. Fighting for female turkeys, rejecting dissidents and grabbing delicious food can be a reason for them to bite and fight with each other.

Preparation before breeding

1. Turkey site selection: the important principle of turkey site selection is that turkey production can not become a source of pollution to the surrounding environment, nor can it be polluted by other environments. The turkey ground should be high and dry, flat or slightly sloping leeward to the sun. If turkeys are raised by semi-grazing or when turkey sports venues need to be set up, attention should be paid to clean water sources and abundant forage grass. With a good living environment, it's time for us to build a warm and comfortable house for turkeys.

2. Turkey house construction: the construction of turkey house should mainly consider temperature control, ventilation and ventilation. It is built on the principle of economy and practicality and conducive to sanitary disinfection. General farmers can choose open simple sheds, semi-open chicken coops, conditional farmers can build a more standard chicken coop. The standard shape of the chicken house is similar to the tile house where we live. Pay attention to the transparency between the north and the south, so that there will be a "board house" and the turkey will live comfortably. The area of the henhouse is 4 square meters, and the length and width are 2 meters each. For the convenience of cleaning, a grille is built 20 centimeters from the bottom of the chicken house. The grid grid is about 1.5 centimeters, and the chicken droppings can leak under the premise of not damaging the chicken claws. For the convenience and hygiene of feeding, the feeding mouth is made of wood or bamboo, and the trough and sink are installed outside the mouth. It is best to reserve a playground in front of the henhouse or a free-range area for turkeys to eat freely. With a good house, it's time for us to add the necessities of life to these babies.

3. Equipment for turkey breeding: with regard to heat preservation equipment, we suggest using fire channel or stove for heating in the actual breeding process. The main equipment for hatching and brooding are: incubator, brooding bed and brooding trough, food trough, beak breaker and so on. In addition, the turkey farm also has some essential appliances, that is, feed mixer, disinfection sprayer, daily cleaning tools and so on.

4. Feed preparation: turkeys mainly eat grass in daily life, so we mainly choose green feed and concentrate feed in feed selection.

① green fodder: planting forage is the focus of the whole turkey feeding work. Turkeys like to eat a wide range of green feed, weeds, vegetables, leaves, water peanuts, potato vines, peanut seedlings and so on are good feed for turkeys.

② concentrate: we mainly choose corn, soybean meal, wheat bran and so on. Special attention should be paid to the preparation of special feed for chicks in actual feeding.

Introduction of turkey

Turkey breeding can be introduced to breed turkey seedlings. If there is an incubator, turkey eggs can be introduced for hatching. Whether introduced or introduced eggs must be purchased from a professional breeding farm.

1. Choose and buy turkey seedlings: Turkey breeds and commercial chickens. Some farmers do not go to professional breeding sites to introduce them, so they mistakenly buy commercial chickens as breeder seedlings, which can only end in failure. Introduction to the professional turkey breeding farm, the purchase of turkey is generally 1 male and 3 female pairs, should choose those active, wilting can not be purchased.

2, the purchase of breeding eggs: farmers who have their own incubators can not be careless in buying breeding eggs, so as not to cause losses to future breeding. These two eggs are a commercial egg and a breeding egg, and this small one is a commercial egg, that is, an egg laid by a commercial chicken, which has been degraded. The egg is small, it can also produce chickens, and the chickens it hatches are not necessarily healthy. Just like the one in my left hand is a breeding egg, it is the generation of parents, the chicken hatched by this egg is the generation of parents, and the chicks hatched by this egg are strong and have a high rate of healthy survival.

3. Transportation of turkey seedlings: after the turkey seedlings are selected, they are generally packed in cartons. A complete package is 40 cm square and 20 cm high, with an average of 4 squares in the middle. Each grid can put 1 male and 3 female turkey seedlings. There should be air holes around the cartons and lids to avoid the death of turkeys due to lack of oxygen during transportation. Strict and comprehensive disinfection should be carried out with disinfectant before loading. Boxes containing chicken breeds can be stacked. As long as you can ensure normal ventilation during transportation.

4. entry management: after the turkey seedlings arrive at their destination, they will have a full rest, provide enough clean drinking water and high-quality green materials, and then feed them the next day. If the turkey seedlings arrive within 7 days, they should be fed with the same feed as the original unit, and the feed should be changed slowly from the 8th day to ensure the health of the turkey seedlings after transportation. After the turkey has gone through the transition period, it can enter the normal feeding and management procedures. In order to cultivate the feelings of turkeys and mate naturally, we raise turkeys in cages, usually with one male and two females. Male turkeys step on female turkeys after 5-6 months of age, but it is better to breed after 8 months of age.

Adult breeding turkey feeding

General adult turkey concentrate feed ratio is corn: 70%, wheat bran: 10%, bean cake: 20% mixed into concentrate for spare. Green fodder is usually made of alfalfa. Before feeding, the alfalfa is broken and fully stirred with water in the proportion of 1:1 with the concentrate. As long as the humidity of the mixed feed is suitable, if it is too dry, the turkey will expand after consumption, causing harm to the turkey. The feeding times are usually 2 times a day, each time about 3 taels of feed for each turkey, once at 7: 00 in the morning and 3: 00 in the afternoon. In addition, it is worth noting that the most important thing in turkey breeding is to maintain adequate drinking water 24 hours a day.

1. Management of adult breeding turkeys: in addition to feeding turkeys, it is important to keep the henhouse ventilated and hygienic, and the henhouses should clean their droppings regularly so as not to breed parasites and affect the health of turkeys. The chicken coop for breeding turkeys should be disinfected once every 3 days, and the disinfectant is generally prepared into an aqueous solution with benzylbromine at the ratio of 1 to 300.

2. Turkey breeding: once turkeys have adapted to your farm and delicious feed, they will begin to bring benefits to you, and the beginning of the benefit is the breeding link. Turkeys usually mate naturally, but in order to avoid inbreeding, we distribute the breeding turkeys according to groups when dividing the column, and we must be careful not to disturb them in the process of mating, so as to avoid unsuccessful mating. The breeding female turkey can be used for two years, and the male turkey can be used for 4 years. There is a very interesting phenomenon: from the summary of breeding practice, turkey is really a loyal guardian of love, a female turkey with a mate is not allowed to mate with other male turkeys.

3. Management of laying period: under normal circumstances, female turkeys can produce refined eggs two days after fertilization. In order to avoid damage to the eggs, we have to prepare a place with soft and dry soil for mother turkeys to lay eggs. Standardized farmers can place egg boxes in henhouses, which can be made by farmers in baskets or cardboard boxes. The female turkey enters the first laying cycle from the age of 34 weeks, and the laying period is from January to September every year. In order to make turkeys lay more eggs, it is generally not recommended to let turkeys hatch on their own. Eggs should be taken away at any time for artificial hatching. In order to prevent the turkey from laying eggs, choose an analgin tablet for the mother turkey to swallow.

The hatching of a turkey

1. The choice of breeding eggs: the breed of breeding eggs is directly related to the hatching rate, the quality of chicks and the survival rate. Therefore, breeding eggs must be strictly selected before hatching. It is required that the breeding eggs are oval, the eggshell is light yellow, and there are brown spots, the eggshell is not too thick or too thin, the surface is free of sand, crack and damage, and the eggshell must be kept clean. Eggs of more than 90 grams are required, and eggs less than 90 grams cannot be hatched.

2. Preservation of breeding eggs: the breeding eggs should be kept upwards on the egg plate when hatching, and the storage temperature should be below 20 ℃. The breeding eggs should be stored at a room temperature of 25-26 ℃ for 1 day, and then stored in a storage room with 12-16 ℃ and relative humidity of about 75%. The breeding eggs should be preserved for no more than a week, and the shorter the storage time, the higher the hatching rate.

3. Disinfection of breeding eggs: disinfect breeding eggs with potassium permanganate disinfection method, prepare a large basin of clear water, take a small amount of potassium permanganate and put it into the water, potassium permanganate can not be too much, so as not to cause egg burning.

4. Artificial hatching: in order to improve the laying rate of turkeys, it is recommended that farmers use incubators for artificial hatching. Using an incubator to hatch chickens is basically the same as our traditional method of incubating chickens. It is worth mentioning that the turkey eggshell is thicker. In order to make the turkey break through the first line of defense of life smoothly, we sprinkle water once or twice a day when hatching to 16 or 17 days, use a small spray pot to be a little thinner, and sprinkle it with about 30 ℃ of water, so that the egg skin can be softened.

5. Incubation temperature: the temperature of turkey eggs was controlled to 38.4 ℃ in 18 days after hatching, 37.5 ℃ in 22 days, 37.5 ℃ in 25 days and 36.8 ℃ in 26-28 days.

6. Incubation humidity: the humidity is 55% / 60% in the early stage of incubation, 50% / 55% in the middle stage, and 65% / 70% in the time of hatching.

7. according to the eggs: after hatching, the hot eggs were taken care of on the 8th, 20th and 25th day after hatching, the development of the embryo was checked, and the azoospermic eggs and dead sperm eggs were picked out in time. When turkey eggs hatch for about 28 days, a large number of turkeys break their shells and emerge from their chicks.

Feeding during the nestling period

The turkey can be transferred to the brooding room for brooding 2 days after hatching, and the brooding period mainly refers to 0-8 weeks after the turkey is hatched. The little turkey should have its own living space after it comes out of its shell, and we have prepared our own crib for the little turkeys. The size of the bed is 150 cm long, 80 cm wide and 100 cm high. A hard plastic net is laid at a height of 60 cm, and sinks and food troughs are arranged on top of the bed. The height of the fishing should be based on the fact that the chicken can eat the food. There should be a stove in the nursery. The main function of the stove is to adjust the temperature and humidity of the nursery.

1. The temperature in the nursery room: the temperature in the nursery room is maintained at 34 degrees Celsius in the first week, and then drops by about one degree a week. If it is on the high side, the chicks drink more water, pull thin dung, open their mouths, gasp, and if on the low side, the chicks press against the heat source to pile up, and screams often occur.

2. Humidity in the nursery: the suitable relative humidity in the nursery is 55%, 65%. If it is on the low side, excessive drinking water will easily lead to dysentery, slow hair growth, no luster, and withered toes. If on the high side, the chicken hair is dirty, messy, poor appetite, prone to disease.

3. Ventilation in the rearing room: when there is poor ventilation in the nursery, the chicks are restless, inactive, dirty and messy feathers, loss of appetite, dysplasia, decreased disease resistance and respiratory diseases.

4. light in the nursery: light has a great effect on the health of chicks. It can increase chicks' appetite, promote metabolism, maintain normal bone development and improve vitality. So keep more than 12 hours of light every day. In the absence of natural light, 40 watt lights can be used for illumination.

5. Feeding density: the feeding density is related to the normal growth and development of chicks. When coming out of the hatchery, the feeding density is generally 100 in one bed, 80 in 5 days and 60 in 15 days.

6. Turkey beak breaking: on the 6th to 7th day after hatching, an important task of the turkey is to break the beak. The purpose of beak breaking is to prevent the turkey from pecking. The method of beak breaking is to open the beak breaker, drag the turkey with the left hand, press the turkey's upper body with the right hand, press the turkey's upper jaw with two index fingers, be careful not to let the turkey's tongue leak out, and then put the tip of the chicken's mouth into the beak hole. To ensure that the beak is safely broken, note: the beak of the little turkey should be broken by 1par 3, not too long, not too short. Too long will infect the chicken, and cutting the beak too short will have no effect.

The feeding of turkeys

When a turkey comes to this world, we have to take care of it in every way. When eating, we have to feed it special feed for chicks. Due to the high temperature and humidity in the chick room, if we feed more feed at one time, the unfinished feed is easy to get moldy and mildew, and the chicken is easy to get sick when eating. Therefore, when feeding turkeys, we should feed appropriate amount of feed many times a day in line with the principles of "less feeding and more adding" and "fresh feed".

The drinking water management of turkeys in the nursery is also an important part of turkey breeding. The drinking water of the turkey must be about 20 degrees Celsius, clean and hygienic, if the water quality is not good, it will also cause the turkey to get sick. Breeders should change their drinking water every 4 to 6 hours to ensure the quality of drinking water for turkeys. The brooding work takes 8 weeks to finish.

Daily feeding and management of breeding turkeys

Eight weeks later, the turkey began to enter the breeding period, after the breeding period, the turkey's physique and disease resistance have been strong, the general temperature difference has little threat to them, and it is easy to manage when breeding. at this time, the breeding method can be in captivity, stocking or a combination of the two.

1. Free-range breeding: in our country, ordinary farmers can adopt the way of free-range breeding. Turkeys raised in captivity should also pay attention to the cleaning of the sink. After cleaning, potassium permanganate solution can be used for disinfection. When grazing, turkeys can freely pick grass, insects to strengthen activities, save feed, usually drive the turkey into the free-range area at about 7: 00 in the morning, and get back at about 4: 00 in the afternoon. After a long time, the turkey has formed a habit. Free-range turkeys only need to be fed pellet feed once a day and keep plenty of water.

2. Captive breeding: in winter, turkeys are not suitable for free breeding. The henhouse should be sealed with plastic sheeting and begin to be kept in captivity. The feed ratio of captive feeding and breeding turkey is basically the same. Generally speaking, the turkeys hatched after we buy breeder chickens are not recommended to be used as breeder chickens. Can only be sold as a commercial chicken. After raising commercial turkeys for three to four months, they can be sold as commodities. At this time, the turkeys are tall and tall. Some species of turkeys can be up to one meter tall, and adult turkeys weigh more than 30 kilograms.

Daily management of turkey

The daily management of turkey mainly includes disinfection, epidemic prevention and so on.

1. Do a good job in environmental hygiene: remove all kinds of pollutants in the field in time, disinfect regularly, and choose disinfectants that are safe to people and poultry, non-corrosive to equipment and no toxic residue. Outsiders must undergo strict disinfection, especially at the bottom of the shoes. The farm is cleaned and disinfected twice a day, the first time around 7: 00 in the morning and the second around 4: 00 in the afternoon. The disinfection is conducted by alternating the classic povidone iodine 1butanol 300 aqueous solution and decylmethylammonium bromide solution 1virol 300 aqueous solution to avoid drug resistance. Disinfect once, clean again, and then disinfect again.

2. Prevent feed mildew: due to more Rain Water and high humidity in summer, concentrate feed is prone to mildew, which leads to turkey mold poisoning. Therefore, managers should be responsible for drying feed in sunny weather, banning moldy feed and putting an end to poisoning incidents. When using materials, they should be quantified regularly and added less frequently. Usually pay attention to group management, proper exercise, keep quiet, pay attention to hygiene.

3. Turkey disease prevention and control: "if you have a wealth of money, those with hair do not count", so in the process of breeding, it is very important to do a good job in turkey disease prevention. Turkeys often get sick mainly from common pecking wounds and Newcastle disease.

① ordinary pecking wound we only need to use cotton balls dipped in potassium permanganate to reduce inflammation.

② Newcastle disease is a common disease in poultry breeding, as long as we do a good job of epidemic prevention, this disease can be avoided, we usually carry out epidemic prevention work once a year, 7-9 days old turkeys, Newcastle disease Ⅳ vaccine 2 feathers drinking water; 30 days old Newcastle disease Ⅳ vaccine 2 feathers drinking water; 56 days old Newcastle disease Ⅰ vaccine subcutaneous or intramuscular injection.