TURKEY FARMING IN GHANA.

The production of turkey for meat in Ghana is not as common as that of chicken.

Turkeys are not popularly reared for eggs either because their eggs are few, but they are big.

Turkeys are easy to care for when reared on an extensive management system where they are allowed to move freely to forage and food.

They are slow to mature, and this is one of the reasons why their commercial production is low.

Turkeys are poor breeders in terms of incubating their eggs to hatch.

Natural mating among turkeys tends to be a big problem when good pairs are not properly matched, resulting in unfertilized eggs of poor hatching ability.

There are now lighter breeds of turkeys which are suitable for drier tropical areas under a semi-intensive management system, despite the several problems facing turkey production in the tropics.

Breeds of turkey

The following are examples of some of the popular breeds of turkey suitable for breeding in Ghana:

• Broad-breasted Bronze (Large Bronze).
• Broad-breasted White (Large White).
• Bestville-Small White (Small White)
• Norfolk black

Management of Turkey Farm

The management of turkeys depends on the following;

• production purpose,
• land available
• and feed availability

Turkeys can be kept on all three kinds of housing management systems, namely

• intensive,
• semi-intensive,
• and extensive.

Among the three, the semi-intensive is the most suitable one in Ghana, where forage abounds, but you can equally try the other systems.

Breeding in Turkey

• Natural breeding in turkey is problematic because the number of eggs is few and are unfertilized, with a very low probability of hatching.
• A good breeder should be a prolific egg producer capable of laying 95 to 125 eggs over the breeding season of 4 to 5 months.
• Turkeys are used for breeding when they are one year old.
• The male should show mating vigour and must be young to run with the females.
• The mating ratio is 1 stag to about 10 hens in pen breeding, but on the semi-intensive and extensive systems, it is 1 stag to about 15 hens or more.
• Turkey hens would prefer secluded areas to lay their eggs and to build their nests.
• The eggs for incubation are normally collected fresh and fumigated at about 29.8°C to kill bacteria.
• The eggs for incubation should have a good shape and shell texture.

Egg incubation may be done by;

• Natural methods
• Artificial methods.

Natural Incubation Method

• It is natural to allow turkey hens to hatch their chicks, but due to their poor broodiness, most farmers prefer to incubate the eggs under a broody domestic fowl hen.
• The domestic hen should be given about 7 to 8 turkey eggs for hatching.
• If it becomes necessary to use turkey hens, only 14 eggs should be given.
• In each case, the nest must be stuffed with straw and protected from rats and other vermin.
• The incubation period is 28 days for a turkey egg.

Artificial Incubation Method

• A cabinet-type incubator may be used for artificial incubation.
• Under this condition, the egg must not be turned on the first and twenty-fourth day after setting.
• The eggs are tested for fertility on the twenty-fourth day of the 28-day incubation period.

Brooding of Poults

• The brooding period takes about 6 weeks for poults, but in warm climates, 3 to 5 weeks may be enough.
• Brooding of poults is carried out in the same way as domestic fowl chicks by using a source of heat and a heater.
• The chick guard is provided for the first few days, and the initial temperature is adjusted to 35°C and reduced gradually to 21°c.
• A very high level of sanitation involving litter, feeding, and drinking equipment cleanliness has to be maintained to prevent bacterial infection.
• The brooder house should be well-ventilated and insulated to provide the warmth that the poults need.
• For the first 3 weeks in the brooder house, a floor space of about 0.08 m² is adequate.

Making Housing for Your Turkey

• Turkeys require an open house or shed, with the exception of the poults, which require a well-protected brooder house against the cold.
• There are two main housing units, namely the movable folder units and the open-shed or pole-shed units.
• The movable fold unit is built of wood and roofed with corrugated aluminium sheets.
• This house is usually put on a grass run and moved from one place to another.
• The fold unit is not popular in Ghana (but a few people who tried said it is very good and effective)
• The pole-shed housing unit is the most common and consists of roofed corrugated aluminium sheets.
• It has to provide a floor space of 0.34 cm² for hens and 0.6 m² for stages.
• The floor may be built of concrete and covered with wood shavings.

Feeding Your Turkey

There are four main types of rations in turkey production, namely; starter, rearer, fattener and breeder rations.

• The rations of turkeys must be sufficiently balanced with the vitamins and trace minerals, as turkeys are sensitive to deficiencies in vitamins and minerals.
• It is always advisable to add both a coccidiostat and anti-blackhead drugs to the starter ration for poults in their first 6 weeks.
• In rearers and fatteners, the rations must contain an anti-blackhead drug to prevent them from contracting blackhead disease.
• The starter ration is made up of 30% crude protein and should be given from the first day to the fifth week.
• The starter ration needs no grit.
• The rearer ration is fed to turkeys between the ages of 6 – 12 weeks, and it is made up of 26% crude protein.
• The fattener ration is made up of 17% crude protein, and it is fed to fattener turkeys of ages 12 weeks up to slaughter age.
• The breeder turkey must be fed on a ratio of 18% crude protein for about 4 – 6 weeks before eggs for hatching are collected.
• A breeder turkey needs about 16g of grit or oyster shell each day in the ration.
• All the rations must be prepared from carbohydrate sources such as maize meal, wheat bran, and sorghum meal.
• The main protein sources are fish meal and soya bean meal.
• Forage meals are mainly grass meals and other green vegetables, including cocoyam leaves.

Sanitation Practices Involved in Turkey Production

• Floor litter should not be allowed to get damp.
• Provide adequate and good ventilation.
• The house must have adequate space for the turkeys to move freely, which may prevent the spread of diseases.
• Feeding and drinking troughs have to be cleaned each day.
• Avoid giving stale feed to the turkey.
• Change litter materials as often as possible.
• Good hatchery hygiene practices have to be followed to reduce the incidence of bacteria infection in day-old poults.
• Turkeys have to be put on a well-planned rotation system on a range.
• Early separation of sick birds from the flock is needed to prevent the spread of diseases.
• The young turkeys have to be separated from the adults to prevent the possible attack of blackhead disease, which is an infectious disease.

Diseases that can Affect Your Turkey: How to Identify and Prevent Them.

Turkeys are attacked by several diseases, but the most common and serious ones are;

• blackhead
• and aspergillosis.

BLACKHEAD DISEASE.

• It is a protozoan disease caused by Histomonas maleagridis.
• The main source of infection is the caecal worm (Hate rakis gallinanum) when it is ingested by turkeys.
• Blackhead disease spreads through direct contact with feed, water, and droppings.
• And also spread when reared on a limited floor space.
• It usually affects young poults under 3 months and may result in a high rate of death.
• However, older ones may also be affected, and affected turkeys become listless, weak with ruffled feathers.
• They become emaciated and have sulphur-coloured diarrhoea.
• The disease is fully established when birds show black colour around the head.

To prevent blackhead disease;

• Avoid housing young poults and adults together.
• Caecal worm, which is a vector for the protozoan, is eliminated by using recommended antihelmintics.
• Strict hygiene must be practiced by disinfecting the farmhouses.
• Birds must be given fresh water regularly.

ASPERGILLOSIS

• Aspergillosis is a fungal disease caused by Aspergillus fumigates
• The disease is spread by contact and inhalation of spores of the fungus on a contaminated floor.
• Affected birds lose their appetite and show increased thirst, and show difficulty breathing by gasping for air with rapid breathing and eye.

To prevent this disease;

• Isolate all affected poults as early as possible
• Good sanitation in pens, feed, water equipment, and floor litter.
• Use of antibiotic drugs to improve the feeding of poults.

Characteristics of the breeds of turkey.

Bestville-Small White (Small White)

• It is an English breed of turkey.
• Bestville-Small White is a good quality egg layer.
• Produces broiler meat.
• It has a very high fertility and hatchability.
• Legs are pinkish white.
• Females lay brown speckled eggs of better quality than the Broad-breasted white.
• Eggs are relatively high in fertility.

Broad-breasted White (Large White).

• Broad-breasted White is an American breed of turkey and a poor breeder.
• But produce good meat.
• Feathers are white and attractive.
• Eggs are speckled brown.
• The legs are pinkish white.
• The mature female and male weigh about 12 kg and 18 kg, respectively, on average.

Broad-breasted Bronze

• Broad-breasted Bronze is also an English breed of turkey and a very heavy breed.
• Poor reproduction ability results from poor eggs of low hatchability.
• High feed conversion ability.
• Feathers are bronze in colour.
• The female and male weigh 10 kg and 18 kg, respectively.

Norfolk black

• Norfolk black is an English breed of turkey with good-quality eggs.
• Good quality meat.
• Legs are greenish-grey.
• Eggs are speckled brown.
• Feathers are black and short.
• A female is a good producer and shows good characteristics of broodiness.

Follow to join WhatsApp Channel

Telegram Channel