Caring for Christmas turkeys (From Smallholder)

Caring for Christmas turkeys

7:10am Wednesday 30th November 2011 in Poultry

Although you may think that the hardest part of rearing turkeys for Christmas is over, having got them to nearing slaughter, now is not the time to drop any standards.

The turkeys need your committed care and attention until your customers have collected them in boxes. The care that you give them will reap rewards because any slips on health and welfare and you will regret it.

Most turkeys hatched and reared this year will normally get on well together and they will be slaughtered before any thought is given to mating and vying for the females attention. However, if it does look as though you have some precocious males separate them if you are able because the last thing you want is any fighting.

In a matter of minutes you can have turkeys with scratch marks on their head and necks but worse still, if they really begin to kick at one another, the scratches could tear or at least bruise their bodies, in which case the skin and muscle will take time to heal.

Clearly they do not need to be wrapped in cotton wool but it is extremely important to produce a carcass that is clean with no scratches, bruised areas or other unsightly marks on it.

No matter what customers say about being pleased that the turkeys had a natural and normal life, they will not appreciate a carcass for the oven that looks as though it has gone several rounds in a prize fight.

For the full article and images buy the December edition of Smallholder magazine