Some Tips About Turkey Poultry Amid Growing Demand

India is a hotbed of livestock and agricultural resources. The number of people in the country is increasing daily. Apart from that, the importance of livestock and agricultural resources is also increasing. Apart from this, nowadays people are very much interested in agriculture and animal husbandry. If we see that according to the 19th Animal Census of India 2012, the number of animals in India is 512.1 million and the total number of poultry is 72.92 million. The only example I found of people in India taking an interest in animal husbandry was that five percent of India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) came from animal husbandry as per the 2015-2016 calculations.
What is turkey?
The turkey (meleagris gallopavo) is a well-known bird in North America and Europe. This bird can be reared in a very simple manner. This bird is usually reared for meat and eggs. In India this bird rearing started much later. Initially this bird was not much known but later this bird got a lot of recognition and besides many of our states in India have taken a special leading role in turkey rearing. Like West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh etc.

Characteristics of turkey
1) Mainly the meat and eggs of this bird are very tasty and nutritious. This bird is 3.3 to 4.1 feet in length. Besides, their meat is very high in protein (24 percent) and very low in fat (6.6 percent). Besides, their meat contains enough minerals, vitamins and essential amino acids and fatty acids. This meat is very low in cholesterol.
2) Turkeys start laying eggs at 30 weeks of age (about seven and a half months). The average weight of their eggs is 85 grams. A hatchling weighs about 50 grams. They lay 80 to 100 eggs a year. The easiest way to recognize their eggs is by the different colored spots.

Advantages of turkey rearing
This bird grows very fast. This bird can be kept in free range in the backyard very easily. Very profitable for small and marginal farmers. Turkey eggs weigh 1.3 times more than chicken eggs. So the market price is very high. The immune system of these birds is much higher than that of chickens. The market price of turkey meat is very high (about 500 to 600 taka per kg).
Turkey breeds
There are seven world-famous species of turkeys, such as White Holland, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Black, Slate, Bronze, Belted, and Small White. Breeds like Broad Breasted Bronze (BBB), Broad Breasted Barasada, Belt Sunil Chhota Saada, etc. are mostly reared for commercial production in our country. Moreover, mostly white-variety turkeys are reared in India.

Breeding and hatching methods of turkeys
• Turkeys need one male for every five females to produce eggs. A year old male bird is no longer used for breeding.
• It takes an average of 28 days for their eggs to hatch. But mainly for the convenience of business eggs are hatched artificially with the help of incubators.
• A bird can lay 10 to 15 eggs well. With proper care, 60 to 80 percent of eggs hatch.
• Artificial insemination is also done if necessary.
How to raise a turkey:
Mainly two methods are adopted for rearing turkey:
1) Muktangan method
2) The covering system, which we call deep litter system, is done at home.
• The deep litter system or enclosure system requires four to six square feet of space per adult turkey. 200 to 250 adult turkeys can be reared well on one acre.
• A turkey house is usually best positioned in an east-west orientation. The width of the room is 9 meters and the height is 2.5 to 3.5 meters. The height of the dip litter is initially 2 inches and then it is gradually increased to 3 to 4 inches.