Turkey
From Poultry Hub
Turkeys are native to North America. They are a type of poultry that belong to the order Galliformes, along with chickens. There are two species of wild turkey: the North American Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) and the Central American Ocellated Turkey (M. ocellata). The modern domesticated turkey was developed from the North American Wild Turkey by the indigenous people of Mexico. Turkeys were taken to Europe by the Spanish, who had found them as a favorite domesticated animal among the Aztecs. The Aztecs used turkeys as a source of protein (meat and eggs) and used the feathers for decoration.
Contents |
Modern turkeys
 Black turkey |
 Bronze turkey |
 Narragansett turkey |
 White turkey |
As with many galliform species, the female (hen) is smaller than the male (tom or stag), and generally less colorful. They have wingspans of 1.5–1.8 meters (almost 6 feet). Male turkeys have a distinctive fleshy appendage that hangs from the beak, called a snood. The usual lifespan for a turkey is 10 years. Pure breed turkeys take around 4-5 months to grow to full size. The hen turkeys take 16 weeks to mature completely, and average around 3.6 kg (8 lb) to 7.2 kg (16 lbs) in weight. The tom turkey takes around 19 weeks and weighs anywhere between 7.2 kg (16 lbs) and 10.8 kg (24 lbs). Larger tom turkeys may weigh up to 18.1 kg (40 lbs). These take a few more weeks to mature. A breeder tom turkey can generate up to 1,500 poults in a hen’s six-month laying cycle.
Commercial turkey breeding hens produce only about 45 live poults (chicks) each year. Turkey eggs take 28 days to hatch.
While some pure breeds of turkey are maintained by poultry fanciers, the turkeys raised commercially for meat are specially bred hybrids (a cross between two or more different breeds). Commercial turkey breeding has resulted in hybrid strains that grow much faster and convert feed to bodyweight much more efficiently than pure breeds. Under ideal conditions with a well-balanced ration, a modern white hybrid turkey would reach 6 kg in weight by 10 weeks of age, with a feed conversion ratio (the ratio of the amount of feed eaten to body weight gain) of about 2:1.
Commercial turkeys are bred specially to have more meat in the breast and thighs. White feathered turkeys are generally preferred, since they do not have unsightly pigment spots on the skin when plucked.
The turkey industry in Australia
In Australia, there are few remaining reliable small hatcheries which provide day-old turkey poults to backyard poultry keepers, while the larger hatcheries supply contract growers. Competition for the small Australian turkey market is very vigorous, with two very large vertically integrated producers (enterprises covering multiple steps of production within the one company, for example a company owning breeder farms, hatcheries and growing farms) and a number of small family operations producing for available outlets. The main commercial turkey used in Australia is the hybrid white bird. For large commercial hatcheries these birds are the progeny of specially selected male and female parent stock. The males are chosen for their body conformation and fast growth rate; the females are chosen for their egg-production ability, lack of broodiness and growth rate.
The steps of commercial turkey meat production are similar in principle to those of commercial chicken meat production. Information on the commercial chicken meat production can be found under breeding chickens, breeder farm sequence and meat chicken farm sequence.
Information on breeding and keeping of turkeys for small backyard producers can be found at The PoultrySite, which contains an article written by Gerry Bolla, NSW Agriculture Livestock Officer (Poultry).
Marketing
Traditionally, turkeys have been bought at Christmas and Easter as big birds, ranging from 2.5 to 5.0 kg plus in size (dressed weight). This requirement is slowly changing as families buy smaller one-meal birds at other times of the year. ‘Further processing’ of turkey portions is enabling the processor to attract a larger share of the consumer’s budget. The consumer can now buy over sixty different cuts of turkey and further processed turkey products such as turkey hams, steaks and sausages (smoked and broiled).
