- Turkey farming requires selecting suitable breeds like Beltsville, Bronze, Bourbon Red, and Black and Slate. Housing can be intensive or free range, similar to chicken housing with adequate space per bird. Feeding requires a balanced, nutritious diet with extra protein and clean water. Proper care and management through vaccination, deworming, and disease prevention is needed to keep turkeys healthy and growing well for marketing between 24 weeks of age and 10-15 kg weight.

1. Turkey

2. Selecting Breeds
• Turkeys are suitable for commercial meat production.
The suitable breeds for farming in India are listed
below.(Species : Meleagris gallopavo)
• Beltsville
• Bronze
• Bourbon Red
• Black and Slate
• Narragansett
• Small White
• White Holland

4. Housing
• For proper growth and management of turkey, good housing is a
must.
• Both intensive and free range system are suitable for raising turkey.
• Turkey housing design has similarity with chicken house.
• As turkeys are big sized poultry bird so cage rearing system is not
suitable for them.
• Most farmer raise them in deep litter system.
• In free range turkey farming system, you can keep about 250 to 300
turkeys in one acre of fenced land.
• In this system you have to ensure 3-4 square feet space per bird for
sheltering during the night.
• And in deep litter turkey farming system, you can raise them in the
same way of raising chickens.
• While making house for the turkeys ensure availability of adequate
floor.
• Keep the house always neat and clean. Make proper ventilation
system. And always try to protect them from all types of predators
and harmful animals.

5. Feeding
• Feeding healthy and nutritious food ensures proper
growth and maximize production. So, it is very
important to feed the turkey well balanced and
nutritious food.
• Generally, the turkeys need about 3.25 kg of feed to
gain 1 kg of body weight.
• You can easily feed your turkeys poultry/chicken feeds
that are available in the market. But you have to add
some extra amount of protein with the poultry feed.
• Along with providing well balanced and nutritious feed,
always try to serve them sufficient amount of fresh and
clean water according to their demand.

7. Care & Management
• Proper care and management can ensure better
production. Turkeys are like other domestic birds.
And they also suffer by various types of diseases
and parasites.
• The most common parasites of turkeys are round
worms and fowl mite.
• Dipping and deworming the birds after a several
period can keep them healthy and help them to
grow well.
• Turkeys also get affected by various types of
fungal, bacterial or viral diseases.

9. • Harmful diseases of turkeys are
• fowl cholera,
• blue comb disease,
• coccidiosis,
• new castle disease,
• arizonosis,
• chronic respiratory disease,
• paratyphoid,
• turkey coryza,
• turkey venereal disease etc.
• Timely vaccination and proper care can keep the birds
healthy and diseases free.

10. Marketing
• Turkey farming and meat consuming rate is
increasing in India.
• In proper care and management, a male turkey
become suitable for slaughtering purpose within
their 24 weeks of age.
• At this age they weigh around 10 to 15 kg. Female
turkeys take slightly more time and weigh less
then the male.
• You can sell your products in almost everywhere.
You can choose your local market and some large
supermarket in the country.