Turkeys Join the Poultry Revolution

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Contact:
Alee Marsh
alee.marsh@storey.com
413.346.2116
Turkeys Join the Poultry Revolution

In the 12 years since the original edition of Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys was published, the backyard poultry movement has undergone a revolution. There’s been a surge in small-scale poultry farming in response to consumer demand for the best flavors, new organic standards, the lifting of local ordinances, locavore activism, and a deep enthusiasm for heritage breeds.

Turkeys are at the center of this revolution. Don Schrider’s all-new edition of Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys includes detailed information on everything today’s turkey farmer needs to know: the characteristics of various heritage breeds, humane raising practices, buildings and equipment, pastured feeding methods, protection from predators, incubation and breeding, organic certification standards, on-farm processing guidelines, backyard raising techniques, and the most up-to-date medical and care procedures. Marketing information, profiles of turkey farmers, and detailed illustrations complete this comprehensive reference book.

This important new edition is a highly valuable addition to Storey’s best-selling series. With over 1.9 million copies in print, the Storey’s Guide to Raising series is the most trusted source of essential animal husbandry information. With this new edition of Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys, the next generation of turkey farmers has all the information required to raise birds — naturally and profitably.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys helps bring the American Poultry Association Standard Bred turkeys back from the brink of extinction and restore their presence on the family farm. Without everyone’s efforts, these birds will become simply a memory. With the wonderful help of a book like this, these magnificent varieties of turkeys, which are of great value to agriculture, have the best possible chance of survival.
— Frank R. Reese, Jr., Good Shepherd Poultry

ABOUT THE AUTHOR          
Don Schrider is a poultry aficionado and has written on the topic for many publications, including Mother Earth News, Backyard Poultry, Chickens, Countryside and Small Stock Journal, and Poultry Press. He is a master breeder of Brown Leghorn and Buckeye chickens and has worked with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy on various projects.  

Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys, 3rd Edition
Don Schrider
Storey Publishing, February 2013
Illustrations throughout, 320 pages, 6″ x 9″
$19.95 paper, ISBN 978-1-61212-149-9
$29.95 hardcover, ISBN 978-1-61212-150-5

The Fall Molt

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Written By Don Schrider

Early fall is the time our chickens change their feathers. As winter approaches, this provides birds with a brand new set to give them the best possible protection from cold, wind, and precipitation (snow, rain, and ice). It is a great advantage for our birds to change their natural “clothing” each year just when they need the most protection.
This annual change of feathers is called a “molt”, and the fact that it coincides with the reduced daylight of fall and winter is no accident. In poultry, light stimulates the pituitary gland, causing hormone production. This in turn causes tissues to elongate and soften, including the ovaries, and results in egg production. As day length shortens, hormone production slows and egg production ceases.
We also have feather moisture at play. When feathers are first growing, the body is able to supply the feather follicles with nutrients – the follicles are soft , moist, and sensitive. As the feathers complete their growth, nutrients are directed toward other bodily activities – such as egg production. During egg production, much of the nutrition consumed is directed into the eggs. After months at peak production, little to no nutrition is available to the feathers, so they begin to dry out. This drying out is enhanced as the body seeks to find enough calcium to form eggs. The result is not only dry feathers, but brittle feathers that begin to wear and even break. As day length lessens, molt begins and the birds have new feathers just in time for cold weather.
In order to grow a good set of feathers, and for those feathers to last as long as possible, our poultry need good nutrition. This starts with a balanced diet having a good level of protein and vitamins. A good supplement can help ensure that adequate levels of oils and nutrients are available when poultry need them the most. Omega Ultra Egg™ offers a host of benefits as a supplement for molting poultry. The natural oils help produce wider, stronger, more weather resistant feathers. It also helps extend the useful life of feathers, these same oils making the feathers less brittle. The calcium and vitamins Omega Ultra Egg™ contains help provide increased levels of those needed nutrients.
So why are oils important? Natural oils help repel water – keeping the body of a chicken warm and dry on damp days. Oils also help maintain flexibility and prevent the feathers from losing moisture as their structures endure use over prolonged periods. Essentially, the internal moisture content of feathers ensures that the feather barbules, the small, hook-like structures that web together to form feathers, are flexible from the inside so that they do not break open. When feather moisture is lost, either from the surface becoming brittle or from the internal feather structure becoming brittle and breaking, the feathers begin to wear more quickly and lose their insulating and protective properties. Brilliant feather sheen is the result of good oils in the diet and of good feather moisture levels.
Calcium and protein also both play a role in feather makeup and quality. Protein is the main building block the body uses to grow and to produce feathers. Some producers find higher quality feathers produced from low protein feeds – causing slower feather growth and thus longer periods for the hens being out of production. My own experience, and that of those I have mentored, has been that better feather quality, and less time out of production, come when feeding higher protein feed (usually 18-22% protein feeds). Feathers contain calcium carbonate, and thus calcium is needed to grow and maintain good feathers. When hens are laying and there is too little or just enough calcium in their diets, feathers become brittle and hens may even peck at each other’s feathers a bit to gain this much needed nutrient. After all, there are no eggs if there is no shell; and we all know egg shells are made of calcium.
Extra nutrition is needed anytime birds undergo stress. Molt and peak production are just two examples of stress. Bad weather or harassment by dogs or small children are two others. The best plan is to have this supplemental nutrition incorporated as a regular part of the poultry diet. In this way, there is no deficiency to overcome or to aggravate a weakened condition.
I use Omega Ultra Egg™ as a supplement all year round. Not only do my birds have healthy feathers, it ensures that my birds have supplemental nutrition from which to pull during times of stress. The fact that the oils in Omega Ultra Egg naturally have the correct balance between Omega 3 and Omega 9 fatty acids, and that the eggs the hens are healthier for me is just icing on the cake.
So as you care for your birds during their time of molt, be sure that they receive everything they need to produce strong, healthy feathers that will last them through the winter until molting season next year. You will have happier hens and more eggs for your efforts.
Text copyright © Don Schrider, 2012. All rights reserved.
Don Schrider is a nationally recognized poultry breeder and expert. He has written for publications such as Backyard Poultry, Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Mother Earth News, Poultry Press, and the newsletter and poultry resources of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. He is the author of the revised edition of Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys, which is due for publication this fall and will be available at bookstores by January, 2013.