Am in the Philippines and want to start raising turkeys. Can anybody help me with basic information or guide?
Image by Bob n Renee
Andrew is raising Turkeys for his 4H project. He has six but with the high mortality rate he hopes to have two left by fair time.
Question by R C: Am in the Philippines and want to start raising turkeys. Can anybody help me with basic information or guide?
I am a virgin at raising birds but want to tap an untouched resource until now. Most Filipinos don’t eat the bird because they are ‘ugly’ and although I find that hilarious after trying some of the things they DO eat I also want to start a business. I’ve done a lot of research and this is one of the few things I’ve decided on. You can checkout oyapman.com for other areas I may need help in especially if you ever planning on visiting the Philippines. Anyway, I can get ‘coconut’ land and and the whether is either hot and dry or hot and rainy at average about 80 to 90+ degrees and only in the 70’s at night. I could use any help I can get and all I need to do here is find the starter birds and go from there. I realized the need when I ended up with meatloaf and fried chicken for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope I get some answers without leads to places where I can purchase books or information like the last time I tried looking for help here. thanks and I hope to hear soon.
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
One Response to Am in the Philippines and want to start raising turkeys. Can anybody help me with basic information or guide?
Leave a Reply
First things first is what breed are you looking for? Raising turkeys can be a real challenge for many reasons. If you want to raise them yourself (where they lay eggs and reproduce) you need to be aware of which breeds CAN reproduce by themselves. Many domestic turkeys cannot reproduce without artificial insemination. Make sure you know your breeds.
Second problem, turkeys are STUPID. They have to be shown their food for the first week or so, or they will starve. They also manage to kill themselves creatively; if you have wire mesh they can strangle themselves on, any light they might be able to jump up on and fall from, or any other odd and unlikely hazard.
Other than that, if you allow the mother to raise her own young, let nature deal with the problems. If you get chicks to raise, remember that they are very susceptible to chills and need to be heated for at least a month.
That said, while I wish you good luck with turkeys, I wonder if you’ve considered ducks? I raise muscovy ducks and wish I had such a suitable climate. They need little care, eat anything, are excellent at raising their own young. They breed like mad, having fifteen babies every three to four months, and they get up to eighteen pounds if raised properly. The eggs, meat, and feathers are all good. Muscovy (aka barbary) duck is an excellent low fat meat duck, and the feathers are used for down filling.
Just a suggestion, since you’re new to raising birds… it might be good to start with something a little easier is all.
Good luck.
Theresa A
August 27, 2011 at 5:51 am