Care and management

of turkey, duck and

quail
Turkey
Debeaking
Poults should be debeaked to control
feather picking  and cannibalism.
Debeaking can be done at day old or 3-
5 weeks of age. Remove the beak at
about one half the distance from nostril
to the tip of the beak.
Desnooding
Removal of the snood or dewbill is
to prevent the head injuries from
picking and fighting. At the day old
the snood can be removed by
shumbnail or finger pressure. At 3
weeks of age it can be cut off close
to the head with sharp scissors.
Detoeing or toe clipping:
Clipping is done at day old by
removing the tip of the toe just to
the inside of the outer most toe pad
including the entire toenail.
Catching and handling of turkeys:
Turkeys of all age group can be easily driven
from one place to another with the help of a
stick. For catching turkeys a darkened room
is best, wherein they can be picked up with
both legs without any injury. However,
mature turkeys should not be kept hanging
for more than 3-4 minutes. The
temperament of turkeys is usually nervous;
hence they get panicky at all stages. Hence
entry of visitors in to the turkey's house
should be restricted.
Feed: The methods of feeding are
mash feeding and pellet feeding.
The energy, protein, vitamin and mineral
requirements for turkeys are high when
compared to chicken.

Since the energy and protein requirements

for the both sexes vary they must be reared
separately for better results.
Feed should be given in feeders and not on
the ground.

Whenever change is made from one diet to

another it should be carried out gradually.
Turkeys require a constant and clean
water supply at all times.
Provide more number of water
during summer
Feed turkeys during the cooler parts
of the day during summer.
Provide shell grit at the rate of 30-
40gm per day per bird to avoid the
leg weakness.
Green feeding
In intensive system, greens can be
fed up to 50% of the total diet on
dry mash basis. Fresh Lucerne is first
class green feed for turkeys of all
ages. Apart from the Desmanthus
and Stylo can be chopped and fed
turkeys to reduce the feed cost.
Insemination in hens:
Artificial insemination is done when the
flock attains 8-10% egg production.
Inseminate the hens every three weeks
with 0.025-0.030 ml of undiluted semen.
After 12 weeks of the season it may be
better to inseminate every fortnight.
Inseminate the hen after 5-6' 0 clock in
the evening.
The average fertility should be 80-85%
over a 16 week breeding season.
Marketing of turkeys
The meat of turkey has nutritional and sensorial
properties which make it almost ideal raw
material for rational and curative nutrition. The
turkey can produce 30gm of digestible protein
from 100gm feed. The dressing percentage of
turkey is 80-87%, which is highest of all farm
species.
The body weight of tom and hen turkey at the
16th week is 7.26 kg and 5.53kg. This is
optimum weight for marketing the turkeys.
The cumulative feed efficiency at the marketing
should be 1:2.8 for toms and 1:2.7 for hens.
 Average Body Total feed Cumulative feed
Weight (Kg) consumption (Kg) efficiency

Age in weeks

Male Female Male Female Male Female

Up to 4th week 0.72 0.63 0.95 0.81 1.3 1.3

Up to 8th week 2.36 1.90 3.99 3.49 1.8 1.7

Up to 12th week 4.72 3.85 11.34 9.25 2.4 2.4

Up to 16th week 7.26 5.53 19.86 15.69 2.8 2.7

Up to 20th week 9.62 6.75 28.26 23.13 3.4 2.9

Breast blisters:
They are much more common in
toms then in hens. They are
believed to be caused by continuous
irritation of the skin that covers the
breastbone.
Care and management of ducks
How to Care For Laying Ducks
For better egg production, you have to
manage them well and take good care of
them. You have to apply the same rules in
caring for your ducks for both in your own
backyard flock or if you run a large scale duck
egg production business. Here we are
describing about how to care for laying ducks.
Follow all the process and your ducks will be
happy, healthy and produce their maximum.
Feeding
Regular feeding habit of duck affects it’s health.
Egg production and egg quality of an egg laying
duck are greatly influenced by the food that she
is eating. So, it’s very important to feed your
laying ducks balanced diet feed containing
sufficient amount of necessary vitamins and
minerals. A feed mixture of laying ducks should
contain about 16% to 18% protein. But the
amount of protein can vary according to the
breeds of duck.
Generally, an egg laying duck consume
about 6 to 8 ounces of feed daily. And she
will supplement her diet by scavenging for
bugs or other types of insects, grasses etc.
You can also serve her small treats like
fruits, vegetables, greens or mixed corn.
Always provide sufficient amount of clean
and fresh water to your ducks. Keep
watering pot directly next to the feeder and
make it available for almost all time.
Because without water, the ducks could
choke.
Generally, an egg laying duck consume
about 6 to 8 ounces of feed daily. And she
will supplement her diet by scavenging for
bugs or other types of insects, grasses etc.
You can also serve her small treats like
fruits, vegetables, greens or mixed corn.
Always provide sufficient amount of clean
and fresh water to your ducks. Keep
watering pot directly next to the feeder and
make it available for almost all time.
Because without water, the ducks could
choke.
Housing
Good and comfortable housing is also
another important factor for raising 
egg laying ducks. Overcrowding environment
is certainly not an ideal and comfortable
environment for laying ducks because this
situation can lead to peckish ducks. Proper
ventilation system is a must. 
So, ensure proper ventilation system
in your coop. You have to ensure a
minimum floor space of 3 square
feet per laying ducks. Keep some
large sized nesting boxes inside the
coop. Keep one nesting boxes for
each 3 to 5 ducks. Ensure good
protection for your ducks from
various types of predators.
Lighting
Proper lighting is another important component
for caring your laying ducks. The ability of
producing eggs is mostly dependent on how
much light is present during the day. The amount
of sunlight decreases from July to December and
increases from January to June. When the days
become shorten, increase the amount of artificial
light gradually in in half hour increments at the
beginning and end of each day, until the ducks
are exposed to 14 hours of total light daily.
At the same way decrease the
amount of using artificial light
slowly when the sun stays for long
time. This help the ducks for
producing more eggs and also warm
them during cold winter season.
Other Caring Tips
An egg laying duck will produce her maximum if
she feel less stress that means sticking to a
routine. Complete the feeding and egg collecting
process by the same person and same time daily.
Check the bedding of your laying ducks daily and
always keep it clean and dry. If you are in need of
fertilizing duck’s eggs, then keep one drake for
every 5 to 6 laying ducks. Keeping sufficient
number of drakes is very important. It will help
you preventing aggression and injury.
Swimming water is a must while
mating of ducks. But water is not so
necessary for your laying ducks.
Swimming water is only necessary
during mating or breeding period.
You can use small pool or pond for
making suitable swimming place for
your ducks. They will enjoy
swimming there very much.
Care and management of quail
Housing
  Quails are easier to raise than chicken.
Providing housing and fixtures are not as
difficult as that of chicken. Locally available
materials such as bamboo and used lumber or
galvanized iron can be used to construct the
house and fixtures for quail. the flooring and
sides of the cage can be of bamboo splits
nailed with a distance of 1/2 inch. a plastic
mesh or welded wire can be used in all sides of
the cage to protect the birds from rats. A 4 feet
x 8ft. x 1 foot high cage is recommended for
250-300 layers.
Incubation
  Native quail or pugo hatch their
own eggs. for imported breeds they
do not brood to incubate their eggs,
therefore, an incubator must be be
used.
 How to operate an electric table-top
incubator/ hatcher for quail.
In order to get a higher hatching
efficiency, the incubator should be
properly operated.

1. Check wire connections of the

incubator. Check also electric voltage
[220v] before plugging the incubator.
2.Run the incubator for two days or until
desired temperature [1000 to 1030oF] is
maintained.
3.Arrange the eggs in the egg tray. Do
not load the tray tightly as eggs may be
broken when turning.
4. Check the water pans under the trays
for humidity control before placing the
trays eggs.
5. Place a reminder chart on the
activities to carry out during incubation.
The eggs are arranged in the egg tray before
placing them in the incubator.

Turn the eggs three times a day by passing the

hands lightly over the eggs.
Candle on the 11th day.
Expect hatching on the 16th to 18th day.
Stop turning the eggs three days before
hatching. On hatching day, when the chicks are
out of the shells, the air vent on top of the
incubator should be fully opened to allow
ventilation and facilitates drying out of
feathers.