My son's wedding is only 5 weeks away and I'm doing the cooking for about 100 people. I have pork loins coming and two 3 1/2 month old turkeys in the back yard (who will be attending the reception in gravy). Someone just gave me a couple large bags of puppy chow. Here is my question....If I seperate the two from the rest of the younger turkeys, put them in a smaller pen (10X10) and feed them puppy chow (soaked in water) with their regular food, how much weight do you think they will gain in 5 weeks? Would it be significantly more than if I just left them with the rest? What does everybody think?
Fattening a turkey
I don't know much about turkeys...but I know with dual purpose chickens it can be a bit tricky to know when they will start "fattening" as opposed to growing or maturing. I think keeping them fairly inactive and adding extra corn can help. But I don't think they will really fatten until they are physiologically ready.
Here is a thread from BYC that discusses someone trying to fatten a turkey:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=90995
I don't know the answer to your question, but I'll be watching to see how it all works out, Jyl. Congratulations on having a wedding in the offing!
Is puppy chow okay for feeding poultry that's destined for the dinner table, in terms of possible additives and such?
Interesting thread, Catsy! I like that ice-water trick.
load them up with game bird grow feed and scratch
The major reason I was going to go with the puppy chow is the ammount some one gave me.
I see no harm in using it. Either they will grow or get fat. I doubt there is anything harmful to the turkeys or the human turkey-eaters in the puppy chow.