Victoria turkeys: breed description and cross-country characteristics, weight table and content

Victoria cross turkeys are bred in Russia, near Stavropol. For breeding, white broad-breasted turkeys were used. The resulting cross belongs to the light ones (weight up to 15 kg) and is intended for growing on farms with a small number of livestock. Consider the description and characteristics of Victoria turkeys, the pros and cons, the technology of keeping and breeding, feeding and care at home.

Description and characteristics of the Victoria breed

According to the standard, turkeys should be of a compact build, with well-developed muscles, and have a small head relative to the body.The plumage of birds is pure white, without the admixture of feathers of other colors. Cross Victoria is characterized by high egg production, the offspring of the broad-breasted breed carry up to 5 eggs per week. For 4 months, when females rush, you can get up to 85 eggs. Turkey egg weight - 85 g. Big cross turkey meat has a tender structure, is completely digestible, not fatty, contains a lot of proteins.

Weight chart

Victoria turkeys grow fast, slaughter them at 5 months. The table shows how much they can weigh at this age.

Age	Male	Females
5 months	13 kg	9 kg

Adult turkeys left to breed may gain more weight.

Pros and cons of turkeys

Pros and consbirds are resistant to stress, cold, so you can keep them in any climatic regions;can be fattened on free pasture;turkeys have strong immunity, the survival rate is 95%;hatchability in an incubator - 75%;profitability of fattening - 3 kg of feed is spent on the growth of 1 kg of meat;dietary meat.shortage of breeding young and hatching eggs;fertilization must be carried out artificially, as sometimes males inflict injuries on turkeys during mating.

The breed has no other disadvantages.

Cultivation and maintenance

Keep Victoria turkeys in a free room for them. The poultry house should not be cold or, conversely, hot, damp and dark, there should be no drafts. The room should have windows, ventilation, artificial lighting. Light day should last 10-12 hours all year round, even in winter.In cold weather, it is necessary to provide additional heating, despite the resistance to cold, birds do not like extreme cold.

The floor of the house should be covered with straw, sawdust, shavings, hay or peat. The thickness of the bedding layer is at least 15 cm. To prevent pathogenic microflora from multiplying in the bedding material, you need to regularly add a fresh layer.

Victoria cross turkeys love to swim in the sand, so they clean their feathers and get rid of parasites. To do this, in the house you need to put a bowl with sand or dry ash. Representatives of the Victoria cross can spend the night on the floor and perches.

In the poultry house, you need to provide a place for nests where turkeys will lay eggs, a place for feeders and drinkers. The dimensions of the feeders must be calculated based on the fact that each head has a length of 20 cm. It is recommended to choose drinkers of such a design that the birds do not spill water, from which the litter will become wet.

As with other birds, for Victoria turkeys, you need to organize a walking yard next to the housing. It is necessary to block it with a net, make a canopy from above to protect it from rain.

What to feed the bird?

The Victoria turkey cross belongs to the broiler group. To reap the benefits of a fast metabolism, you need to provide your birds with a nutritious diet that will help them gain weight quickly.

You need to feed turkeys 3 times a day. In the mornings and evenings, give grain mixers or compound feed, during the day - greens. In summer, grass and succulent feed (any vegetables and root crops, substandard and carrion can be used as feed for turkeys) should make up half of the diet, the rest - grain mixtures. Cake, bran, bone meal and fish waste should be mixed with grain of different varieties. In winter, you need to diversify food with silage, hay flour, fresh root crops and vegetables. Feed with boiled potatoes, add chalk, premixes, s alt to the mixers.Clean water is a must.

Breeding Rules

A family of turkeys can consist of 1 male and a dozen females. Turkeys begin to rush in the middle of spring, incubation lasts a month. If the female expresses a desire to sit on the eggs, 18-20 eggs are placed under her.

Good hens are obtained from females 2-4 years old, males for breeding should be selected from those who are 2-4 years old.

Victoria turkeys are considered caring mother hens. They may not even get up from the nest, so you need to make sure that they eat, sometimes for this they need to be removed from the nest by force. When the turkeys hatch, the mothers take care of them responsibly, and can stay with the brood even when the chicks are almost adults.

What you need to know about baby care

After the appearance of Victoria turkey poults, they, together with the female, need to be deposited separately, in a small room or paddock. This will provide them with protection from other birds, allow the turkey to calmly teach them everything that is required. A brood of turkeys should be in the fresh air from the first days. Turkey poults are sensitive to a lack of vitamin D, they get it while in the sun.

The diet of young turkeys is different from the diet of an adult bird. First, the chicks are given soft food that they are able to digest - a mixture of boiled chopped eggs, cottage cheese, boiled oats or millet. Greens are added to the mixture. Then grated carrots, zucchini and other vitamin ingredients are gradually added. 6-week-old turkeys are taught to eat whole grains. The frequency of feeding small turkeys is 6-8 times a day. By 2.5 months of age, the frequency should be reduced to 3 times a day.

If the birds have not eaten their food, after half an hour it must be removed, put water. At first, Victoria turkey poults should be given only wet mash, but from 3 weeks they should also be accustomed to dry food. At this age, corn, the most nutritious grain, can be introduced into the diet. In a separate container in the house, small pebbles should be poured, which are necessary for the birds for normal digestion.

Possible diseases

Under the required conditions of keeping, care and feeding, Victoria turkeys rarely get sick. But if they are broken, you can expect infectious diseases, parasitic diseases. Digestive disorders and metabolic diseases occur due to improper, nutritionally unbalanced nutrition. Novice poultry farmers may make mistakes in compiling a diet, so even before buying young animals, you need to determine the most useful products and calculate the consumption rate.

Victoria turkeys can suffer from helminthic diseases, parasites enter the bird's body from infected relatives through dirty bedding stained with droppings. Therefore, the cleanliness of the litter must be impeccable. The same applies to feeders and drinkers from where birds get their food. Wash and disinfect inventory every month.

Prevention of infections in turkeys is considered vaccination, it must be carried out without waiting until the turkeys get sick. If this has already happened, antibiotic treatment is carried out. Prevention of helminthiases - soldering young animals, fattening birds and breeding individuals with anthelmintic drugs.

Victoria turkeys and external parasites - lice, fleas, peroody can annoy. Folk methods of control and prevention - installation of containers with ash or sand in the house for turkeys.Bathing in them, turkeys clean their feathers and prevent parasites from multiplying. If this does not help, the treatment of birds with preparations for lice and pereeds will save the birds. Moreover, it should affect not only infected birds, but also he althy ones. This is necessary so that the parasites do not spread in the flock.

Victoria broiler cross is popular with poultry farmers. They note the useful characteristics of turkeys - rapid growth, egg production, unpretentiousness. Valuable qualities allow the breed to be in demand in industrial poultry farms, farmers and private owners of poultry. Private traders grow turkeys for their own consumption, farmers - for profit from turkey farms.

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