Changes in How Turkeys are Grown Commercially

     Turkeys are the only farm animal that is native to North America. Wild turkeys were very plentiful when the first settlers arrived in the United States. However, the number of wild turkeys declined over time due to loss of habitat, excessive harvesting for food, and predators. Due to efforts of wildlife personnel, the wild turkey numbers are increasing in most areas of the Eastern United States.
     The commercial turkey industry has changed greatly over the years. Originally, turkeys were grown in houses early in life and given supplemental heat and were transferred outside to so called “ranges” after they were old enough to tolerate outside temperatures. Usually under Ohio conditions, turkeys were hatched in early spring and placed on ranges at about eight weeks of age. They were marketed just before Thanksgiving. When range rearing was the most popular form of growing turkeys, most of the turkeys were consumed as whole birds at Thanksgiving and at Christmas. Range rearing limited the availability of turkeys to certain times of the year in most of the northern United States.
     Gradually, the turkey industry changed from range rearing to growing turkeys in confinement and currently almost all turkeys are grown in houses. With the change in housing, turkeys are produced year round. Currently, a large amount of turkey meat consumed is in the form of further-processed value-added turkey products such as turkey bologna, turkey ham, turkey wieners, and other similar products and the consumption of whole turkeys has remained rather constant in recent years.
     What is the relative performance of turkeys grown on range and in houses? Research studies have indicated that turkeys generally grow faster when grown on range. However, more turkeys are lost to predators such as foxes, dogs, and owls and wild birds eat a lot of the feed. Exposure to wild birds also increases the possibility of disease outbreaks in range-reared turkeys. Economically, the profits from range-reared turkeys and turkeys grown in houses are about the same when housing costs are taken into consideration. A major factor in the change from range rearing to confinement rearing was the feasibility of year round production of turkeys.

                                                                             Karl Nestor