Victoria cross turkeys were bred in Russia, near Stavropol. Used for breeding White broad-breasted turkeys. The resulting cross is light (weight up to 15 kg) and is intended for cultivation on farms with small livestock. Let's consider the description and characteristics of Victoria turkeys, pros and cons, 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 compact build, with well-developed muscles, and have a small head relative to the body. The plumage of birds is pure white, without admixture of feathers of other colors. The Victoria cross is distinguished by its high egg production; the descendants of the broad-breasted breed lay up to 5 eggs per week. In 4 months, when females lay eggs, you can get up to 85 eggs. The weight of a turkey egg is 85 g. The meat of big cross turkeys has a delicate structure, is completely digestible, not fatty, and contains a lot of proteins.
Weight table
Victoria cross turkeys grow quickly and are slaughtered at 5 months. The table shows how much they can weigh at this age.
| Age | Males | Females |
| 5 months | 13 kg | 9 kg |
Adult turkeys left for breeding may gain more weight.
Pros and cons of turkeys
The breed has no other disadvantages.
Cultivation and maintenance
Victoria turkeys should be kept in a room free for them. The poultry house should not be cold or, conversely, hot, damp and dark, and there should be no drafts. The room must have windows, ventilation, and artificial lighting. Daylight 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 poultry 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 bathe in the sand, so they clean their feathers and get rid of parasites. To do this, you need to place a container with sand or dry ash in the poultry house. Representatives of the Victoria cross can spend the night on the floor and on 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 need to be calculated based on the fact that each head is 20 cm long. It is recommended to select drinking bowls of such a design that the birds do not spill water, which will make the litter wet.
What to feed the bird?
The Victoria turkey cross belongs to the broiler group. To take advantage of the benefits of a high metabolism, you need to provide your birds with a nutritious diet that will help them gain weight quickly.
Turkeys need to be fed 3 times a day. Give grain mash or mixed feed in the mornings and evenings, and greens during the day. In summer, grass and succulent feed (any vegetables and root vegetables, substandard and carrion can be used as feed for turkeys) should make up half of the diet, the rest should be grain mixtures. You need to mix cake, bran, meal from bones and fish waste to different types of grain. In winter, you need to diversify your food with silage, hay flour, fresh root vegetables and vegetables.Feed with boiled potatoes, add chalk, premixes, and salt to the mash. Availability of clean water is a must.
Breeding rules
A turkey family can consist of 1 male and a dozen females. Turkeys begin laying eggs in mid-spring; incubation lasts a month. If the female expresses a desire to sit on the eggs, 18-20 pieces 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 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 turkey chicks hatch, the mothers take responsible care of them and can remain with the brood even when the chicks are almost adults.
What you need to know about caring for young animals
After the Victoria turkey chicks appear, they, along with the female, need to be placed separately in a small room or pen. This will provide them with protection from other birds and allow the turkey to calmly teach them everything that is required. A brood of turkeys should be outdoors from the first days. Turkey poults are sensitive to a lack of vitamin D; they receive it while exposed to sunlight.
The diet of young turkeys differs from the diet of adult birds. First, the chicks are given soft food that they are able to digest - a mixture of boiled chopped egg, cottage cheese, boiled rolled 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 introduced to whole grains. The feeding frequency for 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 the food, after half an hour it must be removed and water supplied. At first, Victoria turkey poults should be given only wet mash, but from 3 weeks they should be accustomed to dry food. At this age, corn, the most nutritious grain, can be introduced into the diet. Small pebbles, which birds need for normal digestive function, should be poured into a separate container in the poultry house.
Possible diseases
If the required conditions of keeping, care and feeding are observed, Victoria turkeys rarely get sick. But if they are violated, you can expect infectious diseases and parasitic diseases. Digestive disorders and metabolic diseases occur due to improper, nutritionally unbalanced feeding. Beginning poultry farmers may make mistakes when preparing a diet, so even before purchasing young animals, they need to determine the healthiest 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 soiled with droppings. Therefore, the cleanliness of the litter must be impeccable. The same goes for feeders and drinkers, where birds get their food from. Equipment must be washed and disinfected every month.
Vaccination is considered to prevent infections in turkeys; it should be carried out without waiting for the turkeys to get sick. If this has already happened, treat with antibiotics. Prevention of helminthiases - feeding young animals, fattening birds and breeding birds with anthelmintic drugs.
Victoria and external parasites - lice, fleas, and feather eaters - can annoy turkeys. Traditional methods of control and prevention include installing containers with ash or sand in the turkey house.By bathing in them, turkeys clean their feathers and prevent parasites from multiplying. If this does not help, treating the birds with drugs against lice and feather eaters will save them. Moreover, it should affect not only infected birds, but also healthy ones. This is necessary to prevent parasites from spreading in the flock.
The Victoria broiler cross is popular among poultry farmers. They note the beneficial characteristics of turkeys - fast growth, egg production, unpretentiousness. Valuable qualities allow the breed to be in demand in industrial poultry farms, farmers and private poultry owners. Private owners raise turkeys for their own consumption, farmers - to make a profit from turkey farms.
