Hybrid converter: reviews, characteristics, description, care, feeding hybrid converter turkeys, weight table for turkey poults

Hybrid Converter turkeys, which are incredibly popular among farmers and amateur poultry farmers all over the world, are distinguished by a rare combination of decorative appearance, low maintenance requirements and the ability to quickly gain weight.

This heavy cross was created by Canadian breeders by crossing bronze broad-breasted and white Dutch turkeys in order to quickly produce large volumes of delicious meat. The result obtained more than justified all hopes.

The main characteristics of Hybrid Converter turkeys are presented:

rapid weight gain;
the ability to easily tolerate both cold and heat, allowing them to be kept free-range throughout spring, summer and autumn;
excellent taste of meat, which is a dietary product;
average level of egg production;
high quality fluff, which must be collected at slaughter.

Despite their impressive dimensions, Hybrid Converter turkeys can reach speeds of up to 45 km/h in case of danger. For this feature, farmers jokingly call them “Indo-ostriches.” In addition, they can easily overcome a two-meter height, so the height of the walls surrounding the enclosure must be at least 2.5 m.

Description and characteristics of the bird

The hybrid converter can be described as the heaviest and most voluminous representatives of turkeys. Thanks to this and especially lush plumage, they were given the nickname - Indo-ostrich.

Exterior of the breed

The bird looks very unusual and even defiant. These are the largest birds raised in agriculture. Males tend to be larger in size and more striking in appearance.

Visual characteristics of representatives of the Hybrid Converter cross:

plumage color : white;
head : small in size with a large beak. In males, there is a long scarlet-colored growth-earring on the beak;
tail : in females it is small in size and lowered, in males it is fluffy and looks like a loose shuttlecock;
Dimensions : well-developed muscles of the entire body, wide chest and powerful limbs.

Although broilers are heavy, they are quite mobile. They can easily fly to a height of 2 meters and also run quickly at a speed of about 40 km/h.

Temperament

Within their flock, Hybrid Converter crosses behave calmly and phlegmatically. However, this attitude does not extend to other inhabitants of the poultry farm. They do not get along well with them and can be aggressive.

The value of dietary meat

Turkey meat is dietary, but at the same time juicy and tender. It does not cause allergic reactions and is therefore suitable for children's first complementary foods. It contains a lot of protein, B vitamins and selenium.

Productivity of hybrid turkeys

Hybrid Converter turkeys are the heaviest members of the family. They gain a lot of muscle mass in a short time - males at 5 months weigh in the range from 19 to 24 kg, and females 13–16 kg. Therefore, it is more profitable to raise males for the meat industry.

The bird is sent for slaughter at 4–5 months of life. On average, meat production from a carcass is 81–85%. The breast accounts for 30%.

Poultry Size and Weight Standard

The chick weighs about 50 grams at birth. And thanks to high-quality, balanced nutrition and good housing conditions, Hybrid Converter cross turkeys quickly become heavy.

The table shows weekly poultry weight indicators:

Age of turkeys, weeks	Weight of females, grams	Male weight, grams
1	150	160
2	380	380
3	710	740
4	1160	1280
5	1700	1950
6	2360	2760
7	3160	3760
8	4050	4840
9	4980	6040
10	5940	7370
11	6880	8750
12	7800	10120
13	8660	11500
14	9450	13050
15	10160	14500
16	10820	15990
17	11400	17400
18	11910	18070
19	12370	19910
20	12750	21090
21	13100	22180
22	13540	23240

Egg production of the breed

With moderate nutrition, turkey egg production is 80 eggs per year. If it is transferred to intensive fattening, the number of eggs can increase to 150. They can be consumed both raw and after thermal exposure.

Visually, the eggs are of the correct shape, the shell is smooth and dense to the touch. Their average weight is about 80 grams.

Comparison with other breeds

In addition to the Turkey Hybrid Converter, there are 3 more common breeds of broilers - Big-6, Chidon and Canadian Broad-breasted.

They are united by delicious, high-quality meat and healthy eggs. But each species also has its own characteristics, which affect the conditions of detention and nutrition.

Characteristics	Hybrid Converter	Big 6	Hidon	Canadian broad chested
Average adult weight	Male up to 24 kg Female up to 16 kg	Male up to 20–24 kg Female up to 13 kg	Male up to 20 kg Female up to 10 kg	Male up to 30 kg Female up to 24 kg
Ready for slaughter	21–23 weeks	20 to 30 weeks	20–22 weeks	6 to 15 weeks
Plumage color	White	White with black spot on breast area	White	Black with a hint of bronze
Egg production	80 pcs	100 pieces	90–110 pcs	90 pcs
Breed Features	Precocity Disease resistance Quick adaptation to external conditions Read also: How to make your own apilift for transporting hives?	Precocity Low stress resistance leading to weight loss	Poorly tolerate changing weather conditions, drafts and dampness	Prone to intestinal infections

Causes of death

A change in the behavior of birds becomes an alarming signal - at 3 months, turkeys die en masse if the sick individual is not removed in time.

Signs to look out for:

decrease in the activity of individual individuals;
loss of appetite, refusal of water or increased consumption;
the desire to hide in a secluded place;
lacrimation;
ruffled feathers, patchy baldness;
diarrhea or change in stool structure.

Only a veterinarian can accurately determine why turkeys weaken and die at 3 months - laboratory tests are performed. Individuals showing signs of disease should be immediately isolated from the rest of the population. The causes of death are bacterial, parasitic and viral diseases.

Major diseases

Mycoplasmosis is a form of contagious disease that develops against the background of hypothermia, a deficiency in the diet of vitamins A and B. Birds have impaired vision, lacrimation, and discharge from the beak. Loss of appetite causes exhaustion.

Newcastle disease is of viral origin, it is highly contagious and can quickly (within a few days) lead to loss of livestock. Signs of the disease:

paralysis of legs and wings;
profuse, foul, grayish or green diarrhea;
lethargy.

Treatment is ineffective. Sick birds are destroyed.

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease. Its signs:

loss of appetite;
apathy and lethargy of individuals;
patchy loss of feathers, ruffled appearance;
liquid droppings with blood;
eye damage (conjunctivitis).

The mortality rate is 30%.

Hemophilosis is a runny nose of an infectious nature. Symptoms:

wheezing, shortness of breath;
lacrimation;
swelling of the infraorbital area.

The disease most often develops under poor quality conditions. She cannot be treated.

Paratyphoid is an intestinal infection. It develops as a result of infection of poultry by microorganisms of the genus Salmonella. Death occurs in 70% of cases. Symptoms:

increased thirst;
conjunctivitis;
weakness, unsteady gait, drooping wings.

Treatment is prescribed by a veterinarian. Medicines are added to water, administered by injection, or dropped into the eyes. After removing diseased individuals, the poultry house is disinfected. Birds are given vitamin and mineral complexes to strengthen their immunity.

Features of keeping and caring for turkeys

Turkeys of the Hybrid Converter breed are unpretentious in care. In the summer they can gain weight well on free range, and they can easily endure winter if the poultry house and aviary are properly equipped. Among all heavy broiler breeds, they adapt best and fastest to living conditions.

Poultry house and its arrangement

Arranging a room for keeping crosses directly affects their productivity, especially in winter.

Requirements for poultry house construction:

area per 2 individuals 1 m²;
in winter the air temperature should be +18–20 degrees;
good air ventilation, but without drafts;
good lighting. The light must be on 14 hours a day;
the perch is placed at a height of 80 cm from the floor, it is made of strong timber;
The flooring material is wood, and a layer of sawdust or straw is poured on top.

The poultry house should also have drinkers, feeders and a container with ash or sand. In the latter they “bathe” and thus clean their plumage.

Aviary for walking

The aviary is installed near the poultry house. In winter, turkeys walk 2–3 hours a day, in warm seasons almost all day. Ideally, the area should be calculated as follows: 1 turkey per 1 square meter.

Fence the enclosure with a fine mesh more than 2 meters high. It is better to additionally cover it with a net, as the bird can take off. Grass is planted along the mesh fence of the building.

Rules for keeping young animals and adults

One of the rules for raising turkeys is that adult broilers must be kept separately from young birds.

From birth to 2 weeks, chicks are kept in a warm room at a temperature of 31–34 degrees. From 2 to 4 weeks the temperature is reduced to 25–27 degrees. From the age of one month, young individuals already adapt to the air temperature, as for adult turkeys - +20 degrees.

Next, the young animals are kept in cages with mesh floors or in specially designated pens.

Lighting in the first week of life of turkey poults should be around the clock, and gradually the daylight hours are reduced to 14 hours a day.

Adult Hybrid Converter broilers are kept separately not only from chicks, but also from other types of turkeys and poultry.

And also if there is no goal in reproduction, then females and males also live separately. Nests for turkeys hatching eggs are installed in the darkest corners of the room.

To maintain cleanliness and hygiene, the bedding in the poultry house is replaced every 8 days to eliminate contamination, extraneous odors and excess moisture. There should be a canopy on the territory of the enclosure to protect from direct sunlight.

Features of keeping in winter

Hybrid Converter turkeys tolerate winter calmly if appropriate conditions are created for them. Basic requirements during winter maintenance:

change the litter more often to avoid high humidity;
avoid drafts;
install additional feeders for food and containers with gravel and shell rock;
enrich food with vitamin and mineral supplements;
the temperature inside the poultry house is at least +18 degrees;
walking is possible for 2–3 hours, at an air temperature of at least 15 degrees below zero. While the birds are outside, the house is ventilated.

Under these conditions, broilers continue to gain weight and remain resistant to disease.

Basic rules for summer maintenance

A distinctive feature of this cross is that in the summer they gain weight well when free-range. For farmers, it is beneficial to reduce feed costs, because broilers on pasture eat a lot of green feed, seeds and berries.

Broilers also tolerate heat well, as long as they have shaded shelter and constant access to a drinking bowl with fresh water.

Owner reviews

Veronica, 32 years old, Bryansk region.
Excellent turkeys, unpretentious, the main thing is to ensure cleanliness and warmth. Well, the food is better, of course, ready-made purchased ones; they only respect their own grass, both fresh and hay. But the most important thing that I would like to advise beginners is to try to keep them separate, both from other birds and from animals. Well, they really don’t like competition. And it seems like they don’t get cocky for a while, they keep an eye on it, but then they can arrange something like this. It's better not to take risks. But when you yourself are out for a walk, you can really admire them. Calm, one might even say imposing, we nicknamed the largest main turkey “emperor”.

Maria, 68 years old, Michurinsk
Last spring I moved to my dacha and saw the Hybrids for the first time at my neighbor’s place. Snow-white, huge, proud handsome men immediately attracted my attention. From spring to late autumn, in a poultry house equipped by my son-in-law, I raise poultry and supply my townspeople with meat. So I negotiated with my neighbor for eggs. There is a small working incubator, time and desire. Well, what can I say, almost all of them hatched, but next year I will definitely take hatching eggs from the breeders. And she kept the diet, and the conditions in the poultry house were almost ideal, and the grazing was good, but they somehow turned out to be small. Then I read that hybrids may lose their improved properties in subsequent generations, so I wasted a lot of food. The only good thing is that the meat is really tasty, my grandchildren really like it.

Nikolay, 42 years old, Ishim
I have been raising broiler turkeys for several years now. Now I’ve settled on hybrids - a lot of tasty meat at moderate feed costs. I recommend it to friends and neighbors, especially because of the cross’s resistance to cold weather. Our warm season is short, frosts begin early, and winters are harsh. In winter I keep them in the house, but I also let them out for a walk when the frost is not too severe. The main thing is not for long, and that there is no snow and ice under the paws in the enclosure, otherwise they can get frostbite. I always keep males and females separately indoors.

How to breed and raise offspring

Hybrid Converter broilers are created by breeders from several breeds of turkeys at once. Since this is an artificially created species, the chicks may not adopt the quality characteristics of their parents. Therefore, farmers prefer to purchase eggs for incubation from trusted companies.

Rules for incubating eggs hybrid converter

Eggs intended for hatching turkey poults must be of the correct shape, without compaction or damage to the shell. It is also important that they are of medium size so that the chicks hatch at the same time.

Small eggs are born prematurely, while large eggs take longer to form the fetus. Ultimately, these factors influence the development of broilers.

Like all eggs, they are candled before being placed in the incubator. There is a special device for this - an ovoscope. Under the light it should be visible that the yolk is in the center, around it there is a transparent white with dense layers of light green color.

Step-by-step instructions for incubating eggs:

Warm eggs to room temperature.
Place the eggs in the incubator.
Set humidity and air temperature parameters.
Turn the eggs daily, at least 4 times.
On day 8, illuminate the eggs again with an ovoscope. Remove those with dead embryos and unfertilized ones.
From the 25th day of incubation, the eggs do not need to be turned.
The turkey poults should hatch by day 29.

Table with humidity and temperature indicators in the incubator for hatching turkey poults:

Day	Temperature, °C	Humidity, %	Number of revolutions
1 – 8	37.5 – 38.1	60 – 65	4 – 12
9 – 14	37.6	45 – 50	6
15 – 25	37.5	65	4
25 – 29	27	70	No

Care in the first days of life of turkey poults

After the chicks hatch, they should dry out a little inside the incubator. Next, the Hybrid Converter turkey poults are moved into a brooder box and kept in a room with a temperature of at least 32 degrees Celsius. There should be a separate pen for small animals. Area calculation: 20 chicks per 5 m².

Although the hybrid is famous for its stable immunity, it is still recommended to vaccinate young animals. Also, to maintain health, chicks need drinking bowls with water and regular changes of bedding to prevent the down from getting wet.

Proper diet for turkey poults

Day-old chicks are fed every 3 hours. Food is given on soft bedding to protect the beak from damage. The first feeding consists of a boiled egg and very finely crushed cereal.

The number of feedings is gradually reduced to 7 times a day, and by the month only 4 should remain.

It is better to feed young animals with ready-made specialized feed, such as PK-5, PK-6, PK-12. They are balanced and meet all the requirements for healthy growth and development of chicks.

Often farmers prefer to make their own mash for feeding. It consists of a boiled egg, steamed grain and cottage cheese.

Chick room temperature

After the incubation, the turkey poults are kept in small pens or cages and an infrared heater. The temperature in the room with the chicks decreases gradually, by 1 degree every 2 days.

Age	Temperature
1 – 14 days	31 – 34 °C
15 – 30 days	25 – 27 °C
From 30 days and older	18 – 20°С

Basic lighting rules

Light during the day should be natural from windows, then artificial lighting should be added. In the first week of life, Hybrid Converter turkey poults should have light around the clock. Then the daylight hours are gradually reduced to 14 hours a day.

Price

Ordinary farmers breed Hybrid converter turkeys by incubating eggs or purchasing already grown chicks on the market:

The average cost of a turkey is 500 rubles (if purchased in bulk, the price is usually reduced). The weight of a healthy chick, covered with fluff and without bald spots, should be at least 45 g. An active turkey chick, standing firmly on its legs and responding well to sound, should have a healed umbilical cord and shiny eyes.
The cost of hatching eggs is 130-150 rubles.

It is necessary to purchase eggs and chicks only from reliable nurseries or from trusted sellers.

Suppliers of hatching eggs are also farms from Hungary, France, Canada and Poland. Their transportation is carried out in special transport, which allows maintaining optimal temperature conditions.

Features of proper feeding

Turkeys Hybrid Converter are unpretentious in nutrition. However, for good growth and development they need much more protein than other broilers. Also, vitamin supplements should be present in the feed at any time of the year.

What foods are included in the poultry diet?

The basis of nutrition for the Hybrid Converter cross is: grains of corn, wheat, barley and oats, green feed, legumes, meat and bone meal, vegetables, fruits, chestnuts, nuts, acorns.

To replenish calcium reserves, feeders with chalk and shell rock are installed. A weak solution of potassium permanganate is periodically added to the water.

Rules for feeding young animals

Until the age of one month, young individuals feed 7 times a day. In addition to specialized feed for turkey poults and homemade grain-based mash, the diet should contain:

vegetables – carrots, potatoes, cabbage;
fruits;
fresh greens - young nettles, green onions, alfalfa, carrot tops;
sprouted grains;
dairy products and milk;
chalk and eggshells.

The diet constantly contains additional vitamin and mineral supplements.

Rules for feeding adult birds

Adult Hybrid Converter broilers are fed 4 times a day. It is better to use specialized industrial feed. Its balanced composition meets all the body's nutritional needs.

In summer, while grazing, turkeys independently consume the required amount of green food, from which the body receives vitamins, minerals and fiber. In winter, the feed is supplemented with vegetables, sprouted grains, and salt.

To make your own feed mixture, you need to take into account the correct proportions:

Ingredients	Content percentage
Barley	15
Corn	30
Peas	5
Wheat bran	5.5
Wheat	20
Chalk	2
Sunflower meal	5
Meat and bone meal	3
Salt	0.5
Yeast	4

Fattening before slaughter

Hybrid turkeys are heavy cross breeds raised primarily for meat. Slaughter is usually carried out by 4 months. To obtain maximum muscle mass gain, fattening is carried out in several stages:

At the initial stages, young animals are given free grazing. There they consume a lot of green food, and in the pen they additionally eat 3 times a day. To obtain sufficient protein for growth, cottage cheese, eggs and milk are added to the diet.
Just before slaughter (2-3 weeks), the birds are not allowed to walk. They are fed exclusively with protein feed and flour mash. Conclude each meal with green food.

During intensive fattening, it is important not to overdo it, so as not to clog the bird’s crop.

Slaughter

For uninformed farmers, slaughtering a turkey is a complex and problematic matter, but following recommendations from experts will help carry out this procedure without unnecessary expenditure of effort and time.

So, what is needed to slaughter Hybrid turkeys:

Choose the right time. After slaughter, the bird will have to be feathered, but if you choose the wrong period, this will be very difficult to do. The best time is before shedding begins.
Clean out a turkey's esophagus. The bird should fast a little, ideally a day before slaughter, minimum 14 hours.
Cleanse the intestines. To do this, 15-20 hours before slaughter, the turkey is given Glauber's salt with plenty of water, which should be freely available.

Before the procedure, the bird should be in a dark room.

Direct slaughter is carried out in one of the following ways:

External - with an ax. This method is suitable for slaughtering young animals on small farms.
External - involves an incision of the jugular vein in the neck area (on the left 2.5 cm below the ear opening). To drain the blood, the bird is hung upside down and held until signs of life completely disappear.
Unilateral - making an incision on the left along a number of veins and arteries. For convenience, the bird is taken by the beak.
Bilateral - the neck is punctured below the ear from left to right. As a result, a hole of about 1.5 cm is formed on the opposite side.
Internal - involves cutting the veins and arteries of the bird through the mouth. The procedure is carried out as follows: scissors are inserted into the beak and the veins to the left of the throat are cut. This is where the vital veins are located: the jugular and pavement. The bird is then hung upside down to allow the blood to bleed out. Experts recommend damaging not only the veins, but also the cerebellum of the bird. The turkey will be relaxed, and this will simplify the process of further plucking and cooking.

When the bird completely stops moving, it must be plucked. To do this, the turkey is placed in water up to 65⁰C, and then, until it cools down, the feathers are removed.

Afterwards the carcass is washed and gutted. Clean entrails are returned to the belly.

Turkey meat will be completely ready for consumption after ripening in the refrigerator. A large individual ripens under the influence of natural enzymes within 1-2 days, and young animals - about 12 hours.

Raising Hybrid turkeys will not be difficult if you adhere to basic feeding standards and take care of the birds’ comfortable living in the turkey poultry.

Tips for choosing good specimens

The purpose of breeding Hybrid Converter broilers is to obtain meat. Therefore, selection is made solely on how quickly the bird gains weight and its health.

In the first month of life, turkey chicks can already see how the bird will develop in the future. First of all, your weight should be appropriate for your age.

Therefore, from the moment of birth it is important to create the correct conditions for keeping and feeding the chicks. If mistakes are made, they will affect poor weight gain and their well-being.

History of the Hybrid Converter cross breeding

The cross was obtained by leading Canadian breeders of the company Hybrid Turkeys, A Division of hendrix genetics LTD by crossing separate lines of different breeds of turkeys. Scientists have managed to create poultry with excellent productivity in terms of meat yield and number of eggs, and high rates of return in both commercial and amateur poultry farming.

As the basis for breeding, we used the “Bronze Broad-breasted” (“American Bronze”), which is a hybrid of English and native American wild turkeys, and the “Dutch White”. The latter appeared in the 18th century and is now used mainly to obtain new breeds.

"Bronze Broadbreast" (pictured left) and "Dutch White" (right) served as the main starting forms

The result was a tenacious, unpretentious, strong hybrid, which quickly surpassed in popularity first almost all breeds of turkeys in Canada, and then throughout the world. At first, Hybrid Converter was intended exclusively for industrial breeding, but later it became available to farmers and poultry farmers on their plots.

Diseases of the breed

Representatives of Hybrid Converter are a fairly disease-resistant cross. But being in improper conditions and contact with an infected bird can provoke an infection.

Disease	Symptoms
Colibacillosis	Blue beak, diarrhea, lack of appetite, apathy
Mycoplasmosis	Inflammation and redness of the eyes, discharge from the nose and eyes, unsteady gait
Histomoniasis	Thirst, stiffness, lack of appetite
Coccidosis	Frequent bowel movements, lack of appetite, sudden weight loss

Poultry vaccination

In order to keep the broiler population as healthy and productive as possible, it is important to vaccinate the young animals in accordance with the veterinarian’s schedule.

Vaccination of young animals against mycoplasmosis is carried out at the age of 30 and 90 days. The vaccine against plague is administered several times - on the 14th, 35th, 60th and 125th days of the turkeys’ life.

Disease Prevention

In order to eliminate the incidence of disease among Hybrid Converter turkeys, it is important to carry out preventive measures in a timely manner and observe hygienic measures.

Necessary actions to prevent diseases among birds: