ACHIEVEMENT DAY REQUIREMENTS (Rural Youth Fair is the Achievement Day for Turkey Project)

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1 WELCOME Welcome to the 4-H Turkey Project! Please read through this Guide carefully, as it contains information and suggestions that are important for your project. 4-H leaders can obtain Leader Project Guide and other resources from the PEI 4-H Office. Hopefully you, as a member, will Learn to do by Doing through hands-on activities that will encourage learning and enjoyment. If you have any questions, contact your District 4-H Officer or your project leader. MARKET TURKEY 4-H YEAR COMPLETION You complete a project by: completing the project Achievement Day requirements completing a communication project completing a community project completing an agriculture awareness project taking part in Achievement Day You must complete all of the listed aspects in order to show at Fairs and Exhibitions. ACHIEVEMENT DAY REQUIREMENTS (Rural Youth Fair is the Achievement Day for Turkey Project) Showmanship 40 Conformation 30 Home Inspection 10 Special Project marks EXHIBITION REQUIREMENT Most exhibitions do not have turkey classes; but consult the annual 4-H Fairs and Exhibition book for details. NOTE: This project differs from other projects in that it is not completed at your Club Achievement Day because your turkeys will not be ready until early September. You will be presented with your 4-H certificates and ribbons at the Rural Youth Fair. In this turkey project you are required to display a special project at your Club s Achievement Day and then display your turkey, and special project at this fall s Rural Youth Fair in September. May 2013 Ages for 4-H members as of January 1st of the 4-H year: Junior: Intermediate: Senior: 9-11 years years years Check out the PEI 4-H Web Site

2 PLEASE NOTE! IN THIS PROJECT, MEMBERS ARE REQUIRED... to raise two - five turkey poults to market size to order the turkeys from a supplier. Orders are usually placed in April. to exhibit one turkey at Rural Youth Fair to solicit buyers to bid on your turkey at the Rural Youth Fair Turkey Auction (only the top five turkeys will be sold by auction) to arrange for the delivery of the auctioned turkeys to the designated packing plant and then to the buyer after slaughter Special Project (Achievement Day Requirement) HELPFUL RESOURCES! Some books and videos are also available at the PEI 4-H Office which can be borrowed for a two week loan period. To book these, call or drop by the PEI 4-H Office at 40 Enman Crescent, Charlottetown. BE A GOOD SPORT! In the spirit of learn to do by doing, all those involved in 4 -H are encouraged to practice good sportsmanship, use common sense at all 4-H activities, and the work in any 4-H project should be the member s own work. Your Special Project for Achievement Day may include, but is not limited to: Building a pen/cage for your turkey Finding the best feeding schedule for your turkey and the best kind of feed for them Design and build a functional turkey feeding station to display Turkey slaughter Create a display related to turkey illness and explain methods or prevention and cure Any other project that is approved by your project leader As a Turkey Project group it may be good to look into some of the following topics for discussion. Discuss some of the forms of housing used in turkey production here in Canada. What are the pros and cons for each type? Discuss some of the most prominent types of turkey feeds and the benefits of each. Discuss artificial insemination in the turkey industry. Discuss common health problems in turkeys. HOME INSPECTION (Achievement Day Requirement) Your Market Turkey Leader is responsible for inspecting your turkeys. Your leader should let you know when the inspection is to occur so that you will be able to demonstrate to your leader the handling of your turkeys. In the inspection, your Leader will be looking for evidence of care and interest in your turkeys, i.e. handling, lack of health problems, presence of adequate housing and presence of adequate feed and water. The inspection will also include a verbal quiz of approximately 10 questions about the turkeys and/ or information you have learned in the project. Discuss the origin and history of different turkey breeds. Showmanship (Achievement Day Requirement) In this class, you and your turkey will be judged on appearance and also on how well you show your turkey. Judges will be looking for the appearance and attitude of the club member, showing of the turkey, the club members knowledge of their turkey, and the appearance and condition of their turkey.

3 Prevention Program for Poultry Shows and Exhibitions PURPOSE To prevent the infection and spread of serious diseases among show birds and the spread of these diseases to our Island commercial poultry, egg and meat industries. The one most serious disease is Laryngotracheitis or I.L.T. and the one we are most concerned about. I.L.T. is an acute, highly contagious respiratory disease of chickens, pheasants and other avian species. It is characterized by severe depression, coughing and wheezing. The following program has been carried out over the past years and has been well received and effective...not one vaccinated show flock has been infected with this disease since the program started. On P.E.I., in order for poultry breeders and fanciers to participate in any poultry exhibition, they must do the following: 1. Flock inspection will generally take place in late June or at the convenience of the majority of the flock owners - the birds should be a least two weeks old or older, at that time the flock will be checked for their general health and condition, each bird will be blood tested for pullorumtyphoid disease. Also at this time, each bird will be vaccinated for I.L.T. This complete procedure will take only a few minutes with no discomfort for the birds. Each vaccinated bird will be identified by a P.E.I. red wing tag with an identifying bird number. All birds on the farm are required to be vaccinated - excluding waterfowl even though only a part of the flock may be exhibited. 2. Following the inspection and vaccination, the owner is asked to observe a 30 day quarantine period in which time he or she will refrain from visiting other poultry farms or allowing visitors from other vaccinated poultry farms to come in contact with the vaccinated birds. Also at this time, birds should not be traded between farms or entered in any shows or competitions. This period is to prevent infection of other non-vaccinated birds while the vaccinated flock develops its own immunity. 3. There is no charge for this inspection or vaccination service and the procedure is simple and quickly done. Assistance on management, feeding and housing will also be given if requested at the flock inspection visit or at any time a serious problem may develop. Application for Pullorum-Typhoid Testing - ILT Vaccination Deadline: To Be Mailed by June 15. Name 4-H Club Telephone Number Civic # Mailing Address Postal Code Number of birds to be vaccinated: I,, understand that following the I.L.T. Vaccination, I am to observe a 30 day quarantine period in which I will not visit any other poultry farm or will not allow any visitors from non-vaccinated poultry farms to come in contact with my vaccinated birds. I will also not trade birds between farms during the quarantine period. Signature of 4-H Member Signature of Parent Return To: Trevor MacDonald P.E.I. Poultry Technician P.O. Box 31 Murray River, PE C0A 1W0

4 DID YOU KNOW? A poult makes the sound "peep-peep" A boy turkey is a tom and he says "gobble-gobble" A girl turkey is a hen and she says "click-click" Turkey feed costs about 35 cents per kilogram. Turkeys will crowd together if they are frightened or cold. Turkeys are curious birds. Turkeys like to live in flocks. Turkeys grow quickly. Turkeys are a variety of a pheasant. Before modern transportation methods, farmers in the British Isles would put leather shoes on their turkeys and walk them into town. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest turkey was kg (86 lbs). Turkeys can have heart attacks. It takes 28 days for a turkey to hatch. A baby turkey is called a poult. There are 157 bones in a turkey. The average turkey hen will lay 110 eggs during a week production period. Turkeys originated in Mexico, not Turkey. They first went to Europe with Spanish explorers. The snood is the band of flesh that hangs from the turkey s beak area. It helps release extra body heat. Turkeys are picky eaters; the feed must be very clean. If the feed is not clean, the birds will not eat it. The reddish pink flesh-like covering on the throat and neck of a turkey is called the wattle. It is estimated that turkeys have approximately 3,500 feathers at maturity. Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys can fly for short distances. A turkey under sixteen weeks of age is called a fryer, while a young roaster is five to seven months old. The average Canadian eats turkey 15.5 times a year.

5 STEPS TO WASHING YOUR TURKEY 1. Choose your turkey for show. Start by taking in all parts of the turkey as a whole picture. What you want is a blending of all parts of the turkey viewed as a whole - a quality called symmetry. 2. Now go over your turkey carefully so you don t miss some defect or disqualification that the judge will probably find. 3. Your turkey should be coop trained if it is to show itself to advantage to a judge. Place it in a coop for a week or so before you wash it or show it and teach it to stand quietly and properly to show itself to the best advantage. Handle it daily, moving it gently about the cage. After it has quieted down and doesn t get excited easily, begin to take it out and handle it quietly, smoothing down its feathers and extending the wing. In taking it out, turn the turkey backwards to you. Grab both legs at once and trip the turkey. Once your turkey is tripped up, lift the bird with one hand and reach under the bird with the other arm and rest the bird in the out-stretched arm. Fold the out-stretched arm around the body of the bird to hold it in place. 4. Washing consists of three parts: washing, rinsing and drying. Each is very important to a good finished job. Make sure you have someone help with the washing job. You will need four fairly large tubs, mild liquid soap, or detergent, and several towels or soft absorbent cloths to wrap the turkey in after the wash. In the first tub, make lost of suds. The water should be about the temperature of your arm. Keep your turkey upright and push it up and down in the water to get it thoroughly soaked right down to the skin. Wash it carefully, always working your fingers with the feathers, never against, so as to not break any feathers. See that the legs are clean and that there is no dirt under the scales of the leg. Use a toothpick carefully to get the dirt out from under these scales. After it has been well soaped and washed, it should then go through the rinse process in the next two tubs. Be sure to get all the soap out of the feathers. If you don t, (1) the bird will be sticky and look worse than before washing, and (2) the feathers just won t work. The last tub should be cooler but not cold. It helps to put ½ cup of lemon juice in this water as it will help to cut any soap left. After rinsing, wrap the bird loosely in a towel to soak up as much wetness as possible before placing it in a clean coop to dry. Have the temperature warm enough so that the turkey will not shiver but so that the feathers will not dry too fast. The washing should be done in the morning so that the bird will not sleep on its damp feath ers. Turkeys should be watched as they dry to make sure that the feathers smooth out and do not curl. Dusting the bird with cornstarch when they are nearly dry will tend to whiten as well as help the drying process.

6 PROJECT ENROLLMENT DIRECTORY From time to time throughout the 4-H year, you may wish to contact your leader(s) or another project member for one reason or another. Just fill in the information below, and you will have a handy Project Member Project Leader Directory! MEMBERS NAME PHONE NUMBER LEADERS NAME PHONE NUMBER

7 PROJECT MEETINGS DIARY Most projects will require at least six to eight project meetings to complete the project. Meeting Date Location Time At this meeting, we...

8 COMMUNITY PROJECT Each year you are encouraged to provide a service to your community as a 4-H member. This introduces you to the responsibilities of citizenship. You must participate in your club s plan for a community project and you should have a role to play. Describe your involvement with your club community project this year. Our Community Project was I helped by It was beneficial because I learned AGRICULTURE AWARENESS PROJECT Agriculture is one of PEI s main industries. You are expected to participate with your club to complete a project (or provide a service) which helps your club or others become aware of the importance of agriculture in our lives. As in the community project, you should actively participate. Our Agricultural Awareness Project was I helped by It was beneficial because I learned