Withdrawal time for turkeys on a medicated grower?

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this is probably a stupid question but here goes. I bought my free range turkeys grower last week and when I openned the bag I discovered it was medicated (forgot to specify at the store). I was so mad at myself because I had been avoiding the medicated stuff whenever I bought commercial feeds rather than the organic feeds. So here I am with turkeys near ready for killing and a friend wants one for this weekend. How long is the withdrawal time for turkeys on medicated feed? Am I going to have to turn her( my friend) away because of my own stupidity?

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 02, 2001

Answers

Alison, doesn't it say on the tag if there's a withdrawl time? Maybe Canada doesn't label the same way, but in the US if there's a withdrawl time it's going to be noted on the label. Just as an off hand answer, though, I doubt there is a withdrawl time for turkey feed. They normally get black head meds in their feed all during growing in commercial operations, and do they change feeds at the end to avoid meds? Call the feed mill where you got it and ask. They may not have the answer right there, but they've got a feed representative they can call to ask.

Personally, I'd tell your friend what happened and give her the choice. They may not be "organic" any more, but they sure are mainly free range and ought to be delicious! I wish I had one for MY Thanksgiving dinner in November! :)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), October 02, 2001.


Thanks Jenn. I already told her about it and she didn't seem overly concerned but my worry was whether the meds would make people sick or something. The tag didn't say diddly except that there was the medication for Blackhead in it but in their defence when I saw that I went into a fit at my own stupidity (rushed getting the feed and didn't say "unmedicated"). So, I will go take a closer, calmer look at it. They weren't organic anyways because when money was low I'd buy the less expensive growers rather than the organic (twice the cost). Thanks for your help Jenn.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 02, 2001.

Alison~

I have raised commercial broilers before and all of their feed is medicated. You pull the birds off feed 24 hours (give or take) before slaughter. I can't remember for turkeys, but stuff passes through their system about as fast as through chickens. If you pull the medicated feed right now, should be fine for the weekend.

-- ivy NW AR (balch84@cox-internet.com), October 02, 2001.


The medicated grower is a very good idea to prevent blackhead disease, and is especially important if you have chickens nearby. Doubly so if you free range, as blackhead is a soil borne parasite that is deadly to turkeys, and irreversible once they have it. However, blackhead will not have deleterious effects on your birds until a couple of weeks after they ingest the parasites. And blackhead is not a problem with the meat, nor for human consumption. Rule of thumb is to take the turkeys off the medicated feed and put them on unmedicated grower one week before slaughter. No problem! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), October 02, 2001.

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