what is the difference between turkey and chicken

[doremy]

Hi All,

why use turkey instead of chicken:

chicken = cheap
turkey = expensive

greetings from holland

remy

[laurarfl]

Turkey is usually leaner which means that per pound, it has a higher protein and lower fat content than chicken. Chicken is fine if you keep that in mind and don't overdo it. Where I live, ground turkey is cheaper and easier to find than ground chicken. It seems my tegus prefer ground chicken though.

[bubblz]

My gu loves chicken be it a chicken leg, breast from the package or a baby chick,...he'll raise up, chase you and jump for it.

[c0de1ne]

I let my tegu try some ground buffalo meat we got from a local buffalo preserve. He loves chicken and turkey and although he did eat the buffalo he seemed quite unimpressed by my offering.

[doremy]

Ok

But why ground it and not cut it in to small blocks?

Thanks for your fast reply !!

remy

[laurarfl]

It's just convenience, availability, and price.

I was at the grocery store last week or so and bought 15 pounds of ground turkey for $14.65. There's no way I could buy whole pieces of turkey or chicken for $1 per pound! True I could buy chicken legs for $1/lb, but I'm not going to take the time to clean the legs. Boneless, skinless chicken breast here is $5/lb.

If I buy ground meat, I can mix the vitamins in a measured amount a pound at a time since I have 5 animals eating it. I can mix fruit and veggies in with it, it's easily digestible.

But there's no secret to using ground meat. Cut up meats work, too. I think ground turkey sort of took off as a staple food and everyone said, "Sure, why not?!" A lot of animals fed too much ground meats or just chicken pieces can end up with calcium insufficiency, so best not to feed it more than a couple times a week and offer whole prey items as well.

[pokeystotle]

Hi All,

why use turkey instead of chicken:

chicken = cheap
turkey = expensive

greetings from holland

remy

Turkey, at least ground turkey is very cheap in the US. I'd imagine you can feed either chicken or turkey in such a manner, but chicken likely has more fat in it.

[pokeystotle]

Ok

But why ground it and not cut it in to small blocks?

Thanks for your fast reply !!

remy

Ground turkey, and meat in general is sticky, and accepts greens, and plant material better than chopped blocks. Think of it as making meatballs in a way. Ground meat is easier to load.

[4HORSE]

Ground turkey is cheap where I live also. I like feeding a variety, like they would find in the wild. I'm sure a wild Tegu is kind of an opportunistic type of feeder. Insects, mice, eggs, birds, fish, etc. Mine likes ground deer meat also. We just need to make sure they are getting the proper amounts of vitamins and minerals, but more importantly, calcium.

You can buy different types of meat, whole if that's all that's available, and grind it up with fruits or vegetables and add vitamins or calcium.