A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

HeritageFan said:

Thank you for the feedback!
I’m always a little torn about what poults sell locally vs our breeding program goals.
I am of the opinion that everyone should love the Holland Whites as much as I do-
- Super docile, both male and female
- Able to reproduce on their own
- Reach butcher weight at about 5mos, full size by 8-9 mos
- Beautiful on the table
The Bourbon Reds that I’ve had are
- Beautiful,
- Still have white feather shafts, so, still pretty on the table (roasted)
- Take twice as long as the Holland Whites to reach “max” size, and that is an issue IMO
They hit “butcher” weight at the same ~5 mos range, but don’t reach “full” size until about 18 mos (at least the lines we have follow the info I’ve read)
I may also be bias TBH because, while my BR Tom is one of my favorites, his hen (I only have one BR hen for him) she is a spazz and one of my least favorites. She’s not mean, but, is not happy about routine handling for general health/ foot checks/ wing clipping, etc.

.....but everyone seems to want “pretty” turkeys in their yard/ run/ coop.
Even if it isn’t as pretty on the table (like the many varieties that have black feather shafts, and grow much more slowly)
I’m still trying to figure out my local market. But. We also raise them to enjoy them ourselves, primarily, so,
Well
I’m not sure how much I care what the local market “Asks”
I have different goals (type, temperament, growth rate, etc)

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I Like Turkeys said:

I’m a holland white lover as well, and share the opinion that they’re amazing and everyone should love them. I tend not to like solid white birds, but holland whites are some strikingly beautiful turkeys. I haven’t recorded weight/growth rate, so I don’t know how well they hold up in that regard, but they’re such pretty birds. Turkeys, no matter what variety or size they are, sell pretty easy in my area, so I suppose I’m not as worried as others may be about breeding what sells well. The holland whites are easy going, beautiful birds, so I adore them.


A few of mine have blue eyes, but I was lucky enough to get brown eyed hens two months back, so hopefully I can breed away from the blue eyes.
So long as they have shelter from the rain, they stay clean enough in my area.

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kfelton0002 said:

My turkeys must be broken. They won't go in the shelters or coops out of the rain. Lol

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R2elk said:

Pretty much normal behavior. Mine roost outside in all kinds of weather.

What mine do is spend a lot of time in the shade on sunny days.

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kfelton0002 said:

My turkeys must be broken. They won't go in the shelters or coops out of the rain. Lol

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kfelton0002 said:

White birds do dress out nicer that is true. I mainly want my turkeys as a hobby to give my mind respite from the rigors of school. They provide stress relief and I enjoy them. The less common varieties sell better in my area, and we get so much muck and mud everywhere in the winter in my area, even though the greatest majority of our birds free range, the white birds just get dirtier looking. So birds with color look nicer here. That has been my experience with chickens anyway. I love the look of white turkeys and chickens, but my husband prefers the birds with color so we've decided that is our goal since we do get so much muddy/soggy weather in fall, winter, and spring.

But you can't beat a nice roasted white bird on the dinner table. We butchered a bunch of white Cornish-rock crosses and they looked so nice dressed. And if meat is your main goal, the HWs sound perfect as far as feed consumption and reaching a nice size for butchering at a younger age.

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HeritageFan said:

I live in NW OR - and on a steep property at 1400’ that is hard to keep vegetation on in the runs in the winter- so I completely understand what you are saying about the white birds being an issue to keep clean, esp in the winter/ early spring. I’ve made changes to pens and range areas, but it is a constant challenge. Although, personally, mud on their feet bothers me much more than some “stained” feathers. I’m working on more roosts in coops, runs, and trying to sort out the best way to keep them in a healthy environment in a ....challenging biome.

The Bourbon Reds also have white feather shafts and dress for the table well. But every HW I’ve processed has honestly been more tender and well received by dinner guests than the BR birds on the table, even w similarly aged birds and similar cooking techniques

I have not yet processed any of our Sweetgrass - so I won’t speak to that just yet.

I am encouraged by the growth rates of the SG so far. I do have some that are smaller/ growing more slowly, and more that are growing more quickly, but they all hatched about 8/1 so time will tell. I might separate them into a couple of different groups, but I have some time to get that done before spring arrives and hormones spike lol

Back to the original point-
I find the growth rate and temperament of the BR to be inferior to the Holland Whites, generally.

(Although, I love my BR Tom, his hens are just pretty ....mmm... spazzy? I don’t have a better way to describe it. They lose it when it’s time to clip wings or for a general health check. I don’t have to clip his wings anymore, he’s too big to fly over the grazing yard fence, but I do still catch him to check his feet, and check for any other parasites/ problems)

And. Poult sales of the BR far out pace the sales of the HW. I sure wish there was a way to sex them earlier, so I could balance my numbers for the groups I want to keep for breeding/ poult sales vs poults that are going to folks that want them for the table, or pets and don’t care what they have. My ducks have spoiled me in that way!

The sales of the Welsh Harlequin ducklings leave both the HW and BR turkey poult sales in the dust. People love that they (aren’t guaranteed but it’s pretty reliable) get the mix of sexes of ducklings that work for them. (Beak color at hatch is pretty reliable w Welshies and khaki Campbell ducks)
I couldn’t hatch enough to keep up unless I really change my program, but the ducks offer many different challenges to keep them happy and healthy-
and,
TBTH. I like the turkeys more than any bird I’ve ever “had”. Ducks are adorable. And SOO messy. The mini pterodactyls are so very different than the ducks, and I love them all- but would choose the turkeys over the ducks if I had to pick one. But I also have space, time, and creativity on my side. It would likely be different if I lived in town. I would probably have chickens

For the turkeys. We hatch and sell poults, and use them for meat for ourselves. Our youngest kiddo is still at home, and is allergic to beef and chicken eggs....
We were buying so much turkey, and duck eggs, we decided to add both to our routine.
It only made sense to know that they were humanely raised and have a happy life, room to move, graze, and be turkeys/ ducks, and a quick and humane end if they aren’t staying in the breeding groups.

It’s nice to have some $ from the various babies and excess eggs to put back into the “bird fund”.
I don’t expect them to “pay for themselves” by any stretch. But I also
-love- hatching out the various babies!
And love to know that the ones that stay all have the best life I can provide, whether they are with us for the purpose of ending up on the table, providing eggs, or reproduction.

The chores and maintenance are a bit to add to the plate, but the upsides def outweigh the downsides IMO

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I Like Turkeys said:

Tracks with what I've experienced. The weather doesn't seem to bother them. Most of mine are penned, so I just cover 50-75% of the tops of their runs, and they stay dry. For the free-rangers, they'll at most sit under a tree. They usually just keep going about their business; walking around, eating, and whatever else they please.

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sfgwife said:

So. Maybe if i actually type this my hen will stop layin for winter? Yes! I have a turk hen that is still giving me an egg every second or third day...but mostly every second. and it is mid dec peoples. Weird bird! There is no extra lightin up the hill and it is dark by 5pm now.

Also. On the oct hatch... we sold ten poults. Kept two. One went diving and the one leftover.... a cute lil jenny yay!

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Molpet said:

Does anyone know what happened to @sfgwife ? This was her last post.

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