A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[kfelton0002]

Hey everyone! I hope it is okay that I post here. I have 2 7 week old Narragansetts and 12 6 week old poults I originally got as Sweetgrass but turns out I ended up with some potential semi-penciled SG, a red SG, a blue SG, and maybe even Fall Fire also which to me is even better. Time will tell what they all are as they continue to molt their juvenile plumage. I have raised poultry all my life so poultry genetics are fascinating to me. I just wanted to share my pictures here of my little group.

I also have 2 RP poults and a tri colored mottled slate split BWB from a friend's eggs but they are younger and not outside yet.

 

[Bantambird]

The poults I hatched this year sold pretty well. I hatched about 80 and sold about 65 of them, so I won't have so many to keep over winter. My Dear Husband gets a little worked up if I have too many turkeys. Last year I probably overwintered 50 birds.... I sure got a lot of flack for that. I do still have a good number, but down from 50 for sure.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

The poults I hatched this year sold pretty well. I hatched about 80 and sold about 65 of them, so I won't have so many to keep over winter. My Dear Husband gets a little worked up if I have too many turkeys. Last year I probably overwintered 50 birds.... I sure got a lot of flack for that. I do still have a good number, but down from 50 for sure.

Mine took a few weeks to start selling this year but that was because of the weather I think. After that, they sold as quick as they hatched. I only kept 2 for myself this year so we'll see how they grow out. Right now they're in a brooder with my blind pullet that I hatched out about 3 months ago. Since she loves attention, they're getting rather friendly too. I only have one hatch left for next week and I'm done for the season. Whatever actually manages to hatch is reserved for a guy my husband works with so I won't have to worry about brooding them long.

 

[kfelton0002]

The poults I hatched this year sold pretty well. I hatched about 80 and sold about 65 of them, so I won't have so many to keep over winter. My Dear Husband gets a little worked up if I have too many turkeys. Last year I probably overwintered 50 birds.... I sure got a lot of flack for that. I do still have a good number, but down from 50 for sure.

I'm glad I'm not the only one getting lectured on not keeping too many turkeys. lol I have a total of 17, soon to be 19 if the two eggs in my incubator hatch. They are developing so I'm hopeful as I've had pretty good luck hatching them from my friends eggs for her this year. Hatched 11 out of 15 for her the first setting. My husband is already looking at my big Narragansett jake and telling me his name is Christmas!! He is big, but sorry no he is my precious! I plan on eating some of the extra jakes but I want to reserve several as backups. Any aggressive males will get the killing cone for sure.

I couldn't imagine feeding 50 turkeys over winter. That's a lot of feed.

 

[Bantambird]

I'm glad I'm not the only one getting lectured on not keeping too many turkeys. lol I have a total of 17, soon to be 19 if the two eggs in my incubator hatch. They are developing so I'm hopeful as I've had pretty good luck hatching them from my friends eggs for her this year. Hatched 11 out of 15 for her the first setting. My husband is already looking at my big Narragansett jake and telling me his name is Christmas!! He is big, but sorry no he is my precious! I plan on eating some of the extra jakes but I want to reserve several as backups. Any aggressive males will get the killing cone for sure.

I couldn't imagine feeding 50 turkeys over winter. That's a lot of feed.

yes, I was feeding a full 50lb sack of feed a day. I definitely burned through my reserves doing that.

 

[kfelton0002]

yes, I was feeding a full 50lb sack of feed a day. I definitely burned through my reserves doing that.

Wow that is a lot! Do you all eat any of your turkeys?

 

[Bantambird]

Wow that is a lot! Do you all eat any of your turkeys?

yes. Mostly extra males. Just like chickens, toms will squabble over hens if the right ratios are not kept. Unlike chickens, toms will fight while breeding and the crying hen will just sit there and take it, sometimes getting very hurt in the process. When you hatch, you get a pretty even 50/50 split males to females, and buyers usually want more females than males for the same reason, therefore you almost always have lots of toms floating around, being a nuisance. We butchered 30 males last year.

 

[kfelton0002]

yes. Mostly extra males. Just like chickens, toms will squabble over hens if the right ratios are not kept. Unlike chickens, toms will fight while breeding and the crying hen will just sit there and take it, sometimes getting very hurt in the process. When you hatch, you get a pretty even 50/50 split males to females, and buyers usually want more females than males for the same reason, therefore you almost always have lots of toms floating around, being a nuisance. We butchered 30 males last year.

What age it good to process jakes/toms? Are toms like roosters where they get super tough as they mature? If all of my birds survive to maturity I know I will have too many males so I do plan on butchering any extra ones.

That is amazing! Butchering 30 turkeys seems like a huge undertaking. Did you do them gradually or all at once? Do you scald and pluck and freeze whole? We've been skinning our roosters and fileting out the breasts and cutting off the leg quarters only. It has been much easier than scalding and plucking. They freeze better that way too and don't take up as much room in the freezer. I have a few more broilers to process and I may scald, pluck, and freeze them whole for use as roasters. We've been doing a few each weekend and throwing them on the grill. Had two for supper last night.

 

[R2elk]

What age it good to process jakes/toms? Are toms like roosters where they get super tough as they mature? If all of my birds survive to maturity I know I will have too many males so I do plan on butchering any extra ones.

That is amazing! Butchering 30 turkeys seems like a huge undertaking. Did you do them gradually or all at once? Do you scald and pluck and freeze whole? We've been skinning our roosters and fileting out the breasts and cutting off the leg quarters only. It has been much easier than scalding and plucking. They freeze better that way too and don't take up as much room in the freezer. I have a few more broilers to process and I may scald, pluck, and freeze them whole for use as roasters. We've been doing a few each weekend and throwing them on the grill. Had two for supper last night.

Heritage turkeys are good at any age. I gave a neighbor a 4 year old tom that he raved about how good it was.

The problem with ones that are too young is pin feathers and lack of size.

I always scald and pluck. The meat cooks so much better and remains so much moister if the skin is on.

I only process one at a time because I prefer fresh to frozen.

With my turkeys they have a really nice layer of fat under the skin which makes them self basting if being roasted. If you skinned them you would lose that effect.

 

[kfelton0002]

Heritage turkeys are good at any age. I gave a neighbor a 4 year old tom that he raved about how good it was.

The problem with ones that are too young is pin feathers and lack of size.

I always scald and pluck. The meat cooks so much better and remains so much moister if the skin is on.

I only process one at a time because I prefer fresh to frozen.

With my turkeys they have a really nice layer of fat under the skin which makes them self basting if being roasted. If you skinned them you would lose that effect.

Noted! I will be scalding and plucking them then. If I can get any extra males raised to be old enough to butcher! Blackhead has been a nightmare. They all looked great yesterday though. The 2 that had been droopy were back to normal and eating like pigs.

This one is my little buddy. He has such a huge personality and is very calm. He's a Narragansett.