Beltsville Small White Turkey

[KnoxChick]

Hello All, I'm one of Dr. Charles Knox's (senior poultry geneticist for the government during the 30s and 40s) many great grandchildren. I'm currently trying to find a hatchery or farm in Maryland that breeds The Beltsville Small White Turkey, his creation LOL. I know I can get eggs from Murray McMurray....but I'm not sure I'm willing to take on 10 turkeys if most of them take. I just want to add a Tom and Hen or two to my flock. Please message me if you can help me out

 

[Hounds51]

Is that a coolerbator.I was thinking about making one I felt like I had a hard time controlling the humidity on the one I had. Can't wait to see how many you hatch, if you hatch more than you want to keep let me know.

Yea thats my coolerbator. Now that I can post pictures, I might do an article on the build. It definately does keep the humidity more stable, and also the temp average is about 99.5 degrees.
If I get a high hatch rate I might get in touch with you. as you live close to me and we could work out a sharing type deal so that we could keep the linage going, and to possibly pass it on to others by selling/donating eggs to other possible breeders.
I can't make any promises but if I need to reduce my hatch, I will get hold of you.
But you know what they say. Don't count your poults before they hatch.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

If you are looking for Beltsvilles, you can get the eggs from a seller on eBay. His name is Jerry Poole, and his eBay user ID is sherylljane. The eggs are a bit pricey and are pre-sale only right now: I got my first order in February last year.

I highly doubt you are going to get real Beltsvilles from a large hatchery....could be wrong, but think hatching eggs or ordering poults from a smaller breeder may be your best choice.

I have a flock of 9 Beltsvilles that are 8 and 9 months old (3 toms, 6 hens) that I hatched from eggs (obtaineed from Mr. Poole) last season. My two oldest hens just started laying and my younger 4 should be kicking in any day. I have a dozen eggs developing in the incubator right now. Just love this breed...they are very, very funny to watch and super curious about everything.

Good luck!

 

[slc]

If you have birds from McMurray or any other hatchery you likely have Midget Whites.

Murray McMurray does NOT have authentic Beltsville. They falsely mislabel what they have which are Midget Whites NOT Beltsville. There are no commercial scale hatcheries with access to authentic Beltsvilles at this time. They are very rare and only exist in private hands.

There are only a few who offer them on the market right now. There are actually three lines or strains of Beltsvilles left. Brian Tibbot (former USDA) calls them Ames, Albertsen, and Ontario. Jerry Poole and others like S and S poultry have mainly the Albertsen strain and mainly stick to the Standard. Pam Hogan was the caretaker of the Ames line up until 2011 and she was very passionate about preserving the Beltsville’s original capacity as a meat production bird in addition to the Standard of Perfection. The third line is in Canada and only used as laboratory birds. I have been told by a breeder there that the line has drifted from the original bird and breeders are trying to build that line back up. Canada also has more access to the Ames line than in the U.S. Most of what you will find access to in the U.S. right now is the Albertsen line. Since Pam Hogan stopped working with the Beltsville the Ames line isn't widely available.

I love the Beltsville too. I have a pair from the Albertsen line (Jerry Poole) and 13 of the Ames line (Pam Hogan). My Ames birds are like medicine balls with leggs. Small, broad, heavier than they look but can still fly up to roost, go figure. Great gentle non-agressive keepers too. Oh, they also outlay my chickens! Can't beat em.

 

[SWAMPGIRL]

So excited! I'm getting 5 five week old BW poults from someone local who got their birds from Jerry Poole. Thanks to all the information on this thread I was able to ask the right questions to make sure these are BW and not MW.

 

[KrisH]

I can't hepl you out, but want to say Hi and

 

[Cold Canadian]

I can't hepl you out, but want to say Hi and

.............DIDO

 

[flocksalot]

Welcome and I hope you find some. I too raise turkeys becasue my grandfather did. Of course he did them in much larger quantities than I. There are several hatcheries that sell them, but like you I don't know that I would want that many.

And if there is anyone that wants to get rid of some eggs my way I would take them in a heart beat. I've been looking for some for my two broody BBW's.

 

[lanafarm]

Did you find some as we are one of the few registered breeders of this rare BSW breed

 

[KnoxChick]

No, I stopped looking and just figured we would try to hatch some. Where are you located?