Give me the dirt on turkeys

[wendy]

good thread to start. we want to get some this next april/may. i want to be where we don't buy any meat from the grocery store. that is my plan and i think hubby is for it now !

i will keep a eye out and see what other people post here. Thanks.

Wendy

 

[ivan3]

Our Royals (at least the tom) gave up on the flying except when particularly stressed/happy after about a year (Slates gave it up even sooner).

This is about the best info (most comprehensive), particularly if you are working a turkey dinner angle:

http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html

 

[spook]

This is a very interesting, I too have been thinking of having 4 or 6 Turkeys this next year.

How are they in the brooder? Do they have to be on wire? (I heard they will eat their own droppings- like chicks don't!?)

How are they with preditors such as hawks? Do they get snatched as quickly by hawks/eagles as a hen will? (kinda a stupid question I know, but its like Jerasic park around here)

Approximate growth time, say 6, 8, or 11 months til slaughter?

And lastly, are they weaker then a chick and what about cocci? Do they also have this issue?

Thanks to whom ever can answer my "stupid" questions and yes, you can point and laugh!
~Kel

 

[spook]

I agree this is an amazing and informative subject. The pictures are breath taking! Wow, amazing birds and before I got to the photos I had a incling that I'd like to try the midgets, then saw the photo and that is incredible.

Now, here is the next foolish question, Can you start Turkeys in with your cornish x meat birds? Perhaps I'm trying to stick to much together. Also, we have (I'm sure you do too) wild turkeys, can these go wild? will these go wild?

I'm not really this dumb! LOL Just doing a mental inventory of where I can put these on the property without to much stink or buildings.
Thank you again for such positive and informative link!

 

[sandspoultry]

We raise all our birds togther, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese. Like I said though turkey poults are more tender than chicks. Be sure not to over crowd. Poults can get pushed away from the feed and "starve out".

Steve in NC

We do offer hatching eggs and poults (the poults are pick-up only- we don't ship) We have a order list started for 2009 please email [email protected] if interested. Also, we have auctions on ebay under sandspoultry.

 

[ivan3]

Spook wrote:

Also, we have (I'm sure you do too) wild turkeys, can these go wild? will these go wild?

We have lots and, yes, I've heard that, every so often a `domestic' will go native. But our WE's have been wooing ours for years with no luck (ours were imprinted on us and know where the food is...).

Here is an example of a Count Struttula making the invite:

The girls were intrigued? But, on the whole, pretty much indifferent.
The W. Eastern hens like to flirt with our toms (fly down out of the trees and `present' and run - acting coy).

ed:sp​

 

[sandspoultry]

We have Eastern Wilds all around us but they have never come that close to ours. We went to get the newspaper this morning and counted 15 hens in a freshly gathered cornfield just down the street. They are something to see in the wild.

Steve in NC

 

[al6517]

I raise BB whites, I like the finished product so much better than the heritage breeds, but i only raise 5 or so a yr. the BB whites are a little delicate as chicks until about 5 + weeks old. I raise mine in an enclosed large pen that is a 1/2 coop/run, they can be a little on the mello side and that is great with me, Feed conversion is so much better with this breed and that helps these days. As a matter of fact I have a practice thanksgiving day 26 lber in the oven right now, and the Turkey day Tom will come in at around 43 lbs dressed, and that is only at 4 mo old, you do the math, I just really like these birds.

AL

 

[Chicky Joy]

Wow. Tons of great information. I had no idea other people on the forum had this many turkey questions.

We also have a ton of wild turkeys here. We get groups of 4-20 in our front yard but they don't usually go into the back yard (except for in the woods) since we have our dogs back there. When we first moved into this house the turkey's had had the run of the place for a few years and would get right up on the deck. One morning, shortly after we moved in, I counted 75+ wild turkeys in the front yard.

What type of pen/enclosure would we need for a small flock? I'd really like to have turkeys that free-range. Any major problems with letting a small flock free-range? I don't want to go through as big of a process as we have for our chickens.

What do the chicks require in terms of temperature and brooder location? I had our chick brooder in our basement and moved them after 4-5 weeks.

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
We have raised BB Whites in the past and yes they do finish quickly. They also eat like pigs to gain weight that fast. However taste wise they don't hold a candle to a heritage turkey. The Americian Livestock Breeds Conservancy did a blind taste test in 2008 and the heritage won hands down on taste and apperance. Needless to say we no longer raise BB Whites.

Steve in NC