Turkenstein25's Turkey Talk for 2015

[WalnutHill]

I cook mine breast down now too. I need to find a good roasting rack for the pan.

 

[chickadoodles]

That is a very nice looking turkey Chicken pickin. I cook mine breast side down the last couple of hours. It's juicy and browned all over.

 

[MamaBear0128]

Hi Everyone,

I am newbie to owning Turkeys. I'm not new to small farm life, just these darn turkeys. I bought 2 Royal Palm's several weeks back. They died within 48 hours. I think there were multiple reasons for it but either way I wasn't going to try again. Then I went to the feed store for something and they had these adorable little "Chocolate Turkeys". Never heard of a chocolate turkey so I thought what the heck.....just one more try and if they die, I'm done!

I have two. They are about 2-3 weeks at this point. From what I'm gathering they are a type of Heritage Turkey. Not sure the significance of that. I bought them to raise for pets because I enjoy just sitting outside with them and the hens. Now, I keep hearing that the Toms will be mean and dangerous. In that case, I might have to eat them.

Right now, I'm using a large chicken coop to house them while I decide what kind of enclosure I want for them. They are on wild game starter until they are 6 months and I bought the chick grit for chicks, turkeys and game birds. I let them out for a few hours daily to explore the yard with me.

I originally named them "Big and Rich". However, I'm thinking they are male and female so I changed their names to "Johnny and June". Johnny has the speckled head and June has the striped head. June has remained smaller than Johnny. Johnny has doubled in size but is the most loveable. They behave pretty much the same way. They peep constantly!!!!!! They run with their wings out, flutter, hop, peck, scratch, etc. They will follow me all over the yard and they love to get in my hand and get their necks and heads scratched. How awful it will be if I have to eat one of them.

 

[ameracaunagirl]

Hey everyone! I have a few new additions to my flock. Here is one of my week old royal palm. You can't really tell but he's just starting to get his black coloring on his wings. I just think palms are stunningly beautiful and I had to get a few. I have 3 and I'm hoping that at least one is a hen. I'm looking forward to breeding them in the following seasons.

 

[chickadoodles]

Hello and welcome to

and the turkey thread.
I would love to suggest you kind of skim over some info that most of us have found very helpful about raising turkey.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/787208/turkeys-101-new-to-turkeys-what-do-i-need-to-know

 

[ameracaunagirl]

Hello and welcome to  and the turkey thread. 
I would love to suggest you kind of skim over some info that most of us have found very helpful about raising turkey.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/787208/turkeys-101-new-to-turkeys-what-do-i-need-to-know

That's a great link. Thanks! Definitely going to bookmark that and use it as a reference!

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote:
Your very welcome.

 

[CowboysAngel]

That is a very nice looking turkey Chicken pickin. I cook mine breast side down the last couple of hours. It's juicy and browned all over.

I cook mine breastside down, then turn it over for the last 30 min to an hour...my dh prefers to deep fry... I can't imagine trying it with a Bird that big!!

 

[CowboysAngel]

My EE rooster does the same thing to my two Bourbon reds. He side-steps to them and me sometimes, also.

So if we're all thinking she may be a chocolate, if I can't find a Tom, or Jake even that's the same breed, what would go well with her very passive calm personality? And make a good cross breed?

 

[feedman77]

So if we're all thinking she may be a chocolate, if I can't find a Tom, or Jake even that's the same breed, what would go well with her very passive calm personality? And make a good cross breed?

Bourbon red if you can't find a chocolate.