Turkey Talk for 2014

[chicken pickin]

I am prepared for 2014. Cant wait for the eggs to start coming again and start those incubators back up. Im going into 2014 with my one and only variety of heritage turkeys, Bourbon Reds. For the upcoming season I have a 2Toms and 6Hens in the breeding pen. I have plans of hatching way more poults than I did this past year just not sure on numbers yet but I plan to keep a good record book this year. My record book will keep track of amount of eggs laid, eggs incubated, poults hatched, number of poults raised in my grow out pen for holiday sales and consumption, number of poults sold, also I plan to keep track of the amount of feed.

Here are my Turkeys for 2014

 

[Sydney Acres]

Can anyone give me some suggestions on a smaller turkey breed? I know about the midget white, the jersey buff and Beltsville. Are there any others I should be considering? We are a smaller family of three, so don't need the really big turkey, but do want to raise a heritage breed. Thanks in advance!

Of the 8 heritage turkeys admitted into the American Poultry Association (as of my 1998 Standard of Perfection), the "standard weights" are as follows:
Bronze -- Tom 25-36 lbs, Hen 16-20 lbs
Narragansett -- Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
White Holland -- Tom 25-36 lbs, Hen 16-20 lbs
Black - Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
Slate -- Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
Bourbon Red -- Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
Beltsville Small White - Tom 17-21 lbs, Hen 10-12 lbs
Royal Palm -- Tom 16-22 lbs, Hens 10-12 lbs

(Note: In the above weight ranges, the first number is for the young bird, and the second number is for the old bird. Many lines will not reach the standard weights because these are fairly rare birds that have not always been bred to fully meet the standard.)

There are many other heritage turkey breeds out there, but these are the only ones listed in the SOP. There is some controversy about the Midget Whites, but many people believe that they are just a specific line of Beltsville Small Whites that was developed, and are often along the same size as the Beltsvilles.

There are several places where you can get breed specific information. Try http://www.heritageturkeyhatchery.com/turkeys.htm, and http://www.porterturkeys.com/ to start.

T

 

[RockerHen]

This hen came from a royal palm mother and a royal palm/bourbon red father. Her coloring is remarkably similar to that of Narragansett pictures I've seen. She is my shortest hen, but is the boss and also is the friendliest to us. She is also the most loud, usually instigates the cat and crow chasing incidents.

 

[chknoodles]

Had to look up Rio Grandes. They are pretty! If I read right, they would be between midget white & royal palm on weight but are a good bit taller than either due to much longer legs. Does that sound right?

They are definitely bigger than the Midget Whites, but shorter than our Bronze. The Rios are 2 years old and our Bronze will be a year old this Spring. Very friendly and not flighty at all. Here are some pictures of Clyde taken 11/9/13 and one of Bonnie, his hen.










Bonnie laid 70 eggs last year and went broody twice, but it was her first year and she didn't start laying until mid-March. Hoping she will start earlier this year!

 

[Sydney Acres]

My friend just sent me some pictures that she took when the group was less than a week old. I forgot how tiny they were! Will need to get some current pictures posted soon. They are now 31 weeks old.
(Sorry they're in random order -- this is my first posting of pictures to BYC and haven't figured out how to move them around yet.)

This is Isabella. She is a Spanish Black, and is now 11.0 pounds. She was always a goofy, bouncy, happy poult from day one, and remains that way today. She is everyone's favorite (husband, best friend, and both toms) despite her limited eyesight and mild neurological issues that prevent her from having fine motor control while eating, and sometimes missing important social cues. You just can't stop smiling when she runs up to greet you, chirping wildly, then hops and bounces around you in circles with her head bobbing up and down, like a dog begging you to play with her.

This is Stanford. She is a heritage Bronze, and is now 10.9 pounds. She was the first one to fly out of the brooder, the first to fly out of the yard, the first to do almost anything. She was a very interactive, social, and fearless poult, but as a teenager she prefers to be quite independent. She is the most wild-like of all the birds, the first to spot a predator, makes the most noise, and will bite quite hard if reached for after she has gone to her roost. But during the daytime she is sweet when handled or carried, although she prefers to just follow you around without all that physical contact.

This is another picture of Isabella (sorry, tried to get them in order but couldn't make it work).

This is DeLorean. He is a Blue Slate, and is now 18.1 pounds. When he was 3 days old he tried to squeeze through some 1X2 wire in his brooder and got stuck, and ended up with abrasions over much of his body as he struggled to free himself. Well, we started calling him "Road Rash," but that was unbecoming of a proud tom, so when we saw him stretch out those long beautiful wings the first time we changed it to DeLorean, after the beautiful silver car with gull wing doors.

Also DeLorean.

My favorite picture of DeLorean. He would fall asleep in my hand as soon as I picked him up at that age. It was as if he needed the peace and quite away from the rowdy bunch.

This is Victoria. She is a Blue Slate, and is now 10.0 pounds. She and Stanford are the ringleaders for getting into trouble, over fences, chasing deer, etc. She has never been much of a social bird, despite being handled extensively as a poult. But she's not flighty or anxious or aggressive. She just doesn't like physical affection, and turns away whenever she is petted.



Another picture of Victoria.



Another picture of Victoria, showing her "angel wings," which were always held away from her body. I was originally quite concerned about this, but as she molted into longer wings the feather position tightened, and now her wings are normal, and quite functional.

This is Dorthea. She is a Spanish Black, and is now 10.4 pounds. She was a bit of a squirrelly poult, which is why none of these pictures are in focus. She wasn't anxious or antisocial so much as she just didn't want to be held. But there was something about her -- she was compact but perfect. She was only 54 grams in this picture, but she was well fleshed for her age, and she had a physical symmetry about her that made you just stare and smile. Everything was in perfect balance, nothing was too big or too small or gangly or sticking out awkwardly. She was a perfect little miniature. And amazingly, she has remained that way throughout her growth. There's no goofy pictures of her tucked away. She's all beauty. But sometime in the last 3-4 months she decided that cuddling was wonderful, and bedtime isn't right if she can't tuck her head under my chin for a few minutes as she goes to sleep.






My friend didn't get any good pictures of Camilla, the always anxious, hyperactive Royal Palm, who is now 9.0 pounds and beautiful, even if she does hate to be handled, or Francis, the largest of the group from day one. He is now 25.4 pounds, always on display, protects Isabella from the wrath of her social mistakes, and is the sweetest boy I've ever had. He is also tall enough to go through the waist-level pockets of my coat, and crafty enough to use a light touch so I don't notice his head in my pocket right away. But when he goes to bed there's nothing he likes more than to have his neck and head and snood rubbed as he goes to sleep

Hope you all enjoyed the baby pictures.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Turkeys are aliens. I've decided. That's the only way to explain this. Heh.

Strikingly beautiful photograph! White bird, white background, and exquisite central colors all with perfect clarity! Love it.

 

[DraigAthar]

So I'm having fun with photos like these:



More here, haha:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/857759/public-poultry-shaming

 

[SilkieSensation]

 


thanks for the info Chickado

so a turkey can be more or less a carrier....... ?

i guess all the adult birds will get the vaccine including the turkeys

i only have about 30 adults total so i think i can handle it with not much trouble

now i'm wondering if i should also vaccinate for any other thing while i am at it



thanks
piglett

Piglett, 
I hope you don't mind my suggesting it but, if I were you I would call a vet or at least Jeffers 800-419-9524 and ask to talk to their expert.
I am not sure you can vaccinate turkey or adult birds is the reason I am suggesting you call an expert to ask if you can. 
I buy other meds and vaccines from Jeffers and I have talked to the expert she is very good.

It is my understanding as well that you cannot vaccinate past about 3 days of age. Reason being, vaccinated birds become carriers since a live virus is used. Any vaccinated chicks you bring into an unvaccinated adult flock just exposes your adult flock to Maereck's. It's a real fast way to find out if your adult birds are carriers (IE-immune) or if they are susceptible & soon become sick & die. Maereck's vaccine is something you need to decide on when you first start out. You then have to keep going on whichever path you choose. You also have to let anyone who buys your birds know they have been vaccinated so they don't then lose birds by introducing Maereck's into their flock from your vaccinated birds (IE-immune only because they are carriers).

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
I have seen the fabric, and it says not to use in vegetable gardens. It claims it is only for flowers, trees and shrubs. Are you telling me I can use it anyway? I never did understand why I couldn't. Maybe there is a chemical weed repellant on the fabric?
http://www.lowes.com/pd_60684-23132...c&pl=1&currentURL=?Ntt=weed+fabric&facetInfo=

yup.. you can use it anyway... it has "no chemicals" listed in the description

The reason why they don't state for vegetable gardens is because most people use it as a landscape fabric (flower beds and walkways).. with a veggie garden you just have to cut a circle where you plant the plants (or cut an X) so they can get nice deep roots.. just don't make the circle so big that weeds will pop up.. I usually cut it just big enough for a trowel to scoop out what I need to stick the plant's root ball in

with carrots, onions or potatoes you can either just add enough soil on top of the fabric for root crop depth (which kinda negates the purpose since you'll probably introduce weed seeds..) or cut the small circles for each plant... the other option would be to not use it for root crops and just hand weed those


the last option is to place it where you want your fall garden to be so the weeds under it die off and rot before planting the garden in the fall.. then pull it back up just before planting and store it til the following year

 

[Momhunter]

I am in no way disagreeing with Momhunter. However, I was told recently that someone else had been told to give the BBW chick starter. I said I had not heard of such a thing. Then I read my "protein content" in my turkey and game bird starter. It said it was 22%. The grower said 20%. So now I am confused.

I'm just going off of what I have researched and the types of feed my feed store carries. My chick starter is 18%, turkey starter is purina brand that is 26%, while the purina game bird startena that I feed my quail and peachicks is 30%. And yes I keep all three for the different birds. I also raise Jersey Giant chickens, which I feed regular chick starter for the first 4 weeks then mix 50/50 with the turkey starter for a higher protein since they are giants. They all seem to grow well without having any leg issues with to fast of growth.