Turkey Talk for 2014

[chicken pickin]

I have five, almost 7 month old poults and I still can't tell if they are toms or hens. I'm thinking maybe because I had so many older toms? I put 9 in the freezer this month, plus one of the 6 month olds that had a bad leg. I thought that one might be a tom, but it wasn't. I think 2 might be toms, but I was wrong about the crippled one, so I don't know. If they are all hens, I've made a mistake because I butchered all the older toms. Oops. Snoods all look like hens, two have heads going bald (so did the crippled one) and their legs look heavier. Oh well. I have a plan if I messed up and if I didn't, I have a plan for that too. I might be eating a lot of turkey eggs this year.

Do you have pics of your turkeys that you can post? Im sure some of us other turkey owners can sex them for you

 

[duluthralphie]

I have five, almost 7 month old poults and I still can't tell if they are toms or hens. I'm thinking maybe because I had so many older toms? I put 9 in the freezer this month, plus one of the 6 month olds that had a bad leg. I thought that one might be a tom, but it wasn't. I think 2 might be toms, but I was wrong about the crippled one, so I don't know. If they are all hens, I've made a mistake because I butchered all the older toms. Oops. Snoods all look like hens, two have heads going bald (so did the crippled one) and their legs look heavier. Oh well. I have a plan if I messed up and if I didn't, I have a plan for that too. I might be eating a lot of turkey eggs this year.

If you are anywhere near Minnesota I know where you can get a couple toms!

I must live in a cheap area of the state. I have 4 young toms that are constantly fighting and bickering with each other and a few have taken sneak attacks on me. I tried to get rid of 2 of them on craigslist to no avail. Maybe I am just too cheap, but I refuse to sell them for less than 35 bucks, I will eat them for that. I only got two responses, one said she would take them for free the other wanted them both for 30 dollars......

Soon they will not be a problem, I just need a gathering to eat them... It is a shame the two with the best disposition will be the first two butchered. They had the bad luck to be hatched as self blue.

 

[desertmarcy]

If you are anywhere near Minnesota I know where you can get a couple toms!

I must live in a cheap area of the state. I have 4 young toms that are constantly fighting and bickering with each other and a few have taken sneak attacks on me. I tried to get rid of 2 of them on craigslist to no avail. Maybe I am just too cheap, but I refuse to sell them for less than 35 bucks, I will eat them for that. I only got two responses, one said she would take them for free the other wanted them both for 30 dollars......

Soon they will not be a problem, I just need a gathering to eat them... It is a shame the two with the best disposition will be the first two butchered. They had the bad luck to be hatched as self blue.

Cheap area of the state as in everything costs less or cheap as in the people are cheap? Cheap or not, stick to your guns, it costs a lot to raise a turkey. There are people around here also that only want to pay 15-20 dollars for a turkey. No way!

What is wrong with self blue?

 

[duluthralphie]

Cheap area of the state as in everything costs less or cheap as in the people are cheap? Cheap or not, stick to your guns, it costs a lot to raise a turkey. There are people around here also that only want to pay 15-20 dollars for a turkey. No way!

What is wrong with self blue?

Nothing is wrong with them, It is just that I have self blue and blue hens maybe A light splash. I do not want to have only self blue babies in the spring. I want some splashes or blues also. As I understand it, which I admit is rudimentary, a self blue will only produce a self blue when bred to a self blue. I have two hens that are definitely self blue and one that is very darn close to it , which is why I said maybe a "light" splash. The only splash hen I had the ( expletive deleted)** eagle got!. I had hoped to save it, but it died about 2 weeks after the attack...








** Please feel free to use whatever word you want, I personally said " gosh darn".

 

[birdman55]

yep soon as the winter is done I will be getting more but this year I think im going to get extra so I can breed them and have my own supply...its great when you cut everyone out...makes things easier that you don't have to run to the store for your 35 pound turkey...our turkey this year for thanks giving we were eating it for like a week...and that was the small turkey....that one barely fit in the cooker and the other one stuck out 4 inches high....had to put tin foil around it to cook it....wowzer he was huge...
well till next time have a wonderful night
make sure to check out the forum below in blue and post some turkeys....the more people the better...just got done putting together an incubator step by step which is on there...and will be hatching 30 chickens due jan 13th....well see how that goes as it is cold outside and I no that the cold can kill embryos so hoping for the best

 

[desertmarcy]

Nothing is wrong with them, It is just that I have self blue and blue hens maybe A light splash. I do not want to have only self blue babies in the spring. I want some splashes or blues also. As I understand it, which I admit is rudimentary, a self blue will only produce a self blue when bred to a self blue. I have two hens that are definitely self blue and one that is very darn close to it , which is why I said maybe a "light" splash. The only splash hen I had the ( expletive deleted)** eagle got!. I had hoped to save it, but it died about 2 weeks after the attack...








** Please feel free to use whatever word you want, I personally said " gosh darn".

Yes, self blue to self blue will produce only self blue. In turkeys, this is generally the term used, although some people call them lavender or splash. I have not seen any colors "in between" slate and self blue, they are either one or the other in turkeys whereas in chickens, you get a whole range of color. Can you post a photo of what you are calling light splash? I use a self blue tom over slate hens, and that gives me 50% of each color in the offspring. They are easy to tell apart at hatch.

 

[duluthralphie]

Yes, self blue to self blue will produce only self blue. In turkeys, this is generally the term used, although some people call them lavender or splash. I have not seen any colors "in between" slate and self blue, they are either one or the other in turkeys whereas in chickens, you get a whole range of color. Can you post a photo of what you are calling light splash? I use a self blue tom over slate hens, and that gives me 50% of each color in the offspring. They are easy to tell apart at hatch.

These are not the best pictures but the hen directly above is a self blue.. In the top picture you see two of my toms on the lower right, One is self blue one is the "light blue/splash he has some feathers with dark marking on them, I will try to get better pictures tomorrow. But the way they fight lately they maybe more red, (blood) or black and blue (bruised)....

I will try to get the pictures tomorrow and see if I have better ones on here tonight..

 

[duluthralphie]

Here are a few more..







Here are a few more, the one shows the blue/black feathers, I really am still confused on which is which.

 

[chickadoodles]

dulthralphie do you have a livestock auction around? I have taken some of my birds to auction when I could not get them sold other in other ways. Sometimes you can get a really good price for them. I have seen the turkey go from 40-70 dollars it just depends on who's at the auctions.

 

[chknoodles]

I have five, almost 7 month old poults and I still can't tell if they are toms or hens. I'm thinking maybe because I had so many older toms? I put 9 in the freezer this month, plus one of the 6 month olds that had a bad leg. I thought that one might be a tom, but it wasn't. I think 2 might be toms, but I was wrong about the crippled one, so I don't know. If they are all hens, I've made a mistake because I butchered all the older toms. Oops. Snoods all look like hens, two have heads going bald (so did the crippled one) and their legs look heavier. Oh well. I have a plan if I messed up and if I didn't, I have a plan for that too. I might be eating a lot of turkey eggs this year.

Don't feel bad...we've had turkeys for 2 years now and usually are pretty good at determining the sex..but the last birds that hatched out seem to have been slow developers and we even tagged 2 of them as female...welllllll....one definitely ended up being a male...and now another one has a snood that is looking a bit bigger than I would have expected...oh well...we have enough females for the bronze breeding pen next year and if we can't sell the boys..they will be the guests of honor for the 2015 holidays.