Turkeys For 2013

What are you planning for next year's group of turkeys? What breed are you wanting this year? Are you getting any new breeds? Are your girls laying now? Are your girls setting on eggs now? Who will have the first hatch for 2013? Any bets for the New Year Babies (Poults)

Let's have a discussion on what everyone is hoping for the New Year (2013).

My girls are laying eggs and I have people contacting me for orders for eggs AND poults. Some are wanting hens, others are wanting Toms and many want a pair to start with. I'm not sure I will be able to fill all of the orders. EVERYONE wants turkeys! I think many people are seeing how marvelous these birds are (any and all turkeys breeds) and want to cash in and have what we turkey owners already have. Gotta love it!

I plan to learn from last years lessons.

• No staggered hatch! I will keep a few more hens long enough to get a bunch of eggs in the incubator
• Fowl pox vaccination (that's some nasty stuff I would really like to never deal with again)

I will be sticking with my bourbon reds and I hope to avoid and laying/setting until at least Feb. If you need any help filling in those orders for females I may be game.

Scottingitup said:

I plan to learn from last years lessons.

• No staggered hatch! I will keep a few more hens long enough to get a bunch of eggs in the incubator
• Fowl pox vaccination (that's some nasty stuff I would really like to never deal with again)

I will be sticking with my bourbon reds and I hope to avoid and laying/setting until at least Feb. If you need any help filling in those orders for females I may be game.

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I am sooooooooo glad that you mentioned the Fowl Pox Vaccination. Thanks for the reminder. I am DEFINITELY doing the same thing. I'm right there with you on dealing with that. Thanks for heads up.

I will definitely gonna take you up on filling those orders.

We cut back on ours. Sold off the White Hollands, Beltsville White and Royal Palms and sold all the older Bourbon Reds. Our new Bourbon flock will be 1/2 from Sandhill and 1/2 from our old flock. Planning on breeding a new batch of Bronze to replace our breeders now, the Midgets are only 2 years old so they are good to go.

Haven't got any eggs yet but they starting to court each other.

I will be sticking with my usual breed (Bourbon Reds). Although, I have an incubator, I may have to get another one because I want to hatch pea and guinea eggs as well, and I won't be able to do that with my little bator. I need more room. Although, I can count on my chickens to go broody, I want to be prepared for 2013. I'm right at 30 BR and 6 of them are Toms. So, I have enough girls to lay and go broody. My poor girls go broody at the drop of a hat. and will sometimes stop laying to set on eggs.

Crossing my fingers that everyone has good breeding and hatching for 2013.

sandspoultry said:

We cut back on ours. Sold off the White Hollands, Beltsville White and Royal Palms and sold all the older Bourbon Reds. Our new Bourbon flock will be 1/2 from Sandhill and 1/2 from our old flock. Planning on breeding a new batch of Bronze to replace our breeders now, the Midgets are only 2 years old so they are good to go.

Haven't got any eggs yet but they starting to court each other.

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Someone was telling me about Midgets and how nice they are. I'm so stuck on my BRs, I'm scared to try another breed.

At what age do you sell off your old flock? When are they "too old" to breed in your opinion?

kuntrygirl said:

I will be sticking with my usual breed (Bourbon Reds). Although, I have an incubator, I may have to get another one because I want to hatch pea and guinea eggs as well, and I won't be able to do that with my little bator. I need more room. Although, I can count on my chickens to go broody, I want to be prepared for 2013. I'm right at 30 BR and 6 of them are Toms. So, I have enough girls to lay and go broody. My poor girls go broody at the drop of a hat.

and will sometimes stop laying to set on eggs.
Crossing my fingers that everyone has good breeding and hatching for 2013.

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I wish we were closer to pool resources! I bought a gqf 1502 last year... I could hatch out WAY more birds than my farm can handle but I wanted the reliability.

Scottingitup said:

kuntrygirl said:

I will be sticking with my usual breed (Bourbon Reds). Although, I have an incubator, I may have to get another one because I want to hatch pea and guinea eggs as well, and I won't be able to do that with my little bator. I need more room. Although, I can count on my chickens to go broody, I want to be prepared for 2013. I'm right at 30 BR and 6 of them are Toms. So, I have enough girls to lay and go broody. My poor girls go broody at the drop of a hat. and will sometimes stop laying to set on eggs.

Crossing my fingers that everyone has good breeding and hatching for 2013.

Click to expand...

I wish we were closer to pool resources!  I bought a gqf 1502 last year... I could hatch out WAY more birds than my farm can handle but I wanted the reliability.

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WOW!!! A GQF 1502??? WOW!!!!!! I definitely have the resources as far as all the eggs. Sounds like you have a monster machine over there.

kuntrygirl said:

Someone was telling me about Midgets and how nice they are. I'm so stuck on my BRs, I'm scared to try another breed.
At what age do you sell off your old flock? When are they "too old" to breed in your opinion?

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After the third breeding season we rotate.

sandspoultry said:

kuntrygirl said:

Someone was telling me about Midgets and how nice they are. I'm so stuck on my BRs, I'm scared to try another breed.

At what age do you sell off your old flock? When are they "too old" to breed in your opinion?

Click to expand...

After the third breeding season we rotate.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I will keep that in mind.