➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[CindyinSD]

I have a small .22 revolver that I hold up against the back of the turkey's head aiming down at an angle to hit the brain. I am holding the turkey by both legs with one hand and allowing it to rest calmly on the ground. I usually also have the ends of the wing feathers in that hand and hold on tight until the turkey stops moving. That is when I chop off its head.

So, kind of like this? (Please excuse the scribbling—hopefully good enough to guess at...)

 

[muddy75]

So, kind of like this? (Please excuse the scribbling—hopefully good enough to guess at...)
View attachment 1858570

We were still able to fit ours into an xxl cone for bleed out and then hung on deer skinner for plucking. The white for thanksgiving was around 12 weeks, the bronze didn’t seem to grow as fast so didn’t process until after Tom broke his leg one afternoon flying off the deck. The bronzes were like big puppy dogs and would basically follow us anywhere!

 

[BantyChooks]

Also—my cots are putting themselves to bed at night. Sometimes one or two are right next to it rather than inside it, but they're definitely returning to the area. I don't even have the feed and water in there.

 

[Sara L]

So... since we’re talking turkey, I have three BBWs, all toms. I got them May 10th and they’re huge. No matter how much I feed, they’re always ravenous. They’ve started eating my chicken eggs. I sprayed some from the fridge with bitter apple to the point of dripping and put them in the nesting boxes. I was about to close up the back, and the biggest one was already poking his head in there to peck one.

DH loves the big white scruffy-looking turkeys (I do too) but I have loads of heritage boys and girls for him to fall in love with and I don’t want the whole flock learning to eat eggs if they haven’t already. How long does one generally keep BBWs before butchering?

I’m not sure I can even carry them (alive) at this point. I could shoot them, but I prefer to bleed them out. DH can’t help me “man-handle” them—not just because he loves them, but he has some health/strength issues and serious arthritis in his hands as well—so I’m on my own there. Any ideas? Sage advice? Magical quick fixes for egg eaters (in case it’s not just the three amigos?)

You don't have to wait until a certain age to butcher if you are happy with their size. You can do it now and just put them in the freezer till you want to eat some turkey, then just pull out to thaw about a week prior.

Processing time for BBs is as soon as they are the size that you desire. Weigh one and subtract 30% of the weight to get an approximate processed weight. I used to process at 4 to 6 months for mid 30 lb. processed weights on toms and low 20 lb. weights on hens.

I shoot turkeys in the back of the head with a .22 and chop off their heads after about a minute. They bleed out good enough for me.

This. The broad breasted we did a few years ago we used a cherry picker (usually lifts engines out of cars) to lift the birds to bleed out. They were heavy. The tom we did a long time ago was 35 pounds dressed, the hens 2 years ago were 25 pounds dressed each.

 

[R2elk]

So, kind of like this? (Please excuse the scribbling—hopefully good enough to guess at...)
View attachment 1858570

The legs and wings would be stretched out behind the body with the breast lying on the ground.

 

[CindyinSD]

Thanks!

 

[CindyinSD]

Good news! After I took my BBWs out of the chicken paddock, I collected 6 eggs. So glad it was apparently the BBWs, not the rest of the crowd!

 

[muddy75]

 

[Nabiki]

Am I not supposed to have food available 24/7 for my quail? The chicks seem to be getting fat.

 

[007Sean]

Am I not supposed to have food available 24/7 for my quail? The chicks seem to be getting fat.

All quail chicks are 'pigs'. I wouldn't limit their feed availability.