A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[rjohns39]

Do you guys know what kind of time frame I'll have with the meat boy and girl? Won't they have leg problems at a certain time.

For some reason, brain has Quit for the day so I looked it up.
"Hens commonly reach a live weight of 15 pounds at 14 weeks of age, and toms weigh about 28 to 30 pounds at 17 to 18 weeks." Here's a table as well...
https://extension.psu.edu/small-flock-turkey-production

 

[Parront]

For some reason, brain has Quit for the day so I looked it up.
"Hens commonly reach a live weight of 15 pounds at 14 weeks of age, and toms weigh about 28 to 30 pounds at 17 to 18 weeks." Here's a table as well...
https://extension.psu.edu/small-flock-turkey-production

View attachment 1126475

It is difficult to find a turkey under 14 lbs at the store at Thanksgiving. For me, over 14 lbs and I cant fit it into my favorite roasting pan. Last year I had to get one 16 lbs, and had to cut off the wings to make it fit. Not pretty! I would absolutely love to be able to buy a home-grown turkey ~10-12 pounds! 15 pounds live would be about 10 pounds dressed?View attachment 1126502

 

[yoopergirl1211]

Any thoughts on the sex of these guys

 

[memphis]

Yoopergirl, not sure how old they are...but they look like girls except for maybe #3. Only a turkey lover is going to be posting turkey pictures at 3 in the morning....silly girl!!
Parront....cute parrot in your avatar. What type is it? Oh...no idea on the live/dressed ratio. But someone here will weight in.

 

[sfgwife]

ours are right on target then by this. . Makes me happy! We keep lookin at them thinkin they seemed small... but it may be that we are newbies and also lookin at three grown birds too. The meaties have been happily eatin bugs and grasses a d whatever they find in their pen since we got them plus pellet. And watermelon must not forget THAT lol! These characters are not at all like the meatie cluckers we have done that snarf all the food in a few minutes. They are forragin daily.

 

[duluthralphie]

ours are right on target then by this. . Makes me happy! We keep lookin at them thinkin they seemed small... but it may be that we are newbies and also lookin at three grown birds too. The meaties have been happily eatin bugs and grasses a d whatever they find in their pen since we got them plus pellet. And watermelon must not forget THAT lol! These characters are not at all like the meatie cluckers we have done that snarf all the food in a few minutes. They are forragin daily.

You have been eating or raising the wrong meaties then. Mine forage all day long...

I have no idea about the sex of those turkeys.

The best way I have found when they are young to sex them is to chase them a little. If they run like a girl, they are a girl..

Running like a girl means they fan their tail out when the run. When you watch them run it will only take a few minutes to see the difference in the way the boys and girls run.


As far as the feed to weight ratio and what is normal gain, I really don't care. I free range when possible, which is most the time. They gain what they gain. Makes no difference to me.

I feed all my birds Game bird starter and grower to start with for the protein so I don't end up with wimpy birds that can't breed. When they are old enough to free range I feed them in the evening so they pick bugs and eat grass all day. Turkeys are almost as good as cheep for trimming grass and keeping it neat looking.

Free ranging for my turkeys includes sneaking into the show bird barn and eating the feed the show birds waste or they can find on the floor, in the storage tanks or in the feeders.

Here is a foraging Turkey.

He/she is on top of a show bird cage eating the feed out of the top of the PVC feeder for the show bird...

Excuse the mess in the barn, it happens a lot this summer.

 

[R2elk]

Any thoughts on the sex of these guys

This one is a tom.

The rest are either hens or too young to tell.

 

[memphis]

We agree R2elk....see you've taught me well!!

My girls are tremendous foragers. In the morning & evenings. Then they lounge around on their tail feathers. They are not as ambitious foragers as my chickens.

Hey Ralphie...I named my two baby SS chicks Spot & Dot.

 

[sfgwife]

Ours forage all day too. I was just sayin that ours are about the size this chart says they should be at this age is all...and happy that they are gowin like they should. they all eat a tinny bit of pellet in the mornin and at night a few take a few bites but that is it. They seem small to us because all we have to compare them to are grown birds because this is our first go at turkeys. Amd when i said meaties snarfin food... i meant chicken meaties.

 

[Finnie]

Any thoughts on the sex of these guysView attachment 1127554 View attachment 1127552 View attachment 1127555 View attachment 1127556 View attachment 1127553

I agree with R2Elk and Memphis. I was going to ask, though, how many you have there. Are some of them repeated in more than one picture?

Running like a girl means they fan their tail out when they run. When you watch them run it will only take a few minutes to see the difference in the way the boys and girls run.

If my poults find themselves being chased today, I am going to tell them to blame you!