Age to bm,utcher?

[AliciaM]

At what age would you butcher a royal palm turkey tom?

I have an extra tom and have had no takers on trying to sell him, so when he gets to an appropriate age/size we are going to have him butchered... Ive never raised "regular" turkeys, so dont realy know when they would be mature enough for that...

He is 12 weeks old right now.

Thanks.

Sorry about the heading.. My curser jumps all over the darn computer and I didnt catch the typo until just now..And I cant figure out how to correct the post heading..

 

[TammyP]

I've been told that heritage breeds take longer to mature to get to the appropriate weight for butcher....at least 9 months.

I have 14 month old bourbon red hens that look like they'd butcher out as a large chicken....lol. Probably 10-15# max... but the Toms are a bit larger.....certainly not the size of a 4 month old BBB.....

That's all I have for ya....sorry if it wasn't what you were looking for.



~Tammy

 

[ColbyNTX]

Depends on how many you want to feed. 9 months is the youngest you really would want to butcher a RP. The also do have a smaller "Y" shapped breast than turkeys.

 

[AliciaM]

Thanks everyone for the info.. Im in no hurry to butcher him.. I figured I would get it done when I had the BB whites done, but I will wait on it till next year...

 

[frank53061]

Every thing I have seen ColbyNTX is right around 9 months
Word for thought I have also read that to get the biggest bird for the dress out weight is to feed them weight gain high protein and to keep confined the last 8 weeks.