Are my turkeys growing too fast?

[zowieyellowflame]

I have 5 bbw that I received at 2 weeks of age. They are now 10-11 weeks and one hen is 7-8 lb, one tom is likely 10 lb and the other 3 are 12-14 lb. I have read that they need food and water all of the time and I have read they need food and water 24 hrs. (they have a night light so they really can eat around the clock)
Are they too heavy already or is this normal?
If I let them grow 4 more weeks, how much will they weigh?
How does live weight and dressed weight compare?
Thanks

 

[Buiscuit]

i have a 9 pound tom that is 12 weeks old. they grow pretty fast. mine free range and i give him high protein feed all day.

 

[Arielle]

OP great questions. My BBW are about 10 weeks and a bit heavy to lift (compared to my other birds). Hoping to grow them out for a while so I haven't weighed these up. Mine are in a large coop and pen; and I keep finding one that flies over the 4 foot fencing to lay down and roost for the night !

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

7-8 lb, one tom is likely 10 lb and the other 3 are 12-14 lb.

Sounds good to me. We got some day old whites on the 6th of June and weighed a few of them last week in the 11-14 lb range. On the other hand our Narragansets that hatched 8-10 weeks earlier did not break 10lb. They are all together in a large tractor same feed.​

 

[ColbyNTX]

That is the point of a BBB or BBW. They are bread for meat. They grow really fast and are slaughtered at 4-6 months. As they get older, most will get so big and start to have leg problems and organ failures.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

It is really incredible how fast the meat varieties grow. Basically the meat turkeys grow about as fast as cornish X but keep but look to pick up speed around 10lb rather than slow down.

Just sent some hybrid pigs to the butcher yesterday, males were in the 300lb range and sows were close to 250 but had some leg troubles with the sows. Still incredible growth to see in under 6 months. Did not add up the numbers yet but looks to be about 3:1 feed conversion with some pasture and table scraps.

Anyone have an idea on the feed conversion for turkeys meat and/or heritage, I have not been able to track it well as I have chickens mixed in eating their food.

 

[Arielle]

Clay ValleyFarmer--Nice growth on those pigs; really shows the value of hybrids and cross breeding.

Here is one source of info on BBW growth. It may be helpful. CHart of growth and grain use.

http://www.meyerhatchery.com/produc...rkeys&grd_prodone_filter=PRODUCT_ID = 'BBWTS'

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Thanks, nice link. Looks like the birds are right on track. ~10 weeks and weighed a couple toms yesterday between 15 and 16lb.

Interesting on how they take a growth spurt after 6-8 weeks, was thinking of processing them early October with my current batch of broilers, but they might be a little too big by then, really don't want anything that dresses out over 18-20lb max. That kind of moves up the processing date 2-3 weeks.

Pigs are fun and really no worse smell wise than broilers. Picking up the pork tomorrow, hope I don't need to buy another freezer.