Baby Royal Palm strutting photos (just three weeks old)

[TattooedMama]

I love the little baby-strut. When my royal palms were little and started strutting, it was like it took tremendous effort and they couldn't maintain if for very long. It looked like someone taking a big breath and then posing like a body builder, trembling with the effort to flex all those muscles and then like a balloon deflating, they'd relax back to normal. However, I had three of my four that would strut on a regular basis, although two had the big heads and wattles of a tom and two had the smaller, cleaner heads of hens. I even had all four strutting on several occasions. I was sort of confused, but on butchering, it was clear that I had two toms and two hens, even though three of them strutted. Here is a photo of them when they were around 20 weeks. The one on the right and the one in front are the two toms, and the smaller one in the center is the hen.
Here is hen #1 struting for the camera while hen #2 photo-bombs.
You can see how different the heads of the Royal Palm toms are. When they strut, their faces turn blue and their wattles turn bright red. The hens, even when strutting don't have as much to show.

Beautiful turkeys!! How do you like the Royal Palms? We really liked the way they looked but I read some things about them that turned me off such as being flighty, etc. I ended up starting out with Narragansetts instead. I still think the Royal Palms are so pretty though!!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Beautiful turkeys!! How do you like the Royal Palms? We really liked the way they looked but I read some things about them that turned me off such as being flighty, etc. I ended up starting out with Narragansetts instead. I still think the Royal Palms are so pretty though!!

They were very pretty turkeys, in that sorta not pretty turkey way (blue heads with long dangly red bits can only be defined as "pretty" by turkey people). I purchased them from a feed store having been told they were Broad Breasted White poults. It was a bit of a surprise to discover that they were Royal Palms instead. They are good flyers, and I got pretty tired of having to chase them off the top of the fence at night and into their secure nighttime enclosure. However, after finally getting help trimming their flight feathers, they became easier to care for. From the time they were about 12 weeks old I let them out almost every day to free range. They were very curious as to what I was up to and if I was inside, they spent way too much time on my patio watching me through the French doors. It was always easy to get them back into their run after freerange time was over with a little scratch.

I did butcher them in late October and the hens were a dissapointing 6 lb, with the toms only 12 lb. However, they were by far the most delicious turkey's I've ever eaten. We had one of the toms for Christmas dinner (went to the East Coast for Thanksgiving) and everyone at the table agreed that it was the most tasty they'd ever had. As a result, I'm raising 8 Bourbon Reds this summer, some for family members.

How do you like your Narragansetts?

 

[TattooedMama]

They were very pretty turkeys, in that sorta not pretty turkey way (blue heads with long dangly red bits can only be defined as "pretty" by turkey people).  I purchased them from a feed store having been told they were Broad Breasted White poults.  It was a bit of a surprise to discover that they were Royal Palms instead.  They are good flyers, and I got pretty tired of having to chase them off the top of the fence at night and into their secure nighttime enclosure.  However, after finally getting help trimming their flight feathers, they became easier to care for.  From the time they were about 12 weeks old I let them out almost every day to free range.  They were very curious as to what I was up to and if I was inside, they spent way too much time on my patio watching me through the French doors.  It was always easy to get them back into their run after freerange time was over with a little scratch.

I did butcher them in late October and the hens were a dissapointing 6 lb, with the toms only 12 lb.  However, they were by far the most delicious turkey's I've ever eaten.  We had one of the toms for Christmas dinner (went to the East Coast for Thanksgiving) and everyone at the table agreed that it was the most tasty they'd ever had.  As a result, I'm raising 8 Bourbon Reds this summer, some for family members.  

How do you like your Narragansetts? 

Well, we just got our first turkeys a few weeks ago, so we have 3 poults that are 3 1/2 weeks & 2 that are 6 weeks old. So far we like them. They aren't as sweet as some people describe theirs but they have come a long ways in the two weeks we have had them. I don't think they were handled before then at all. Since I haven't had them long I can't give much insight but we love them and have found them really fascinating. My boyfriend is always watching them and is really taken with them, so much so that I convinced him to order me some hatching eggs!! Lol. The idea is to have our own flock of breeders next year. I like their coloring and they are warming up quickly. I am interested to see if they are less flighty and as good of mothers as they're reported to be, I guess I will find out next year! =)

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I've never had Narragansetts (I as going back and forth between ordering Bourbon Red or Narragansetts) but I think you and your boyfriend will greatly enjoy your turkeys. Since I had three brooders in my garage, at one point one with 25 Freedom Ranger meat chicken chicks, one with 8 Bourbon Red poults and one with 3 chicks destened to be layers. When I went into the garage to clean brooders, provide fresh water and refill feeders, the chicks ran around in panic shouting "THE SKY IS FALLING" but the poults would start to peep this call that I have since learned seems to mean "We're over here!" and hop up on top of the waterer and crane their necks to see what I'm up to. They make the same noise now that they are out free ranging if they get separated, one will start peeping this louder "I can't find you" noise, and the others will respond with the "We're over here!" noise and the little flock won't go anywhere until the separated one is reunited with them. If I go outside while they are freeranging to do chores or yardwork they'll run over to see what I'm doing and if I spend too much time inside, they'll come and call me from outside the kitchen window. It has created some problems because I have some potatoes and some tomatos and some herbs in container gardens by that same window and I have to cover them with sheets to keep the turkeys from tearing them up, but I honestly think a little extra work is worth the pleasure of owing them (not to mention the pleasure of those incredible turkey dinners in our future.)

 

[ChickDancer]

I wanted a breeding pair for the purpose of creating food. Lay eggs each spring, raise the turkeys during summer and fall, and butcher them around November/December. I don't plan on having huge thanksgiving feasts with them, as it's just me. Maybe my mom and brother, but even a 6lb turkey would be good enough for that. They will be replacing the chickens as a meat source, because most breeds of chicken just aren't big enough, and cornish rocks are expensive because they eat so much, so fast, and they need high-protein food the ENTIRE time! Plus they can't be bred naturally, so I'd have to buy chicks every year.

No thanks.

So Royal Palms are a good choice for me. I do have three developing Narragansett eggs in the incubator, but I plan to raise those for my sister - IF I get a pair out of those eggs.

Right now though, I'm about to move. And since the turkeys were in a bin indoors for their brooder, I haven't moved them out until I get to the new property (today) and move everyone around. So they've been old enough for a couple of weeks now, to jump out of the brooder. The funny part though, is that they've been handled enough that they want to follow me around the house. They'll jump out of the brooder onto the ground, and start walking right out of the laundry room and making that little four-note peep sound to say they are lost, and want to find me.

If I walk BY the laundry room going from one end of the hall to the other, and the door happens to be open, they'll run out of there really fast, and you can hear the little patter of their feet moving quickly across the floor in there and then behind me until they catch up. It's hilarious!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I wanted a breeding pair for the purpose of creating food. Lay eggs each spring, raise the turkeys during summer and fall, and butcher them around November/December. I don't plan on having huge thanksgiving feasts with them, as it's just me. Maybe my mom and brother, but even a 6lb turkey would be good enough for that. They will be replacing the chickens as a meat source, because most breeds of chicken just aren't big enough, and cornish rocks are expensive because they eat so much, so fast, and they need high-protein food the ENTIRE time! Plus they can't be bred naturally, so I'd have to buy chicks every year.

No thanks.

So Royal Palms are a good choice for me. I do have three developing Narragansett eggs in the incubator, but I plan to raise those for my sister - IF I get a pair out of those eggs.

Right now though, I'm about to move. And since the turkeys were in a bin indoors for their brooder, I haven't moved them out until I get to the new property (today) and move everyone around. So they've been old enough for a couple of weeks now, to jump out of the brooder. The funny part though, is that they've been handled enough that they want to follow me around the house. They'll jump out of the brooder onto the ground, and start walking right out of the laundry room and making that little four-note peep sound to say they are lost, and want to find me.

If I walk BY the laundry room going from one end of the hall to the other, and the door happens to be open, they'll run out of there really fast, and you can hear the little patter of their feet moving quickly across the floor in there and then behind me until they catch up. It's hilarious!

I've been toying with the idea of keeping a breeding pair from these 8 Bourbon Reds, but I don't know if it would make sense. When I purchased the 8, 3 were to be for my family, 3 for my friend Carmen and one each for my sister-in-law and my mother. If I keep a breeding pair, that would leave me with only one for the table and I'd really like more than that. Also, I don't think my hubby would be happy if I added more creatures to my year-round care list.

I will comment that while I haven't had great results with CX, I've been very impressed with my Freedom Rangers. We butchered 15 last week at 11 weeks of age. The pullets were between 3.5 and 4 lb and the cockrels were between 4 and 4.5 lb. We did the final 10 this weekend and they were on average about .5 lb heavier with the two roosters well over 5 lb. My total cost, including purchasing the chicks, shipping, feed and bedding was around $2.50/lb or around $10.50 per bird, and that included the cost of several that died during the first few weeks.

Freedom Rangers will breed naturally, although they are a hybrid and the resulting generations may or may not be as big as the ones you purchase from the hatchery. I kept a rooster and 2 pullets from my first Freedom Ranger order to see if I could have some home-raised chicks the next year, but the rooster was such a brute that my hens hated him and once he was gone, there was really no reason to keep the 2 FR hens, who weren't great layers and who ate more feed than their herritage flock mates, so they became a lovely friccasee and a lovely cacciatore. Others on this forum have had more luck.

While delicious, my Royal Palm turkeys cost me about $40 each in purchase price and feed. If you are getting your own eggs, you could take out the $8.50 each I spent on the poults, but it is still a heck of a lot of feed cost for a 6# or 12# bird. I understand that they are great forragers, and I may have had reduced costs if I had allowed them to forrage more hours during the day, but where I live, there are bears and coyotes and bobcats and foxes, not to mention owls, hawks, and raccons and I didn't want them loose if I wasn't home and the dogs weren't out to keep an eye on things.

 

[TattooedMama]

I wanted a breeding pair for the purpose of creating food. Lay eggs each spring, raise the turkeys during summer and fall, and butcher them around November/December. I don't plan on having huge thanksgiving feasts with them, as it's just me. Maybe my mom and brother, but even a 6lb turkey would be good enough for that. They will be replacing the chickens as a meat source, because most breeds of chicken just aren't big enough, and cornish rocks are expensive because they eat so much, so fast, and they need high-protein food the ENTIRE time! Plus they can't be bred naturally, so I'd have to buy chicks every year.

No thanks.

So Royal Palms are a good choice for me. I do have three developing Narragansett eggs in the incubator, but I plan to raise those for my sister - IF I get a pair out of those eggs.

Right now though, I'm about to move. And since the turkeys were in a bin indoors for their brooder, I haven't moved them out until I get to the new property (today) and move everyone around. So they've been old enough for a couple of weeks now, to jump out of the brooder. The funny part though, is that they've been handled enough that they want to follow me around the house. They'll jump out of the brooder onto the ground, and start walking right out of the laundry room and making that little four-note peep sound to say they are lost, and want to find me.

If I walk BY the laundry room going from one end of the hall to the other, and the door happens to be open, they'll run out of there really fast, and you can hear the little patter of their feet moving quickly across the floor in there and then behind me until they catch up. It's hilarious!

I am totally new to Turkeys, so what is the standard age to move them outside? My brooder is 2 ft tall on the sides and all my babies can jump up on the sides. The sides they jump on are 5 ft from the ground(we built the brooder higher since we have determined German Shepherds). The turkeys fly/flutter down all the time and get loose in the house lol, when I'm in bed I know they got out because of that super loud "I'm lost" chirping. Unfortunately mine don't run to me or follow me around

so it's as bad as trying to catch a chicken lol.

Mine are in two different age ranges and my two older ones, now 6 weeks, were already outside when we got them. It made more sense for us to brood all the turkeys together however and we are in the process of transforming a large horse stall that is never used into a turkey pen. We don't have horses but when we moved in the 1 acre property came complete with a few live pens, where we put Nigerian Dwarf goats, and 3 side by side completely covered horse stalls. I had figured we would use the horse stalls eventually for the goats when they got breeding age, or during time for birthing but my boyfriend suggested turkeys could go there since the roofing was already done and very sturdy.

On a side note, I just ordered some hatching eggs and they should be on their way Monday. I have read that incubation is practically identical to chickens. Is there anything you personally do differently? Humidity-wise, etc?

 

[TattooedMama]

I've been toying with the idea of keeping a breeding pair from these 8 Bourbon Reds, but I don't know if it would make sense. When I purchased the 8, 3 were to be for my family, 3 for my friend Carmen and one each for my sister-in-law and my mother. If I keep a breeding pair, that would leave me with only one for the table and I'd really like more than that. Also, I don't think my hubby would be happy if I added more creatures to my year-round care list.

I will comment that while I haven't had great results with CX, I've been very impressed with my Freedom Rangers. We butchered 15 last week at 11 weeks of age. The pullets were between 3.5 and 4 lb and the cockrels were between 4 and 4.5 lb. We did the final 10 this weekend and they were on average about .5 lb heavier with the two roosters well over 5 lb. My total cost, including purchasing the chicks, shipping, feed and bedding was around $2.50/lb or around $10.50 per bird, and that included the cost of several that died during the first few weeks.

Freedom Rangers will breed naturally, although they are a hybrid and the resulting generations may or may not be as big as the ones you purchase from the hatchery. I kept a rooster and 2 pullets from my first Freedom Ranger order to see if I could have some home-raised chicks the next year, but the rooster was such a brute that my hens hated him and once he was gone, there was really no reason to keep the 2 FR hens, who weren't great layers and who ate more feed than their herritage flock mates, so they became a lovely friccasee and a lovely cacciatore. Others on this forum have had more luck.

While delicious, my Royal Palm turkeys cost me about $40 each in purchase price and feed. If you are getting your own eggs, you could take out the $8.50 each I spent on the poults, but it is still a heck of a lot of feed cost for a 6# or 12# bird. I understand that they are great forragers, and I may have had reduced costs if I had allowed them to forrage more hours during the day, but where I live, there are bears and coyotes and bobcats and foxes, not to mention owls, hawks, and raccons and I didn't want them loose if I wasn't home and the dogs weren't out to keep an eye on things.

I don't see why you couldn't keep a breeding pair. We are just starting out and I am building a breeding flock right out of the gate. The Narragansett's are difficult to find out here. I drove over 3 hours for mine. SInce then I have come across an ad here and there but find that 2 out of 3 people advertising within a few hours of me all have Narri crosses, not purebreds. Even on BYC there are not many people selling the Narri eggs. Locally I have only come across one feed store that sells heritage breed turkeys out here; most everyone has only the broad breasted. So for me, it there is a market niche to sell eggs and poults. I would take that into consideration in deciding to keep a pair. Bourbon Reds are more common, at least in my area. Check your local Craigslist, ebay, the BYC buy/sell/trade area, etc. See what people are selling their eggs & poults for. Selling eggs and poults could help to offset costs of feed and reduce the amount it costs you to keep the animals, or hopefully even cover it completely. It's worth a try for a year and see how well it goes. If you find you can't make any money off of them next year and it's not worth it, they will still taste good next year