BBB ?'s

[FarmerGilland]

I was thinking about getting a BBB for butchering. How long would it take before I can butcher and how much do they eat? Also after it's dressed about how much weight in meat do you get?

 

[FarmTillURdead]

I got a few Commercial Whites to raise for family, for Thansgiving, since the carcass "looks" more like a tradtional bird. I run a medicine free farm...

so without medicated chick feed only one out of three survived (beat me - I know

). It was a hen. - so we didn't have any to share and I had to know how it was going to turn out.
If you are a compassionate person I must tell you I felt sorry for this bird the entire time I had her. I process my own birds, heads roll for months around here - and I still felt sorry for it. It couldn't keep up with the rest of the flock because of it's size and shape. It had to hold out it's wings to attempt to run to the dish at feeding time and it always seemed to be starving to death and it ate a lot! It was also exhausted all the time.
I also believe you are what you eat- and this bird looks like I use too when I weighted nearly 300 pounds! I just described my "old" self telling you about this bird!
I had her for 8 months. They usually only need 6 months to grow but my garden kept me busy and we decided to save it for a Christmas dinner. She dressed out at 19.8 pounds without weighing the giblets. I could not have fit a bigger bird in my roaster.
I have ordered a few more for Thanksgiving this year.

The big bird made for a freakishly huge Christmas dinner for two people. It's not something I want to eat on a regular basis due to the fact it's not an animal God created. They are all artificially inseminated, can't breed because of their size and they have health problems. By the time I processed this bird it was breathing through a hole too small to get my little finger through in it's neck - about the size of a pencil. (food had to pass through there too).
Dang - now that I wrote all this I feel bad for ordering a few more. Shoot.

It's my one little splurge on an all natural farm. I say get a few and try it - you will need a medicated feed. I'm going to try more probiotics this year. It's a very impressive bird on the table! Just not so fun to watch all year. I was always afraid it's legs were going to break. It couldn't even walk normal. At night it slept on the floor in the coop making the breast messy with broken feathers full of gook. I had to pick them out with tweezers and clean the breast skin with vinegar to make it food safe.
It will also take nearly 200 pounds of food to get a huge bird like this. 3 or 4 bags of feed sounds about right in a 6-8 month period. (I habitually overfeed though.) She had a nice inch of fat over the breast. The stuffing was marvelous!! - as for the meat?

As much as this sounds negative - I think every turkey owner should try it once! But I'm going to stick to my heritage birds as they are healthier to consume and the animal has a better quality of life.
I have no intentionss of upsetting anyone... I just want to share an honest opinion. Good luck in your choices!

 

[Frosty]

I raise BB turkeys every year, usually the whites. I free range them if at all possible and don't let them eat themselves stupid. When they are loose I actually only feed them about once a week, just to remind them where they live. The bulk of their diet is what ever they find on their own, and they make a huge dent in the grasshopper population. I do keep an eye on them to make sure that they aren't getting thin, they have been doing fine. I think the combo of diet and exercise during the fast growth period keeps the growth slower and more even, and keeps them from getting really huge too fast (as they get older they develop more flavor).

We process ours at about 6 months and toms usually dress out at 20- 25 pounds, hens 12 - 15 pounds. I don't use medicated feed at all, and in the fall I feed them lots of extra apples, I think it makes a big difference in the meat.

I have a few hens, one is almost a year old and the other is almost 2 and my plan is to cross them with a White Holland tom to see if I can get a larger carcass but have a bird that can still breed without AI.

 

[FarmerGilland]

Thanks guys.

 

[FarmTillURdead]

I really have to get brave and not let my birds eat themselves stupid. I'm terrible at it. I'm going to try to toughen up this year and tighten their belts.
...and I am sorry for coming across negative about the birds. I have had a lot of health issues which gives me a funny point of view about the food I consume. I hope you enjoy all of your poultry endevors and never let anyone make you waiver in the decisions that make you happy. Sometimes my mouth runs off without me!

 

[FarmerGilland]

I appreciate the honesty. Thanks

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I had 4 BBB this last year and they were great!

Only problem was that they ate wayyyyyyy too much food!!! Cost a lot to raise.

I had no health issues or any other issues of any kind.

They were about 6 months old when I processed and the largest one was 26 pounds processed and the smallest one 18 lbs.

I'd do them again, but since they eat so much, they poop a lot, so the more room you can give them the better. My pen was about 25' x 25' with 4 turkeys and I would like to go bigger.