BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

A black Cochin is pipped!! And an Aussie cross has pipped too!!

Congratulations! Let the fun begin!

 

[holm25]

Congratulations! Let the fun begin!

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I will post pics soon!!

 

[bnjrob]

I like that, definitely fits the theme.

But... I don't think my good friend would appreciate a turkey bearing her name.

I think I'll just name her Speak Easy, Easy for short.

My first observation on the turkeys is how slow and deliberate they move compared to chickens.
They are in quarantine in a large stock trailer but it is not secure for over night so I have been crating them in large dog crates. It is so easy to get them in the crates. I just move slow and herd them right in. That was a nice surprise.

You just haven't seen enough of them when they aren't in an enclosed space. They are very fast moving birds when they want to be (like when you're trying to weigh and examine them), and if they get frightened badly enough, they will freak out just as bad as a chicken. I took a tire into my turkey hen coop the other morning to see if they would lay in it (they refuse to lay in the nest box), and you'd thought I was killing the things. Thought they were going to hurt themselves flying into the walls of the coop to get away when they saw that darn tire. And when they are having fun and excited, they're like miniature jets flying around willy nilly. They don't scare quite as easily as chickens, I think this is because of their size, so they don't seem to dart about like chickens do on a constant basis. But because they are so large, they just walk or run wherever they want and that is how they do things like smash eggs - because they just walk over them. They've tried to walk down a 4 ft poultry net when the electricity wasn't on. They remind me of our donkeys - they will keep walking until there is something that they just can't get through after repeated attempts. They are very curious and want to be in the middle of everything that you are doing. I've wound up bleeding from having them peck at a freckle on my leg when I was bent over working. They like to be involved in things whether you want them there or not. They are very personable with little interaction, unlike chickens where you have to spend a good deal of time to get them to be so personable. But it is a curse sometimes when you need to do things without the help of a turkey.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

A black Cochin is pipped!! And an Aussie cross has pipped too!!

Awesome! It's hard not to keep your face pressed to the incubator the whole time isn't it! Congratulations.

 

[stryker]

I just put my eggs in on Sunday and I completely agree!

Awesome! It's hard not to keep your face pressed to the incubator the whole time isn't it! Congratulations.

 

[DesertChic]

I don't think I ever got around to re-posting my favorite chicken recipe. This one isn't a slow-roasting recipe, so it works best with younger birds. I still brine the bird for a few days, simply because I think it really improves both texture and flavor. I still have to type up the slow-roasting one.


Okay....you have to thoroughly salt and pepper the inside and outside of a dry heritage 5-lb chicken and let it air dry in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Take the chicken out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes prior to roasting so it can reach room temperature. Preheat the oven to 250 °F.

Stuff the chicken with lemon quarters, a bunch of fresh thyme, and 1 head of garlic that you’ve separated into cloves, but left the papery skin on. Put the stuffed bird breast-side up in your chosen roasting pan or rack with the feet facing the rear of the oven and roast for 3 hours or until the bird reaches an internal temp of 155°F.

Close to the end of the roasting period, mix 2 TBSP raw honey with ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil and 1 cup fruity white wine in a small saucepan and heat enough to allow the honey to melt into the other liquids.

Remove the chicken from the oven and increase the temp to 475 °F. Separate about 3 TBSP of your honey wine mixture from the pan and brush or pour it over the chicken, and then return the chicken to the hotter oven for another 10 minutes or until the skin is thoroughly browned.

Remove the chicken and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, cook down the remaining sauce mixture until it’s slightly syrupy.

Carve up your chicken and pour the sauce over each serving. If you want you can squeeze some of the lemon quarters or smear some of the garlic cloves on the chicken as well. DELISH!

An update on this recipe....I made the modification of using oranges instead of lemons, and made the glaze with 1/2 cup orange juice + 1/2 cup wine (a Mimosa!) IT WAS AWESOME! I highly recommend giving it a try.

 

[gevshiba]

You just haven't seen enough of them when they aren't in an enclosed space. They are very fast moving birds when they want to be (like when you're trying to weigh and examine them), and if they get frightened badly enough, they will freak out just as bad as a chicken. I took a tire into my turkey hen coop the other morning to see if they would lay in it (they refuse to lay in the nest box), and you'd thought I was killing the things. Thought they were going to hurt themselves flying into the walls of the coop to get away when they saw that darn tire. And when they are having fun and excited, they're like miniature jets flying around willy nilly. They don't scare quite as easily as chickens, I think this is because of their size, so they don't seem to dart about like chickens do on a constant basis. But because they are so large, they just walk or run wherever they want and that is how they do things like smash eggs - because they just walk over them. They've tried to walk down a 4 ft poultry net when the electricity wasn't on. They remind me of our donkeys - they will keep walking until there is something that they just can't get through after repeated attempts. They are very curious and want to be in the middle of everything that you are doing. I've wound up bleeding from having them peck at a freckle on my leg when I was bent over working. They like to be involved in things whether you want them there or not. They are very personable with little interaction, unlike chickens where you have to spend a good deal of time to get them to be so personable. But it is a curse sometimes when you need to do things without the help of a turkey.

Yeah, like trying to build fence with turkeys

 

[bnjrob]

Yeah, like trying to build fence with turkeys

I am laughing with you because I know this feeling. I swear, between the turkeys and the donkeys, some days I am surprised I haven't torn all my hair out yet.

 

[bluejean55girl]

I will post pics soon!!

how soon is soon?? they gotta be dry by now?

 

[Kassaundra]

Hatching is mostly over. I think there are 14, but 4 are still in icu. One hatched the rest I "birthed" All the chicks this time have dark fluff, that is a first for me. Only a couple of fm