broad breasted turkeys

[redneck4life27]

I got 3 broad breasted turkeys in may. There doing great. I want to raise them until a couple of days before thanksgiving. Will they be tobig by then any advice. Is may too early to raise them for thanksgiving? When is the best time to raise them from? This is my first time raising turkeys.

 

[farmerlor]

That's almost perfect timing. You don't want those puppies to get any older than six months or you'll have them dying of heart congestion and broken bones.

 

[chicken pickin]

I suppose it depends on how large you want your turkeys to be. I have 2 BBWs that were hatched roughly mid may so they are almost 14weeks old. I think that May is too early to start raising them to be processed right before thanksgiving. I hear end of june begining of july is best to start. We are new to this also but will judge the weight of the birds as we go but we have a plan to do it either the end of sept or early oct. But that is just us others may have different opinions or advice.

 

[Frosty]

I get mine in the first week of June and do them the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I really watch their diet to keep the growth slower. If at all possible, I let them free range. When they are loose, I only feed them once a week so that they know where home is. If I do that I do check them often to make sure they are getting enough to eat (and during this period they make a huge dent in the grasshopper population as well as eat all of the apples falling from the trees which cuts down on yellow jackets hanging out under the apple trees. About a week before processing I lock them up and feed them grain and lots of apples. My toms have been in the 17 - 20 pound range, and the hens are 12 - 15 pounds. I also have 2 older hens, one is spring 2011 hatch, the other is spring 2010. I have been raising them this way for about 18 years now, and never had leg or heart problems with them except one that got a broken leg. But hers was when a roof collapsed under snow and she was trapped under the roof.