Do these exist?

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Not to bring a skunk to anybodies lawn party but here is Good Shepherd Ranch products. Please check it out.

http://www.reeseturkeys.net/category.sc?categoryId=3

I can see just a small problem with the products offered if you want to raise turkeys. On the flip side the birds won't eat much and the only housing needed would be a freezer.

Steve

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
The Heritage Turkeys listed in the Standard are slow growing. With turkeys we look at conformation first and feathers last. As the old timers would say....you can't eat feathesr!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
The ones on the Good Sheperd site for sale are a bit past their breeding ability!

But I am sure they are delicious. To purchase live stock, one must contact them.

 

[medan]

I am no expert at genetics but one would think 100 years of inbreeding cant be that good of a thing.
Good shepherd might be a bad way to go.
I think one would want to know more about diversity of the flocks and how much inter breeding has happened in that 100 years .
I guess if your trying to get a turkey with 2 heads and a limp inbreeding is a good thing ?

 

[Celtic Hill]

Quote:
The Heritage Turkeys listed in the Standard are slow growing. With turkeys we look at conformation first and feathers last. As the old timers would say....you can't eat feathesr!

That's a good point, Im going to look into them so more.

Everyone else be nice!

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
I am going to be trying an experiment... I have 4 BBW hens held over from last year, and I plan to try crossing them with one of my White Holland toms. I plan to hold some over and see if I want to cross back to either WH or BBW. I am trying to get a turkey for Thanksgiving that has more breast than a heritage, but I also want self breeding sustainable birds. So I am looking for something in the mid range. It might be something that you want to try, too.

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

Quote:
I am going to be trying an experiment... I have 4 BBW hens held over from last year, and I plan to try crossing them with one of my White Holland toms. I plan to hold some over and see if I want to cross back to either WH or BBW. I am trying to get a turkey for Thanksgiving that has more breast than a heritage, but I also want self breeding sustainable birds. So I am looking for something in the mid range. It might be something that you want to try, too.

This will work. Just be cautious in over feeding the girls. I would advise giving them lots of pasture and feeding them in the eveniing. Let them search for food all day and then a supplement when they come in for roosting. Be watchful of the hens legs. If they gain too much weight they can have leg trouble. I know of several using cornishX hens with Buckeyes etc The same principla with the BBW/BBB. They are designed to grow fast and HUGE. Under proper management they can be raised to succeed naturally. With the BBW/BBB it is the males taht have more difficulty with natural mating. If your White Holland tom is good and fertile, you should have no trouble with fertile eggs. Keep us posted. You should start a thread titled something like:

White Holland Tom X BBW Hens project.

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
I am going to be trying an experiment... I have 4 BBW hens held over from last year, and I plan to try crossing them with one of my White Holland toms. I plan to hold some over and see if I want to cross back to either WH or BBW. I am trying to get a turkey for Thanksgiving that has more breast than a heritage, but I also want self breeding sustainable birds. So I am looking for something in the mid range. It might be something that you want to try, too.

This will work. Just be cautious in over feeding the girls. I would advise giving them lots of pasture and feeding them in the eveniing. Let them search for food all day and then a supplement when they come in for roosting. Be watchful of the hens legs. If they gain too much weight they can have leg trouble. I know of several using cornishX hens with Buckeyes etc The same principla with the BBW/BBB. They are designed to grow fast and HUGE. Under proper management they can be raised to succeed naturally. With the BBW/BBB it is the males taht have more difficulty with natural mating. If your White Holland tom is good and fertile, you should have no trouble with fertile eggs. Keep us posted. You should start a thread titled something like:

White Holland Tom X BBW Hens project.

I mostly watch the feed their first summer when they are at their fastest growing stage. Then they have 5 or 6 months when they can't free range due to snow depth and increased pressure from hungry predators. I don't try for maximun weight gain anyhow because i want them to have time to develop their flavor but not be too huge. At 6 - 7 months my toms dress out around 25 - 28 pounds and they are still able to fly up to roost. I had a 2 year old tom dress out at 38 pounds. The oldest BBW I have had was three, she decided to nest in the weeds and got attacked by a raccoon. It didn't manage to kill her at the time, but she later died of her injuries. In January I had a BBB hen (would have been 2 this year) that waddled when she walked but could still get around very well and I was planning to cross her with my Regal Red tom. Unfortunately, the roof on their building collapsed under the snow load and she broke her leg so I had to put her down.

I am aware that the problem is with the tom not being able to get close enough, so I will need to be very careful on the toms that I select to keep. The collapsed build is going to leave me scrambling when it's time to seperate for breeding, but it also means that now I can put up something bigger.