How's Meyer Hatchery in Ohio, for turkeys?

[dancingbear]

After looking at a bunch of hatcheries, Meyer has the best price, and they're in my region, so it would reduce the travel time for the poults. Not close enough for me to pick up, unfortunately.

Just wondering how good the turkeys are, health-wise, vigor, etc. I'd be getting BBB's.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I've ordered from them regularly in the past and their poults do great. There is a farm in Danville that raises the BBW which are the same thing... only the feathers are different.

They charge around $2.25 a poult. The name is Cuddy Farms I'm sure you could google the number... I have it laying around here somewhere but it's too ealry to look for it, let me know if you can't find it.

What I do know is they do not ship.... they offer pickup only as they specialize in just turkeys and are world known for their turkeys. They are about 2 hours away from Meyers (south) if that makes the drive any better for you. We get a few hundred at a time and get a discount but we get them at the end of June, I don't know if this is too late for you.

Last time I checked Meyers ordered their BBW eggs from Cuddy.

 

[dancingbear]

Thanks, Jeff. That's still pretty far to go get them, I'd spend about $20 in gas. But I'd rather have bronze anyway. Since I free range as soon as they're big enough to let out, pure white birds are a bad idea for me. Predators see them glowing like a light, and come in for dinner. As long as I avoid pure white birds, I have very little trouble with predators. Oddly enough, they don't seem to notice the light Brahmas, or other mostly white birds, as long as they have the dark tails and necks. Maybe that's enough to break up the outline, so they don't realize what they're looking at.

Glad to hear a good report about Meyer's poults. I need a source of turkey babies.

There's one place near me where could pick some up, but last time I got turkeys from them, every last one of them died, but not right away. The chicks from there weren't as vigorous as others I've had, either. I don't want to give the name, it may have been a fluke, but I don't want to buy there again.

 

[PamsPride]

I have got BBB from Meyer's before and they did great! My Tom dressed out at 35 pounds and my jenny's dressed out at 23 pounds.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
How old were yours when you butchered?

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I understand, white birds don't last long here either... my Pyrenees takes care of that now but before it was exactly like your situation.

Poults are tough to ship they don't do very well... you want to try and get a hatchery that ships the night that they hatch and not the morning after. The quicker they are under a light and on feed and water the better they do. When I get mine I get them at four in the am to make sure they are only a couple hours old before they are eating and drinking... makes tougher poults in the long haul.

Good Luck.

 

[ghulst]

We at Townline ship the day they are hatched.

 

[dancingbear]

My DH suggested we try the swap meet in Shepardsville, that's about an hour north of us. That might be better, we won't have to get so many that way. And we can go straight home with them. We always take a little feed and something to put water in when we go there, so we can tend them before the ride home.

I'd like to raise maybe 8, so I was going to order 15 and sell the extras. If we find some at the swap meet, we may be able to get some a week or so old. Hopefully, they'll be healthier than the ones from that other place. If not, I'll try a hatchery next time. Or maybe get hatching eggs from Meyer.

When we raised BBB's before, we let them grow about 8 months. They were huge! I didn't have a scale big enough for them, but I'd bet they were over 40 lbs. Very tasty, too!

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Check out Ridgway Hatchery.

http://www.ridgwayhatchery.com/index.htm

I regularly discover that the best of the Bronze turkeys I judge in meat competitions come from them. And if you want superior meat type Pekin Ducks Ridgway has them as well. They have their own bronze turkey breeder flock and the Pekin breeders are from Morehart Duck Farm which is very nearby. A longtime, family operation.

I would not be inclined to get week old poults from a swap meet. Think of all the exposure to other birds and the stress they will have endured. This could be cause of serious health problems.

BTW -my father built and operated the hatchery that now belongs to Cuddy north of my home town, Danville, Ohio. On September 3rd, 1961 (my Mother's birthday)I drove the lawn tractor over the alfalfa field hauling the stakes and string as my Dad and the concrete contractor laid out the footers. I was ten. I still own what is left of the farm that used to include the hatchery property.

Cuddy is a huge operation supplying vast numbers of poults all over the world. Small orders are a very minute part of thier sales so you have to bear with them on those transactions.

 

[dancingbear]

Thank you for the info, Neil. I'm not planning to show them, so it's not worth an additional $19.25 to me, to get exhibition quality birds. I'm sure they're nice, but if I get some from a hatchery, I'll go with Meyer.

I agree about the swap meet birds, I'm less not wild about the idea, but DH is. I'm crossing my fingers for a good out come. I will quarantine them when I get them home. Now I have to build a quarantine pen/brooder. I need more pens anyway.

I'm not through trying to talk him out of it, though.