Just got 4 "white" turkeys and 2 Pekin ducks from Estes Hatchery in Springfield, MO

[therisingers]

And they are AMAZING. I guess Orscheln's uses them exclusively and I am VERY happy with my birds. I have a few Banties from them that I got at Orschelns, too. So far so good. They will fit right in with our "motley crew" once they are able to. We have a female mallard that was supposed to be a Pekin. One Pekin named "Madea", some "barred" sexlink roosters and some straight run buff orpingtons. So as soon as they can all be together, ought to be interesting. Got our "tractor" built and they LOVE it. Sharlene

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Do you know the specific type of "white turkey" you ordered? As in are they "broad breasted" or one of the "heritage" breeds? That's going to make a big difference in how you'll want to manage them.

 

[therisingers]

Here is the link to the hatchery and what they say about these particular turkeys. So far they are doing awesome. They are friendly and seem strong and are eating and drinking well and are in there with the two other Pekins we JUST got at Orscheln's this evening. From that same hatchery. We went TO the hatchery when we bought the ones I mentioned earlier and went to Orscheln's and they had our ducks there cheaper than what we got them for at the hatchery so we bought two more. So now we have FIVE Pekins (one HUGE one that is only 6 weeks old) and the four turkeys. Plus the rest of our poultry who live in the tractor and chicken house for now.... https://www.esteshatchery.com/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=130 And we purposely bought these to eat and not try to breed them. We got them to butcher when they are of age to butcher. So we have all of the new ones in our brooder with the light, etc. And the rest of our poultry in their chicken house/tractor....It's working really well so far. God bless. Sharlene

 

[ivan3]

We got our first chooks from Estes via Orscheln's a little over six years ago. The Black Sex Links are still going strong (well, they'll lay until the middle of May - pretty good for dowagers). Going to get more BSL's directly from Estes (April 30th hatch). They are very easy going girls (if they get a few grapes and are left alone...). Roo in avatar is also an Estes bird.

 

[therisingers]

So far I'm loving their birds. Our FIRST birds we got from Nixa Hardware's "chick days" and not sure WHO they use but it's not Este's. I will buy exclusively from Este's from now on. I loved their facility and the birds are strong and healthy. And since Orscheln's has their birds, it works for me. YOUR birds are BEAUTIFUL. I was going to do sexlinks but ended up getting my Buff Orpingtons. I'd had them before years ago and really liked them. They get broody and I wanted that. I am HOPING to not have to buy too many more chickens and let nature take it's course here. We are doing it for eggs and meat and they are a good dual purpose bird. We have the barred sexlinks right now for meat birds. We were GOING to get cornish cross but read up on it and they said that you lose a good portion of them before you can eat them. So we didn't get them. Any thoughts on that? We really wanted to try them but almost everything we read about them was negative....Sharlene

 

[ivan3]

therisingers wrote: We were GOING to get cornish cross but read up on it and they said that you lose a good portion of them before you can eat them. So we didn't get them. Any thoughts on that? We really wanted to try them but almost everything we read about them was negative...

Surprised mods haven't moved these random thoughts on Estes to the Hatcheries section. If we start discussing feed conversion/utilization in meat birds? What a mess

Start a new thread about the Cornish in the Meat Bird Subforum (you'll get plenty of info).

Good luck!

 

[therisingers]

Sorry didn't mean to "be a mess". LOL. I'm still a newbie here....But on the bright side, my thoughts WERE random. I appreciate the info on the meat birds, etc. Thanks and God bless. Sharlene

 

[ivan3]

therisingers wrote: Sorry didn't mean to "be a mess"

Sharlene, I was referring to where mods might move the thread, not you!

Have a great day!

John

 

[therisingers]

No problem, I was just joking. You have a good day as well. Sharlene