Thank you for this information. I would truly like to know more about the Midget whites. I want to start raising some turkeys and am interested in this breed since I'm wanting best taste. Do I need to always free range? Are they safe free ranging? I have wildlife here that would more than likely love a turkey dinner also..lol. i raise 30 chickens safely in a large coop with a large completely protected outdoor run. So before I invest in a few turkeys I want to make sure I do it right.
Hmmmm how big of a pen would I need for 6 turkeys?
This thread is from 2008.
I made a couple hoop coops for single ladies and also use a bigger green house sized coop for the male and his ladies. We're building small hoop coops for momma and baby birds nesting. We have predator problems and are very careful about leaving birds unattended in the run until we have better fencing in place. Were working on it a little each month as budget allows. I found our ladies love having a platform to lay eggs on. If you have an indoor space big enough that has the footprint size big enough for a washer or range, you can build a momma approved nest area. You can go smaller if you have to but not by much. Although right now I do have a broody turkey in a chicken nursery hatching babies in a chicken nesting box. I'll let her try. Their ideal nest needs to be raised. They love it! The height needs to be about the size of a stove top and square like a stove top. BUT it has to have sides to it. One side will need to be shorter. Our midget white poults often can fly at a week old, but they need a shorter side about 6 inches. We made the other sides 18 inches. The mom needs to feel her privacy with her kids. Best way when eating this breed is to corn feed them but only for 2 weeks before the butcher. This gives the very best taste to the meat. longer than that is not nutritionally sound for them. They love the corn a lot so they aren't suffering from the short term intense corn feed. If there is a waxy yellow crusty on the skin, by golly leave it if you love crispy skin. It's from the corn and it give a wonderful flavor. That's whether you are corn feeding turkeys or chickens. I never butcher or eat my own birds. The adults are my babies since I have hatched all of them from eggs and they think I am their momma. I just can't do it. We originally planned to sell our extra males and consume the extra females. The females are most tender and have the best flavor. We found selling the toms at flock swaps and online at Thanksgiving and Christmas works best for us. They usually sell fast too. Thought I'd try selling fertile eggs this year too. But I'm tired of people wanting me to just give them away. I paid a lot of money for my original stock. We consume the unfertile eggs. I can't tell them from chickens eggs and we raise both. They're just a little bit bigger. The female turkeys are in size like an extra large chicken, just it's wonderful turkey. I always eat someone else's birds who are corn fed. My babies are going to die of old age if I can help it.
My Midget Whites laid eggs the same size as our broad breasted whites and blue slates did (bigger than a chicken's egg) and they looked identical in color too. So it may be what they are fed. I just know my Midget White eggs produced wonderful healthy babies.Steve,
Thank you for all your wonderful information
I have about 400 questions - but can we start with one? How large of an egg do the Midget Whites lay? Say.... compared to an extra large chicken egg....
