Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[Kev]

Thanks! Their possible mothers are bigger than production reds. I don't have to mention the one we culled earlier. Those two naked necks are actually way smaller than non- naked necks. I don't know why. I also don't like that color. I hope that some blacks or white or dark brown will hatch so I can get them.

A very high percentage from the hatchery stock come in this color also. I admit to it not being a favorite color but it does make early sexing rather easy and is great for those who like a carcass with clear skin.

Black is dominant, crossing with any black chicken will throw some black chicks, however black crossed with other colors will grow into black chickens with either white or red detailing.. like the black sexlinks.

 

[Kev]

I'm trying to develope a flock of egg laying Naked Necks. The few I have now are descent layers. I have 11 hens that lay. I'm now averaging 6 to 8 eggs a day from them. Today I got ten so some days are better than others.
Two if he hens aren't NN but are actually 1/2 NN, from their daddy. One of tge hens is NN but lays a green egg ( from my project that I've now discarded), she is an neatly everyday layer. Averages 5 to 7 a week.

My feed bill had went way down since I cut back. I'm in the process of building them back up though with another project but only for color.

Besides those 11 hens I have coming up on 20 weeks old tomorrow the 22nd, 4 NN pullets, and 2 NN pullets that came from the old project, they have funky single combs so I'm expecting brown eggs. I'll also have 2 young cockerels growing up with them. From my Easter Hatch I have about a half and half mix of cockerel/pullet ratio ( okay can't be exact) count of 13 some are NN and some mor( again the non NN are for color project).
I have 37 eggs in the incubator that are due to hatch this next Wednesday or Thursday.

I'm taking one rooster off for an auction this weekend, 1) because he's a meanie, 2) he's got barring (also orange) and I'm not a fan of barring. He is the dad of the eggs that are hatching, so I have his genes in the pool stock.

This fall I'm planning on ordering 25 pullets to grow out for next spring. To help bring in more genes. To up the egg production.

All this to say because I want to have eggs available to those that want fresh eggs and because I'm thinking that there may be a shortage on eggs after all this avian influenza outbreak in the biggest egg producing state, Iowa. Thinking also the prices may go higher too. So I want to be prepared.

Then again, I'm still hoping that I can hang onto them. I still haven't found a job. So chicken keeping is still up in the air.

Ouch. Got to take care of yourself and family first though.

For eggs, the hens that lay good size eggs yet don't eat very much are invaluable.

 

[Kev]

I don't know why, but I just love your broodies.They just seem perfect for me. I also like the chick with stripes on back. Is it fm?

Thank you. Yeah that chick is fm, but not strongly so at this point.

That chick's grandmother is a white fm on a partridge base. Her son(black) was bred over black ranger hens(a slow growing broiler breed) so this striped chick is a little bit of surprise. Seems it will grow up to be a fair sized bird...

 

[Kev]

Having never had 'bresse', I might be the wrong person to ask but I have had capon since my earliest childhood as my parents bought them at the market for holidays..... not one of us liked turkey and capons were plentiful and readily available seasonally in those early decades.

I can also tell you that rather than having all the fat between the skin and flesh, as in non-castrated birds, the fat tends to marbleize throughout the meat, (like that of a steer), making it especially tender, even in birds that are as old as 18 months and the skin gets especially crispy when the capon is roasted. You will note, we finish our capons and poulardes with buttermilk and coarse-ground cornmeal and the taste is much more earthy and savory than typical store-bought birds. I hesitate to use the words strongly flavorful, for fear that it might make some think it off-putting. To me and my family, it is our favorite way to produce chicken meat for ourselves and a couple of neighbors.

http://www.dartagnan.com/all-natural-free-range-capon/product/FCAPO002-1.html

Fascinating, I feel like a newbie- never knew chicken meat could be marbleized.

Do you know if slow growing broilers such as freedoms, pioneers etc would be amenable to a good capon carcass or is it best done with basically dual purpose, leaning towards meat side types?

I'm even tempted a bit to try making capons but don't really have the room to grow out capons... deliberately took down several pens and cages so I would be forced to limit the number of chickens... as is they are rapidly filling out with up and coming chicks. Guess I'll settle for either ordering capons for special occasion or grab the chance if they show up on a menu somewhere around here.

As for taste, old hens are one of my favorites- plenty of flavor- more chickeny(in a good way) plus some other flavors I can't quite put a finger on.

Not a big fan of turkey either, however hertiage type allowed to grow closer to a year in age does taste pretty good instead of so bland like the store turkey.

I can just barely stand oven roasted turkey but deep fried is IMO pretty great. Especially deep fried older heritage type turkey...... MMMmmmm.

Interestingly, I read of a blind taste test of pasture raised heritage, broadbreasted and store bought.. from memory, the pastured broadbreasts were rated the highest. That struck me as odd but part of me wonders if those people were putting emphasis on tenderness over flavor..?

 

[Kev]

Cuteness overload on the chicks! Absolutely love them and their momma.

My broody is a crazy scratcher. I've seen her send chicks flying across the brooder if they accidentally get behind her when she is scratching. I have a large, yet shallow, glass or ceramic dish for food that is heavy enough that the hen can't knock it over. I put that on top of a piece of 2 x 12 pine board that is about 18 inches long. The height keeps most of the bedding out of the dish and the hen can't knock it over. The chicks learn to climb up on the piece of wood to reach the bowl. If my description doesn't make sense let me know and I'll go out and snap a picture.

Feed prices here are also going up. Not over $20 a bag yet, but getting pretty close.

Haha she has done that to a couple of her chicks yesterday when they were on their first trip out of the nest box. That didn't happen today- in fact noticed many of the chicks were backing off fast once she started to scratch, so this batch must be really fast learners... lol

How does that set up stop the hen from getting on top and kicking everything off though? In the past, some hens have even jumped IN the metal container(same as in picture) just to scratch around.. had to block the top off. A little annoying but got to admire their urge to feed the chicks, ha! She hasn;t done that yet, but she sure is really good at practically shoveling out the feed from the narrow space.

 

[tlee1956]

Noticed a few reddish purple marks on my 8 week old NN's scrawny pink neck recently. Thought it might be from one of my others pecking her. The other 4 I have are different breeds. Anyone else have this problem? Can this be prevented?

 

[draye]

Noticed a few reddish purple marks on my 8 week old NN's scrawny pink neck recently. Thought it might be from one of my others pecking her. The other 4 I have are different breeds. Anyone else have this problem? Can this be prevented?

Could you post pictures if these spots? That would sure help.

 

[tlee1956]

I'll try to get some pics tomorrow afternoon.

 

[DesertChic]

Fascinating, I feel like a newbie- never knew chicken meat could be marbleized.

Do you know if slow growing broilers such as freedoms, pioneers etc would be amenable to a good capon carcass or is it best done with basically dual purpose, leaning towards meat side types?

I'm even tempted a bit to try making capons but don't really have the room to grow out capons... deliberately took down several pens and cages so I would be forced to limit the number of chickens... as is they are rapidly filling out with up and coming chicks. Guess I'll settle for either ordering capons for special occasion or grab the chance if they show up on a menu somewhere around here.

As for taste, old hens are one of my favorites- plenty of flavor- more chickeny(in a good way) plus some other flavors I can't quite put a finger on.

Not a big fan of turkey either, however hertiage type allowed to grow closer to a year in age does taste pretty good instead of so bland like the store turkey.

I can just barely stand oven roasted turkey but deep fried is IMO pretty great. Especially deep fried older heritage type turkey...... MMMmmmm.

Interestingly, I read of a blind taste test of pasture raised heritage, broadbreasted and store bought.. from memory, the pastured broadbreasts were rated the highest. That struck me as odd but part of me wonders if those people were putting emphasis on tenderness over flavor..?

I was never a fan of turkey meat until our close friend/employee smoked a turkey for us. It was pretty much like crack for me as I couldn't stop eating it. Now I'm thinking of raising turkeys just so I can have him smoke them for me, which he's thrilled to do in exchange for all the eggs and meat I give to him.

 

[Kev]

I was never a fan of turkey meat until our close friend/employee smoked a turkey for us. It was pretty much like crack for me as I couldn't stop eating it. Now I'm thinking of raising turkeys just so I can have him smoke them for me, which he's thrilled to do in exchange for all the eggs and meat I give to him.

Haha that is how I am with deep fried turkey. Never had smoked turkey.. interesting idea!

Be aware that turkeys eat a LOT.. which means they poop... a lot. as result brooders with poults always have this special kind of smell, same with confined turkeys. Free range, there's no smell but you better be wearing shoes outdoors lol

Turkeys can be really charming though- my first pet actually was a broadbreasted tom that started out as a responsibility for 6 year old me to raise for the table. He never made it to the table, I made very very sure of that lol