Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

He is beautiful! Royal Palm?

Midget White - even smaller than a RP (I have them too and they tower over the MW's). The MW toms are supposed to weigh about 12 lbs, and the hens, 10, which is not much heavier than a large mature rooster, but they get to that weight a lot faster and are taller than any of the roos I have.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Love my turkeys! I just got in from being sat on by mine lol. That reminds me, I forgot to tell everyone about my attempt at a saddle/vest for my flock so that hunters would recognize that they're not wild. The saddle turned out great and fit wonderfully BUT my model, Sweet Pea panicked and the rest of the flock thought it was something dangerous on her so everyone was chasing her and attacking it on her back. It was quite the fiasco. The poor girl lost a few feathers from me catching her to get it back off

 

[dheltzel]

Love my turkeys! I just got in from being sat on by mine lol. That reminds me, I forgot to tell everyone about my attempt at a saddle/vest for my flock so that hunters would recognize that they're not wild. The saddle turned out great and fit wonderfully BUT my model, Sweet Pea panicked and the rest of the flock thought it was something dangerous on her so everyone was chasing her and attacking it on her back. It was quite the fiasco. The poor girl lost a few feathers from me catching her to get it back off

Nice! Making them "hunter orange" is a warning that they might be armed and shoot back, LOL. (I know that's not the primary reason hunter don't aim at orange vests, but it's something I would consider if I were a hunter).

I'm always concerned some pheasant hunter will shoot a guinea. I doubt the guineas would sit still to have little orange clothes put on them though.

 

[Kramerfamilyof4]

Now I really want turkeys!
Where can I get midget white hatching eggs?

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Midget White - even smaller than a RP (I have them too and they tower over the MW's). The MW toms are supposed to weigh about 12 lbs, and the hens, 10, which is not much heavier than a large mature rooster, but they get to that weight a lot faster and are taller than any of the roos I have.

wondering which do you like for processing the best out of the two? hubs wants the MW in spring and then to keep rotating to keep enough for each holiday. thoughts? I am thinking they may not be big enough for our family realizing what you said

 

[dheltzel]

Now I really want turkeys!
Where can I get midget white hatching eggs?

I'm getting lots of eggs right now, we are eating all of them, I don't want to hatch this later in the year. The young MW hens started laying quite young, I think before 6 months of age and are excellent producers now. I wish they had waited to start until January or Feb, I'm afraid they will stop early too and I won't have that many poults from them. I expect to have eggs and poults for sale in the spring. I was trying to sell a trio of them this fall, but it looks like the hens will just get added to my flock, giving me 9 MW hens - hopefully that equals a lot of fertile eggs next spring.

 

[dheltzel]

wondering which do you like for processing the best out of the two? hubs wants the MW in spring and then to keep rotating to keep enough for each holiday. thoughts? I am thinking they may not be big enough for our family realizing what you said

I can't imagine killing one of them, they are pets and so well mannered. I'm not sure I can eat commercially raised turkeys any more after spending time with my pets. I know they were developed for table birds, but I can't see how it would be worth raising them for meat compared to a broad-breasted variety. Sort of like raising leghorn roosters instead of broilers. If you are going with heritage breeds for meat, you probably want Bourbon Reds or Bronze (heritage, not BB). If you want turkey eggs, I think MW's are probably the best layers of any breed.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I can't imagine killing one of them, they are pets and so well mannered. I'm not sure I can eat commercially raised turkeys any more after spending time with my pets. I know they were developed for table birds, but I can't see how it would be worth raising them for meat compared to a broad-breasted variety. Sort of like raising leghorn roosters instead of broilers. If you are going with heritage breeds for meat, you probably want Bourbon Reds or Bronze (heritage, not BB). If you want turkey eggs, I think MW's are probably the best layers of any breed.

hmmm ok food for thought, thanks!

we only have a few spoiled chickens remaining here. Once we started processing, we realized how messed up our thought processes were so I refuse to purchase stuff that I can grow healthier here for our family. Long long story, and I am even a hunter, go figure lol..... and No use for eggs, have plenty of layers for that. thanks so much for your input! I will share it with hubs, he should make a profile on here and join, he is such an introvert he drives me insane!! you would think he would be able to do this as its not "out in the open"? idk whatever sigh

 

[Chaos18]

wondering which do you like for processing the best out of the two? hubs wants the MW in spring and then to keep rotating to keep enough for each holiday. thoughts? I am thinking they may not be big enough for our family realizing what you said

I had thought about going with the MW as well for this purpose as they are supposed to have excellent tasting meat but I went with a bigger bird because I'm weird and I wasn't a fan of just a plain white turkey.

I can't imagine killing one of them, they are pets and so well mannered. I'm not sure I can eat commercially raised turkeys any more after spending time with my pets. I know they were developed for table birds, but I can't see how it would be worth raising them for meat compared to a broad-breasted variety. Sort of like raising leghorn roosters instead of broilers. If you are going with heritage breeds for meat, you probably want Bourbon Reds or Bronze (heritage, not BB). If you want turkey eggs, I think MW's are probably the best layers of any breed.

The problem with going the broad-breasted route every year is that you would have to buy the poults (or artificially inseminate any that you have kept for breeding). While going the heritage route may not be cheaper they can naturally reproduce.

hmmm ok food for thought, thanks!

we only have a few spoiled chickens remaining here. Once we started processing, we realized how messed up our thought processes were so I refuse to purchase stuff that I can grow healthier here for our family. Long long story, and I am even a hunter, go figure lol..... and No use for eggs, have plenty of layers for that. thanks so much for your input! I will share it with hubs, he should make a profile on here and join, he is such an introvert he drives me insane!! you would think he would be able to do this as its not "out in the open"? idk whatever sigh

Raising your own heritage breed turkeys definitely won't be cheaper than buying one at the supermarket for .99 cents a pound. It will be considerably healthier for you and will have a way better flavor. The biggest reason I went into turkeys was because of the healthy aspect of it. I can give my birds a way better healthier life (until they lose there heads over it

) and natural life than living in a cage a getting fat and pumped full of drugs to be kept "healthy". I know its not even close to being cheaper than the holiday specials that they run and it never will be. Yes you could go the broad-breasted variety route but you would have to buy poults every year for it. Heritage breeds are natural reproducers so theoretically you don't have to buy more birds every year (unless you want to

).

 

[Chaos18]

hmmm ok food for thought, thanks!

we only have a few spoiled chickens remaining here. Once we started processing, we realized how messed up our thought processes were so I refuse to purchase stuff that I can grow healthier here for our family. Long long story, and I am even a hunter, go figure lol..... and No use for eggs, have plenty of layers for that. thanks so much for your input! I will share it with hubs, he should make a profile on here and join, he is such an introvert he drives me insane!! you would think he would be able to do this as its not "out in the open"? idk whatever sigh

Share this video with your husband.