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Sally Sunshine said:
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
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Just to throw it out there, I have Beltsville Small White Turkey's. The are about the same as a midget white but if you are worried about the MW being to small they might be something to consider. My Tom that I butchered last year was a little under 20 lb, before processing. So they are a little bigger but not as big as the BB variety either.
 
Jryan18 said:
Just to throw it out there, I have Beltsville Small White Turkey's. The are about the same as a midget white but if you are worried about the MW being to small they might be something to consider. My Tom that I butchered last year was a little under 20 lb, before processing. So they are a little bigger but not as big as the BB variety either.
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Sounds like a good midway option...holidays are usually 8-10 folks here, they usually want a fish fry but I sneak a traditional turkey in once in a while
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fisherlady said:
Sounds like a good midway option...holidays are usually 8-10 folks here, they usually want a fish fry but I sneak a traditional turkey in once in a while ;)
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Research of you would like I should have eggs and/or poults in the spring, the only problem being you would have to get them super early Jan/Feb to have one big enough to eat Thanksgiving 2016.
 
Chaos18 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.

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.

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
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) 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
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).
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I used a similar logic to justify keeping a pen of guineas the past year. I wanted to hatch my own eggs to save money over buying keets to raise and free range. I can definitely tell you -- NOT worth it !!
Unless you want a pen of turkeys anyway, just for the pleasure of having them, you will save a lot buying BB poults each year. A breeder pen of turkeys eat a lot of feed and produce few or no eggs for much of the year. You will never get enough poults to pay for the feed.

The most cost effective way is to do a group buy from a hatchery and split the shipping costs, or sell the extras for a little profit.
 
Today someone on Facebook shared this


I posted a picture of my silkies and said I loved them. This person doesn't have chickens that shared the picture. One of her friends asked if they were a real animal and someone asked if they lay eggs. It was cool to educate people about something they do not know about. Besides, silkies are the cutest lol
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dheltzel said:
I used a similar logic to justify keeping a pen of guineas the past year. I wanted to hatch my own eggs to save money over buying keets to raise and free range. I can definitely tell you -- NOT worth it !!
Unless you want a pen of turkeys anyway, just for the pleasure of having them, you will save a lot buying BB poults each year. A breeder pen of turkeys eat a lot of feed and produce few or no eggs for much of the year. You will never get enough poults to pay for the feed.

The most cost effective way is to do a group buy from a hatchery and split the shipping costs, or sell the extras for a little profit.
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It must be good logic if you've used it.
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Yea I know it ain't cheap to keep turkeys but I wanted pretty turkeys that I could eat.
 
fisherlady said:
Sounds like a good midway option...holidays are usually 8-10 folks here, they usually want a fish fry but I sneak a traditional turkey in once in a while
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what fish do they request? ps I am posting a few meaties pic in the processing support group in a few, need some help please
 
fisherlady said:
Walleye! Baked or fried...however I am in the mood to fix it....usually as a fish fry though so I can add in a couple pounds of perch, which is another family favorite.
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I figured! our older sons have been filling freezers running up Pulaski for Salmon and Trout over the past two years, too bad I have been raised on so much fish I refuse to eat it now!!!
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I will make it sure, but I wont eat it unless I make mine separate, fry it with a ton of butter, pepper, and even more tons of paprika! and smothered in ketchup
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