Porter's Turkey

[Gatorbob26]

Thx

 

[cjbuchholz]

My first experience with Porter's was researching different breeds. Great site. 2nd experience was contacting Kevin to ask about some supposedly Auburn turkeys I purchased elsewhere. They were actually a double breasted breed which supposedly came from Diestel Ranch/Farm in California. Great birds, but the tom's were too heavy to reproduce. Anyways, Kevin was kind enough to reply to my e-mail asking what type of birds I really had. No charge, very helpful. We did get some Naragansett crosses we hatched, which look like Black Spanish poults. Most died, but I have 4 or 5 out of my second hatch. Growing well . . .

So, when it came time to purchase some new bloodlines, I felt I owed Kevin a thank you to purchase from him. I ordered his end of the year special, purebreds, I believe, various breeds. The order took a little longer than expected (late season hatch, rush of orders) but Kevin kept me updated when I inquired. The poults are due to arrive today or tomorrow and I am looking forward to receiving them.

Bottom line is I know he has a great reputation and I have been more than pleased with the experience so far and do not hesitate ordering from him. In fact, I think his site is a great resource, his work on imporving bloodlines is greatly needed and we should support his endeavors.

Just my 2 cents.

Update: Poults arrived. Ordered 16, they sent 16. One was DOA and one has a slightly curled foot, but that puts me at the original order quantity of 18. I honestly expect to lose a few in transit and just plan this in when I order and unless something like 30% losses, I never bother to claim. Just the cost of doing business.

Can't wait to see exactly what I received when they get older. Have decent idea on some already, though.

Once again, I can't say enough good things about Porter's.


Regards,

Carl Buchholz

 

[popsicle]

I placed an order several months ago, with a "last accepted hatch date" as the last offered. I didn't get any estimates of when the poults would arrive, so I did eventually need to email to make sure they wouldn't come when I was out of town. I got a quick response.

I'm happy to be flexible when it comes to animals--I've owned enough animals over the years and done field work to not be a stickler to a schedule. Things happen, weather happens, etc.

I ordered 7 crossbreds and 8 assorted purebreds, I received the 8 purebreds and 9 crossbreds. The purebreds I received: 1 Auburn, 1 Silver Auburn, 3 Mottled Chocolates, 3 Penciled Red Palm. The crossbreds were a neat mix: 2 black-like markings, 1 pure white, 1 yellow with stripes, 5 lilac-ish colored (don't know how else to describe them). I lost one Mottled Chocolate at about a week old (I think he choked or ate too much bedding on the first day they were exposed to wood shavings). I sold 5 of the poults. I seem to have kept more toms than hens, but I'm not sure.

ETA: I've given up keeping these things contained--they are ACTIVE and fly/range all over.

Here are some photos:

2 days old:


5 weeks old:
Auburn flanked by crossbreds


3 crossbreds, 1 Auburn


The one to the far right is the most "exciting" colored poult:


Crossbreds:


Red Penciled Palm starting to get markings:


Curious buggers!



if you know anything about the genetics/colors of the crossbreds please feel free to share!

I tried searching for examples of the crossbreds online, and couldn't find a single thing, that's why I'm sharing so many photos. Overall, I'm very happy with the assortment and health of birds I received.

 

[junkprospector]

it looks like a cute bunch or turkeys! Congrats!

 

[Lorilyn Farms]

These are Porter's. I'd order from him again.

 

[sebastopol]

Here they are!

Click on the picture to enlarge it... Notice most are indeed toms....

Nice pic!

 

[sebastopol]

Here they are!

Click on the picture to enlarge it... Notice most are indeed toms....

Nice pic!

 

[Cold Canadian]

Being Canadian it's hard to get the breeds you want unless someone happens to be near and depending on what they sell , and normally the prices are really high . I ordered from Kevin two years ago and had a few loss's from shipping , but considering how far theses chicks came I could totally understand the loss's , but Kevin gave me a credit . unfortunately I had some issues later and lost all but one bird and I so wanted the Sweet Grass variety but when I looked at the site again he was no longer shipping to Canada ! I emailed him ( he always responded to my emails ) and asked him why , which he explained and it made sense , so I said that I guess my credit will just go back in my credit card and he said no ? He would allow me another order ! These birds are now over six months old , had a few loss's but over all I have my Sweet Grass tom's strutting and showing there full colors . I actually got a almost even match tom to hen which also fell onto the mixed breeds .............can't say enough about his operation , just sorry that he isn't shipping here anymore .

 

[margaretbyrd]

I ordered from them. I got my first batch of eggs and of the 15 eggs sent 5 of them were viable. Then I ordered chicks. They came over night and he sent 17 chicks all of which lived. Sometimes his responses to my questions were angry sounding or defensive but I did get live birds and if it hadn't been for a malfunction of the incubator I would have gotten 5 live chicks from my eggs ordered. I figured he was super busy and had to field a lot of questions he thought were stupid.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I ordered from him too, all mine are from him, nice birds, ordered eggs this year, 11, sent 13, 6 hatched, doing well. He is not very talkative, but has nice turkeys.