Raising Heritage Turkeys for Meat and Eggs

[Arosie]

Hello!

I'm interested in raising heritage turkeys primarily for meat but would love eggs as well. The BB are out of the picture because I want birds that can reproduce on their own... I don't know how to AI! So what breeds do you all recommend? I'm thinking the Midgets would take longer to get to a good size. I think we've only had BBB and Midget White before. We let the BBB grow too long and got a few 46 lb and a 48 lb tom AFTER processing. Too big, IMO! They didn't fit in the oven.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any input or advice on the subject. Thanks!

 

[R2elk]

Hello!

I'm interested in raising heritage turkeys primarily for meat but would love eggs as well. The BB are out of the picture because I want birds that can reproduce on their own... I don't know how to AI! So what breeds do you all recommend? I'm thinking the Midgets would take longer to get to a good size. I think we've only had BBB and Midget White before. We let the BBB grow too long and got a few 46 lb and a 48 lb tom AFTER processing. Too big, IMO! They didn't fit in the oven.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any input or advice on the subject. Thanks!

You can learn a lot about the different varieties of heritage turkeys at Porter's Rare Heritage Turkeys.

All domestic turkeys are the breed Turkey. Any of the heritage varieties will take longer to get to a 20 lb. dressed weight. You can process them as young as 4 months but will have much smaller carcasses. Full grown will take 12 to 18 months even though they are sexually mature by 6 months.

 

[Baybrio]

Hello!

I'm interested in raising heritage turkeys primarily for meat but would love eggs as well. The BB are out of the picture because I want birds that can reproduce on their own... I don't know how to AI! So what breeds do you all recommend? I'm thinking the Midgets would take longer to get to a good size. I think we've only had BBB and Midget White before. We let the BBB grow too long and got a few 46 lb and a 48 lb tom AFTER processing. Too big, IMO! They didn't fit in the oven.

Anyway, I'd appreciate any input or advice on the subject. Thanks!

You raised turkeys from the two extremes, the largest and the smallest.

Porter's site is awesome, you can get an idea of likely mature weights of the different varieties. Some varieties tend to be a bit smaller like Royal Palms (toms 22, hens 12) some bigger like the black winged Bronze and white Hollands (toms 36, hens 20). My understanding is that the Midgets will typically be smaller than the royal palms. Most of the other varieties are somewhere in the middle.

These are live weights for mature birds. Even these bigger heritage varieties reproduce naturally.

From my obsessive reading on turkeys, seems like most people find a turkey variety they like after trying a few varieties. When you find turkeys that suit you and your raising conditions you'll have your breeders.

R2elk has a lot of experience!

 

[Arosie]

Thank you! I visited The Porter site and it looks like a breeder I want to get some poults from. I think I may end up trying out a variety or their mixed breeds. I prefer a medium or larger breed bird.

 

[Huntmaster]

Thank you! I visited The Porter site and it looks like a breeder I want to get some poults from. I think I may end up trying out a variety or their mixed breeds. I prefer a medium or larger breed bird.

Don't think you will be unhappy with his birds. Most of my varieties started from Porters.

 

[NY Coturnix]

The problem with Porters is that I want that color and then that color and then that color and then..........................

 

[Huntmaster]

The problem with Porters is that I want that color and then that color and then that color and then..........................

Ya seem to have that same problem here

 

[Huntmaster]

Only have 9 varieties now and so many more to go

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I really enjoyed my royal palms when I had them

 

[Fairview01]

A true midget white tom at maturity should top put at around 13lbs. Hens will be slightly less. I selected this breed because they will still fit in my chicken plucker. The most common error is not selecting for smaller size.

Hatcheries are an unreliable source for midget whites. You're just as likely to receive Beltsvilles or Hollands. Finding a breeder that raises them is you best bet but no guarantee they know what they have either.