**~~>>Second Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatchathon<<~~**all poultry welcome!

[Arielle]

sometimes the zoos will take them.. others want nothing to do with them because they either have plenty or are afraid of introducing disease to their animals..

you also have to remember that they can live for 25+years with proper care


of course there is always butchering them when they get to be yearlings.. they were, after all, being raised as an alternative meat source before people started making pets of them (and emu meat is delicious)

25+ years . . . . . . that's the reason I won't get parrots either at this point. Bad enough having a 21 and 25 year old horses.

Quote: Dino size?

Quote:
lol.. you cut them up when you butcher.. so most of the meat is deboned..

this is a "baby" that I butchered for a friend (the bird was a failure to thrive chick.. small and not much meat.. but did make a really good stew)



most of the meat comes from the legs and thighs.. you can scrape together about 3 pounds from the breastbone (not much meat on the breast at all even on an adult since it's a flat bone and not keeled like regular poultry) and the strip along the back (breast and back strip are usually ground up like burger)... the neck can be treated like oxtail


on an adult bird there is a lot more meat.. so it's usually deboned and packaged that way..

with skinning (pelt can be saved feathers on or plucked to save the leather)
removing fat to render down (emu oil)
cutting up and deboning..
it can take two people a few hours to process one adult bird
I find it strange that emus were brought here as meat animals because the feed : meat ratio is not nearly as good as other meat livestock. Like chickens!! No wonder they became pets.

ANd I don't get any help here at butchering time, DH disappears. lol But oldest son likes the feathers so he will pluck so he can pick the best ones.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
my free rangers would eat more of the horse feed than the horses would.. never hurt them any (but did make the feed bill a bit more painful)

 

[Arielle]

WOW! A day away from the computer & a hundred posts to catch up on....maybe later

Quote:

I disagree. I was attacked by geese when I was small & am wary of them to this day. My neighbor got some & I won't go anywhere near them. Plus their honking drives me nuts.
It's funny tho, cuz he has a couple peafowl & they are vocalizing all thru the night lately. Their sound doesn't bother me. Weird.

My cat has had allergy symptoms since I found a baby chook & brought him in the house last Feb. Now all the chooks are out & she still snuffles and snorts. One Doc said to put her on Chlor-Trimetron to dry her up. Didn't work. Now she has a huge growth between her eyes that distorts her face & curls back her eyelid. I took her to the vet & he lanced it & drained it, but that was only dealing with that infection...not the allergy. This cat has never been sick. I'm soooo upset.

Sorry...I know this board is not the right place for that post. Just trying to explain why I'm not on much lately.

You need Muscovy ducks!!!

No honking!! They keep their distance just not as socaible as the chickens and dabble in the water constantly!!

 

[Arielle]

I am new to BYC and Incubating but hatched 1 setting of chicks so far this spring, and it just happens I set 12 turkey eggs last week, evening of the 4th. was not aware of the hatchalong at that time but here I am anyway. We will see what happens. Any hints for a biginner.

Welcome.

Someone maybe have already helped you . . . if not . . . .

See post one-- might be info there. In general they turkeys are like the chicken so it is easy to group them together in an incubator.

Turn eggs 3-5 times a day. CANDLE to monitor the humidity. Do you know about candling and the AIr cell?? THat and the correct temp are the basics. GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[tommysgirl]

Ron I love you synopsises...errh synopsi...synapses... SUMMARIES!!!!

Hope every one has exciting things to see and report.

 

[yinepu]

Quote: Dino size?

Quote:
lol.. you cut them up when you butcher.. so most of the meat is deboned..

this is a "baby" that I butchered for a friend (the bird was a failure to thrive chick.. small and not much meat.. but did make a really good stew)



most of the meat comes from the legs and thighs.. you can scrape together about 3 pounds from the breastbone (not much meat on the breast at all even on an adult since it's a flat bone and not keeled like regular poultry) and the strip along the back (breast and back strip are usually ground up like burger)... the neck can be treated like oxtail


on an adult bird there is a lot more meat.. so it's usually deboned and packaged that way..

with skinning (pelt can be saved feathers on or plucked to save the leather)
removing fat to render down (emu oil)
cutting up and deboning..
it can take two people a few hours to process one adult bird
I find it strange that emus were brought here as meat animals because the feed : meat ratio is not nearly as good as other meat livestock. Like chickens!! No wonder they became pets.

ANd I don't get any help here at butchering time, DH disappears. lol But oldest son likes the feathers so he will pluck so he can pick the best ones.

actually the feed to meat ratio wasn't all of it.. with an emu.. pretty much every bit of the animal can be used.. feathers, hide, oil, bones, even guts.... so there is almost 0 waste..(plus selling eggs and chicks)
in that respect (and considering the market value of each especially at the time) there was a pretty good return on the investment when they found a market to sell to.
Janice Castleberry and her husband were some of the lucky ones.. they made millions during the emu meat production days because they understood their market and took advantage of it.. they also knew when to quit.. so they didn't suffer any massive losses unlike many others...

what killed the industry is a lot of farmers didn't have the resources to market the meat.. plus when you are dealing with a public that isn't used to the idea of exotic meat.. and is hooked on beef (and during the heyday of emu farming were convinced that "white meat" was better for you).. well.. convincing them otherwise can be a hard thing to do.. plus at the time they couldn't market the oil and meat with a list of ALL the health benefits because of labeling laws (homeopathy and herbal supplements are still fighting that battle).. so much of the public was unaware as to how good it really is for you. You can still buy emu meat.. and there are still some "upscale restaurants" that have it as well as ostrich on the menu. And there's still a market for the leather and oil.

 

[cmfarm]

actually the feed to meat ratio wasn't all of it.. with an emu.. pretty much every bit of the animal can be used.. feathers, hide, oil, bones, even guts.... so there is almost 0 waste..(plus selling eggs and chicks)
in that respect (and considering the market value of each especially at the time) there was a pretty good return on the investment when they found a market to sell to.
Janice Castleberry and her husband were some of the lucky ones.. they made millions during the emu meat production days because they understood their market and took advantage of it.. they also knew when to quit.. so they didn't suffer any massive losses unlike many others...

what killed the industry is a lot of farmers didn't have the resources to market the meat.. plus when you are dealing with a public that isn't used to the idea of exotic meat.. and is hooked on beef (and during the heyday of emu farming were convinced that "white meat" was better for you).. well.. convincing them otherwise can be a hard thing to do.. plus at the time they couldn't market the oil and meat with a list of ALL the health benefits because of labeling laws (homeopathy and herbal supplements are still fighting that battle).. so much of the public was unaware as to how good it really is for you. You can still buy emu meat.. and there are still some "upscale restaurants" that have it as well as ostrich on the menu. And there's still a market for the leather and oil.

What can you do with the bones?

 

[karimw]

Who wants broodies? I came home yesterday to 4 new broodies, so now have 6. I decided to try to break the first two bu tossing them in the Juvie Pen. They are hogging the favorite nesting spots and eggs keep getting broken in the fighting I think it will work on one but the other found a spot and is hissing and spitting if anyone comes near. I guess I'll giver her a basket and some eggs. Maybe she can raise hatch the tutors for me.

 

[Arielle]

I did set early so I candled today. Both Turkey eggs are developing and all but two of the 27 Guinea eggs are also.

I set 29 for the Hatch. That incubator also has 11 mallard duck eggs--I do not know how long they had been incubating before the farmer's goat ran of the duck.

 

[Arielle]

OK im gonna try and write a poem about the bear cubs in the tree just above my chicken coop


Dogs out side got to pee
pretty soon she starts Barking
Mark goes to the door to see whats up
he soon says Tammy come get this pup

So away i go to Get the Bratt
I look up at the tree
Mark says whats that

A bear cub mark how did it get up there
it had to climb the fence how unfair
i see the second put the dog in the house
I notice my roommate is not a man but a mouse

In the green house he must hide
i tell him not to worry the cubs wont cry
so away to my hens i run like a flash

put them inside and try and hide my egg stash
the bears know where we hide the eggs
Cute little cubs boy was i Brave

My hens where safe the cubs really small but where was the momma after all ?
i hear her on the other side of the fence
i look at the babys and think this doesnt make since

Momma called her little ones thank god they listened
I got to my house and called mark a mouse and he said

That bear was huge ..........

LMAO we only seen the Cubs and they could of been 40 lbs

really cute no threat unless we threatened them i have walked up on mom and cubs feeding and just watched told her it was ok when she seen me and no threat was seen she had a full grown deer down probably died of starvation over the winter .

Well done!!!

I stay clear of bears--was bitten, just a graze really by a baby bear when I worked at a wildlife park/zoo--left a huge bruise. Strong jaws on a little beast--NOT messing with a momma. Good you keep safe.