Selecting Your Best Turkeys for Breeding ALBC Manual

[OmaBird]

As part of its Master Breeder program, ALBC has worked with several renowned turkey breeders to develop these materials on Selecting Your Best Turkeys for Breeding. Learn from the experts how to select and evaluate birds. By preserving and codifying this knowledge, we can help conserve these birds for the next generation.

http://www.albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/master_breeder_turkeys.html

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I have always bred to the APA standards.

Steve

 

[MovieFanz]

Quote:
Wow! I haven't read it all with 28 pages but everyone needs to read this. Great Information. Thanks!

 

[HallFamilyFarm]

I was trying to post this yesterday, but BYC was down. Haven't had the time to read it all yet. Here is what the ALBC newsletter said:

Selecting Your Best Turkeys for Breeding

http://albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/master_breeder_turkeys.html

ALBC recently completed Selecting Your Best Turkeys for Breeding, the second publication in a series of Master Breeder publications that document and codify breeding protocols using the methods of established master breeders and other library and historical resources. Just in time for fall, this publication provides the needed knowledgebase for those producers that want to take the next step from just growing out poults for the holidays to becoming successful conservation breeders. This is a great learning tool for producers with some experience with rare breeds who want to improve their breeding skills and the quality of their flocks. The materials are suited for beginning and intermediately skilled breeders.

ALBC worked with experienced turkey breeders Frank Reese and Danny Williamson to develop the guide. Phil Sponenberg provided genetic and conservation breeding background. Research was also conducted by ALBC programs staff.
ALBC is in the process of developing similar pieces for waterfowl, rabbits, and pigs.​

 

[OmaBird]

I have read the Frank Reese Jr. is one of a few men in the whole country that have a eye for picking the best birds for breeding. I guess thats why he is the only APA licenced turkey judge. He had really good mentors too, the great turkey breeder Norman Kardosh.

In a article about him it says.....

The old man, the one who taught Mr. Reese how to pick out a perfect Bronze when he was just a boy, knew he would soon leave his friends and his rare turkeys behind.

“He started crying and said, it’s you I’m leaving it to,” Mr. Reese, 59, recalled. “And right there I made a promise to him. I said I would not let these birds die off the face of the earth.”

Teaching us to pick the best bird is Frank Reese Jr. way of making sure the breed goes on.

Danny Williamson is also a APA judge and Grand Master Breeder of Black turkey. There is a article about him on the HPC site if your wondering who wrote this information. http://www.heritagepoultry.org/2010/04/hpc-asks-the-experts-danny-williamson/

Together Frank Reese Jr. and Danny Willianson and three other raise 10,000 turkeys a year.

 

[OmaBird]

It seems that Steve wants to know who Jeannette Beranger is. She is the Research & Technical Program Manager of ALBC.



Jeannette joined the ALBC team in August of 2005. She comes to the organization with over 20 years experience working with animals in the non-profit sector. Beginning her career as a veterinary technician, Jeannette progressed to become a head zookeeper at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island. Her responsibilities included managing a wide variety of species, and in particular the animals within the rare breeds farm of the zoo. Through her work for the American Association of Zookeepers, Inc., she developed international outreach programs that included zookeeper training workshops and the first-ever international conference on zookeeping. Jeannette's experience facilitating research, organizing workshops and conferences, applying technology to improve animal husbandry, combined with her skills in outreach and networking make her a welcome fit to research, plan, develop and implement important breed conservation programs for ALBC

Here is her cute you tube video

 

[Frosty]

The part that I find sad is that Frank Reese doesn't sell live birds that I am aware of... He talks on his site about his bronze tracing back to some eggs that his mother got, and I read there was a lot Kardosh Bronze in there, too. But when he goes, who will carry on the line from there? I can't remember who it was, but there was a turkey breeder who had a pretty famous line of turkeys, then he passed away. His children had no interest in the turkeys and sold the entire flock... if I recall correctly it was sold to a processor. It would be nice if there were some 'Reese' strains of turkeys made available to the public. There are a few notable breeders who only sell processed turkeys, I don't know if Walters turkeys or Bill Yockeys are around anymore. So where does the backyard hobbyist go to get quality turkeys?

 

[Frosty]

I found what I was looking for on the ALBC site... it was the Wishard Bronze. Apparently some were rescued but again, but going to the site of the buyer, there is no mention of having the Wishard strain.

Dec 22, 2003

A Wish for the Future: Rescuing the Wishard Bronze Turkey

The Wishard strain of Bronze turkeys has had the attention of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy for more than a decade. The Wish Farm and Hatchery in Prairie City Oregon has been the home to a large flock of range-reared, naturally mating Bronze turkeys for nearly 50 years. Mark Wishard, son of the founder, is a long-distance truck driver and decided to sell the farm and turkey business. He called ALBC in November and gave notice that all the breeding stock would be going to slaughter on December 12th unless ALBC could find additional breeders who would take on breeding stock. While ALBC had encouraged the establishment of other breeding groups over the years, the rescue of the foundation stock seemed an important conservation effort.

Using the extensive ALBC network, we sent out the word that this breeding flock, farm and facility were for sale and that the turkeys were in need of immediate rescue. The result was an exciting success. Joel and Cynthia Huesby, owner-operators of the Huesby family farm and Thundering Hooves Farm pasture-finished poultry, beef, lamb, and goat are now in the turkey breeding business. They talked with Mark Wishard and found that he was indeed planning to slaughter nearly all of his 3,000 bronze turkeys. Bryan, Joel's brother, and Lois, his mother, traveled to Prairie City and purchased 42 hens and 6 toms. Thundering Hooves Farm hopes to produce up to 1,000 poults in March and April of 2004.

Joel reports that their business plan calls for marketing 700 bronze turkeys next year. This would also include selling to the Seattle/Portland/Eugene, Oregon Slow Food folks who had previously purchased from Mark. This past year, Thundering Hooves sold out of the 260 turkeys they had raised before they had even processed them! By growing their own poults, the Husebys will be able to better control their supply, quality and timing. This is an important key to sustainability.

You can learn more about the Huesby family farm and their products at www.thunderinghooves.net. Thundering Hooves Farm is located west of Walla Walla in South Eastern Washington at 1511 Fredrickson Road, Touchet, WA 99360, ph. 866-350-9400 or 509-522-9400

 

[OmaBird]

Quote:
Think of it as dog breeders. The best dog breeders do not sell there animals on line. The don't just sell to anyone either. I am that way to. I just say my birds are not for sell. There is some advice on where to get your stock in the manual. I wished I would have had some of this information when I first started.

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
I thought that was from jtownchickens? If it's the same jtownchickens that's in another group that I belong to, he is in PA, not NC...

I still wish quality poults were more readily available online. It just encourages folks to get hatchery quality because it's what is available. I wouldn't quite compare it to dog breeding, because the dogs have a registered pedigree and somebody could buy one sired by a champion, breed to their pet quality pooch and use the champions name and pedigree as a selling point. Though for that matter, if it's hard to get a dog from a reputable breeder, doesn't that encourage back yard breeders and puppy mills?