Jamie106
Hatching
Hi!
Last year, my husband and I purchased a flock of blue slates. A year old tom and 3 hens. This was our first experience with turkeys and I fell in love with them. We have raised chickens for a few years prior. We incubated about 30 eggs and then let the hens keep laying and 2 sat on the nest and hatched 28! So we were quickly full of healthy little poults. Since this was our first year with turkeys, I decided that we would raise 10 for our freezer and sell the rest of the poults. I advertised and within a week they were all sold.
I enjoyed the turkey experience so much that I purchased a Narragansett tom and 2 hens from a local lady in the fall. (I also kept our original 4 slates)
Our girls have just started laying and this year my husband thinks we should raise and process all the birds to be sold at Thanksgiving. (We use a local certified processor). I like the idea of selling the poults and just raising what we want and maybe a couple for family. To me it seems more cost effective to sell the young poults and not have to deal with selling a food product to the public.
So...I am basically looking for input either way on the good and bad experiences you have had selling either poults or carcass. Are there any regulations I should be aware of? This is just a hobby for us and I have found information on heritage turkeys very limited.
Thanks for your time and I'm looking forward to hearing how people manage their flocks!
Last year, my husband and I purchased a flock of blue slates. A year old tom and 3 hens. This was our first experience with turkeys and I fell in love with them. We have raised chickens for a few years prior. We incubated about 30 eggs and then let the hens keep laying and 2 sat on the nest and hatched 28! So we were quickly full of healthy little poults. Since this was our first year with turkeys, I decided that we would raise 10 for our freezer and sell the rest of the poults. I advertised and within a week they were all sold.
I enjoyed the turkey experience so much that I purchased a Narragansett tom and 2 hens from a local lady in the fall. (I also kept our original 4 slates)
Our girls have just started laying and this year my husband thinks we should raise and process all the birds to be sold at Thanksgiving. (We use a local certified processor). I like the idea of selling the poults and just raising what we want and maybe a couple for family. To me it seems more cost effective to sell the young poults and not have to deal with selling a food product to the public.
So...I am basically looking for input either way on the good and bad experiences you have had selling either poults or carcass. Are there any regulations I should be aware of? This is just a hobby for us and I have found information on heritage turkeys very limited.
Thanks for your time and I'm looking forward to hearing how people manage their flocks!
