Turkens?

[Paradisewife]

(Don't know what happens to posts with no title, or maybe I posted at the end of a thread, but this is a repeat.)
4 turkens and 3 Guineas, 'rescued' from TSC, had no food or water, last ones. They had to have been there all weekend, so less than or about a week old? The ohe I'm holding weighed 87.3 grams.
I've been hearing horror stories about TSC turkens being Cornish crosses. Are they? What do we have? (Supposed to be Pullets.)

 

[JedJackson]

They're definitely not Cornish cross. Look right for red naked necks (turkens.) They are well over a week old with that length of feathers. Closer to two weeks. The guineas appear a touch younger.

 

[Paradisewife]

Thanks again! Another breed we've been wanting to try out in our Desert summers (SW New Mexico).

 

[JedJackson]

Thanks again! Another breed we've been wanting to try out in our Desert summers (SW New Mexico).

They should do well there, I would think, because of the lighter load of feathers.

 

[Paradisewife]

@JedJackson, things like this thread (are turkens supposed to be this large at 4 weeks) are what I was worried about. I don't know if TSC is exclusively supplied by Hoovers hatchery, or.... what do you think? (Sorry to bug you!)

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

@JedJackson, things like this thread (are turkens supposed to be this large at 4 weeks) are what I was worried about. I don't know if TSC is exclusively supplied by Hoovers hatchery, or.... what do you think? (Sorry to bug you!)

I know that in the Mediterranean before the Cornish X Rock became standard, Transylvanian naked necks were using naked necks to produce broilers to cope with warm conditions. Maybe something similar is the reason for these.

That being said, I don’t think the ones in this post are them, I see no reason to assume they aren’t standard naked necks.

 

[newchickychick]

@JedJackson, things like this thread (are turkens supposed to be this large at 4 weeks) are what I was worried about. I don't know if TSC is exclusively supplied by Hoovers hatchery, or.... what do you think? (Sorry to bug you!)

I don’t know if this helps any, but my TSC said their “new supplier” kept sending tons of chicks marked in error and unmarked meat bird crosses. Mine did start out yellow with reddish barring for one, and one was yellow with a neat black chipmunk pattern. They’re the same age as the Wyandottes in the pics. We got two non-NNs that were in the bin at the same time! One also had the reddish barring, the other was plain bright yellow.
Now, I definitely HAVE seen folks with non-meat bird mixes get theirs recently from TSC, but only ones I saw did not start out yellow. Not saying at all yours ARE with any certainty at all! But it became very evident very fast, so at least it was not an “ages to wait to discover” situation. I think time will be the only way to be certain, spoken as a super novice.

 

[Paradisewife]

@BlueTheBrahma Thank you so much for the reassurance !!

 

[JedJackson]

@JedJackson, things like this thread (are turkens supposed to be this large at 4 weeks) are what I was worried about. I don't know if TSC is exclusively supplied by Hoovers hatchery, or.... what do you think? (Sorry to bug you!)

I wasn't aware that naked necks were being used to create meat birds at the hatcheries, so I will have to keep that in mind going forward. I read the description on Meyer's website-- it said these crosses should be around six pounds by week 9 or 10. So wait and see, but I do not see the broad breasts of meat birds on your chicks.

The good news, from my perspective, is that even if they are the new meat strain of naked necks, they are not the same as Cornish cross in that their legs are strong, they forage well, and they are not going to have major health issues like Cornish cross. Meyer's website says that they grow at a natural rate. There are several meat strains besides Cornish x that live much longer lives. Rainbows and Red Rangers are examples. These are not the Frankenstein creations that Cornish x are.

I might call the place you bought them from and ask who supplies their chicks.

 

[newchickychick]

I wasn't aware that naked necks were being used to create meat birds at the hatcheries, so I will have to keep that in mind going forward. I read the description on Meyer's website-- it said these crosses should be around six pounds by week 9 or 10. So wait and see, but I do not see the broad breasts of meat birds on your chicks.

The good news, from my perspective, is that even if they are the new meat strain of naked necks, they are not the same as Cornish cross in that their legs are strong, they forage well, and they are not going to have major health issues like Cornish cross. Meyer's website says that they grow at a natural rate. There are several meat strains besides Cornish x that live much longer lives. Rainbows and Red Rangers are examples. These are not the Frankenstein creations that Cornish x are.

I might call the place you bought them from and ask who supplies their chicks.

Thank you for this info about it. I know this isn’t my thread but this is so very helpful for my similar issue. I may post an “identify my chick” on my turkens to see what they could be cross-wise. Their legs are pretty huge and their growth rate is surprising but hopefully aren’t cornish x (super newbie here!) so we can elongate their lives if possible as long as possible.