Turkey disappointment

[tankerman]

Getting close to turkey butcher time and it's obvious that the feed store had their turkey poults mislabeled.

We buy broadbreasted, to eat for Thanksgiving and to fill the freezer for the year.

This year the feed store gave us some heritage breed instead of broardbreasted. Instead of 40-50 lb toms and 20-30 lb hens, we now have 14-16 lb hens and 20-22 lb toms.

More than disappointed, since turkey meat from the freezer is a big part of our diet for the year and these smaller birds won't feed use nearly as long.


Suppose I have to order directly from the breeder for now on.

 

[ivan3]

Sorry to hear that. Please post up some shots of these `laggards' for the `Colorists' to ID for you (demand a refund from the feed store). Maybe someone in your area has Cornish X chicks/pullets so as to fill in holes in the freezer, a little later than usual?

 

[mama24]

We had the opposite problem. I got turkey poults where the bin was labeled Bourbon Red or Bronze turkey. I got 4, but the only 2 that made it are 2 bronze hens. Only they're broad breasted, and dummy me just realized that this week b/c they're so fat they're having trouble walking. It's very sad. I was planning on keeping 1 to breed with my slate tom next year, but that's not going to happen! The only other poult that survived this year was a black slate, but he ended up a boy. Very disappointing year for turkeys. I started off with a breeding pair of slates, black hen and splash tom. The hen disappeared, so I gave all their eggs to the friend I bought them from for her to incubate. Tom went broody on some bantam eggs in the meantime (bantams started laying in the turkey nest. rofl. That was sure a sight! He never even got up, the bantam hen went under him to lay!) So when those poults hatched, she gave me the 4 with the smallest head thing, I can never remember what that's called. The only survivor was a boy. :/ I think those BBB girls are about 35lbs now. Want to trade?

 

[mama24]

Oh, and Tom was a good daddy, but the poults could fit through the pen wire, so they kept disappearing until they could no longer fit. We have a lot of hawks, I think that's what got them. I'm hoping he decides he wants to be a daddy again in the spring so I don't have to try to hand raise poults. I've never been successful hand raising them. 3 out of 8 is still better than the big fat 0 I got in past years!