Turkey News

[FalseToast]

Not much of a question post, but a celebration for me! I’ve never raised turkeys before, nor other poultry aside from chickens fully. So I’m extremely excited about today!

I went out to check on my two lovely ladies and found these on the ground! They’ve successfully made it to being ~7 months of age without issues—aside from the loss of my first tom. Proud of myself, and proud of them for their beautiful butt nuggets.

 

[MamaPoult]

The breed she has

Hi again R2elk. Thanks for correcting me once again. I'm keep confusing with chickens. Still learning about this whole turk thing!

 

[R2elk]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!! My blue slate hen just started laying too!!! What breed do you have??

The breed she has is Turkey.

 

[HeritageFan]

I’m no expert, for sure, but have had turkeys for about three years at this point.
We have Holland White, Bourbon Red, and added Sweetgrass this summer.
We are trying to place our Bourbon red pair- they are popular poults here, but I would prefer to focus on the Holland Whites (not very popular here, but, in my experience, one of the fastest growing heritage varieties and extremely docile compared to my BR (hen, my BR Tom is maybe my favorite bird on the property- he is extremely gentle, curious, and good to his hen....)), and Sweetgrass (not as fast growing as the HW, and not as consistent in size.... but I just love them. I can work the rest of it out in a few generations I’m sure.

There are a handful of extremely helpful turkey keepers here.... that typically respond to questions that are turkey specific. If there is something specific you are looking for - pls let us know and we can perhaps point you toward an applicable thread

We hatch and sell poults in the spring, summer, and into the fall. We also enjoy “extra” eggs (IMO turkey eggs have the best flavor of any I’ve had....but most go into the incubators). We process excess Toms for meat for our family (and a very few friends).

We do not have any chickens here, only ducks, turkeys, and rabbits, all for the same purpose (raising babies to sell, meat, duck eggs).
Plus the house pets, and horses boarded nearby.
We are on ....mmmm probably year 8 with the (various groups of) ducks.

Our turkeys are penned separately by variety, Bachelor pens are necessary, and we are down to only one variety of ducks to make life easier (they are the main source of eggs for us, and their ducklings are very popular locally- also incubator hatched)

It is very fun to see a poult barely bigger than a golf ball become a 20-30#+ adult!
My BR Tom is pushing 35#+, and my HW Tom is about the same size (but took half as long to get there).
It takes a LOT of time, planning, and work, esp if you are not looking to create “barnyard mixes” and/ or plan to keep some around to keep your flocks growing.

Rather than ask a bunch of questions and/ or offer advice that is not applicable to your situation and goals, I’ll ask,
What are your goals?
Do you have a specific variety (varieties) that you are interested in?
If so, do you see anyone else on a Facebook group local to you, or on your local Craigslist with that variety that you might be able to contact and see if they might be willing to swap poults in the future to keep your flock growing without inbreeding? (Remember that most hatcheries require 15 min poults as an order- that’s not always the best way to get new genetics if you want a small flock!)
What is your set up like?
How much room/ motivation do you have to create different pens, and is that a financial possibility for you (to build additional coops/ runs/ etc)?
.... I don’t need to know your financial situation lol but it is worthy of consideration if you are thinking you want to add (and raise) more turkeys

 

[MamaPoult]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!! My blue slate hen just started laying too!!! What breed do you have??

 

[Chicken Heel]

I too am strongly considering raising some turkeys for the first time after having only chickens for most of the past 55 years. Who are the resident turkey subject matter experts on BYC because I'm sure I will have many questions if I proceed.

 

[MamaPoult]

I'm no expert but I do raise them!

 

[Chicken Heel]

I'm no expert but I do raise them!

What kind do you raise? My biggest concern is the potential risk of disease transmission (blackhead) from my chickens to them. I do plan on keeping them separated from each other though.

 

[Huntmaster]

What kind do you raise? My biggest concern is the potential risk of disease transmission (blackhead) from my chickens to them. I do plan on keeping them separated from each other though.

Do you know if you have blackhead in your area?

 

[Chicken Heel]

Do you know if you have blackhead in your area?

Not that I'm aware of.