Turkey questions

[mandelyn]

They are engaging and inquisitive. I've found the Toms to be blinded by testosterone this Spring, acting aggressive. We have to watch our back with this group of Black Spanish and Bourbon Red. The meaner Toms (the batch of babies was boy heavy) we invited to last Thanksgiving and they were amazing. Big Red is itching for a fight and the rooster he's with is his little side kick.

I've never lost a baby turkey, I always brood with baby chickens because they really seem to help them eat/drink and be calm. When I bought the batch of Bourbon Reds last summer, they were frozen in place and stressing out at 2 weeks old. But after an hour with baby chickens happily eating and drinking around them, they loosened up and started to eat.

I have a dozen turkey eggs in the incubator now, starting another stash and am going to buy another incubator so that I can stagger hatches. We're going to build tractors to cruise around on the back field to grow them out.

Big Red is getting replaced, he's too aggressive. I've had sweeter Toms before. Love the girls, they talk at us and aren't too flighty. They really want to get after the cat when she strolls past their run. Since we only have 4 adult turkeys at the moment, they're cooped with 3 chickens until the barn runs are finished. They'll be separated for breeding so that I know who's egg is fertilized by who. I have a really nice pair for breeding stock, and a cross pair for meat.

A typical non broadbreasted turkey hen will lay around 75-90 eggs a year, so not good for a main egg source. So long as you keep collecting the eggs they'll keep laying for the season, but may stop and set if the eggs pile up in a nest.

 

[shortgrass]

If you are finding the whites "rubbery", it is because you are over cooking them.  Scramble them and the problem disappears.  Better yet, use them for baking or making custards.

Well that's how my daughter cooks them, scrambled... But it might be the microwave making them rubbery lol

I'll try a frying pan haha

 

[R2elk]

Well that's how my daughter cooks them, scrambled... But it might be the microwave making them rubbery lol

I'll try a frying pan haha

It is very easy to overcook eggs using a microwave. If it looks done, it has been overcooked.

https://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/MicrowaveEggs.htm

 

[Gorman Farm]

They are engaging and inquisitive. I've found the Toms to be blinded by testosterone this Spring, acting aggressive. We have to watch our back with this group of Black Spanish and Bourbon Red. The meaner Toms (the batch of babies was boy heavy) we invited to last Thanksgiving and they were amazing. Big Red is itching for a fight and the rooster he's with is his little side kick.

I've never lost a baby turkey, I always brood with baby chickens because they really seem to help them eat/drink and be calm. When I bought the batch of Bourbon Reds last summer, they were frozen in place and stressing out at 2 weeks old. But after an hour with baby chickens happily eating and drinking around them, they loosened up and started to eat.

I have a dozen turkey eggs in the incubator now, starting another stash and am going to buy another incubator so that I can stagger hatches. We're going to build tractors to cruise around on the back field to grow them out.

Big Red is getting replaced, he's too aggressive. I've had sweeter Toms before. Love the girls, they talk at us and aren't too flighty. They really want to get after the cat when she strolls past their run. Since we only have 4 adult turkeys at the moment, they're cooped with 3 chickens until the barn runs are finished. They'll be separated for breeding so that I know who's egg is fertilized by who. I have a really nice pair for breeding stock, and a cross pair for meat.

A typical non broadbreasted turkey hen will lay around 75-90 eggs a year, so not good for a main egg source. So long as you keep collecting the eggs they'll keep laying for the season, but may stop and set if the eggs pile up in a nest.

We ordered ours from a hatchery, we lost a few from shipping stress, and then they sent us some replacements we had to add some chickens to get enough for minimum shipping. We were told by the hatchery to keep the chicken chicks in with them for a little while til they learned to eat and drink, that worked. We sold & ate the extra Toms before breeding season so we didn't have an aggression issue. My hens are really sweet and so far although a little protective of the hens now that it is breeding season the Tom we kept isn't really aggressive. I just clap my hands if he starts to approach and that turns him around the other way. It works out well to have the chicks in spring, then by fall I can sell extra Toms and get the hen to Tom ratio where I want it before breeding season. We have Royal Palms and Narragansett. I found the Narragansett to be a little heartier than the RP, so we only kept a Nar. Tom, and are breeding him to all the hens. The RP are really pretty, and this might be just because they were hatchery stock.

 

[biodegraded]

I don't have any problems getting the poults to eat and drink. But I am not brooding just a couple of poults. The more there are , the better they do. I use sand for bedding and sprinkle food directly on the sand along with a full feeder.

When I introduce the poults to the brooder each poult gets its beak dipped in the water. That is the extent of my participation in getting them to eat and drink.

This is interesting to know. As is reports of using chicks as partners in the brooder. Perhaps they're a go for me after all.

 

[R2elk]

This is interesting to know. As is reports of using chicks as partners in the brooder. Perhaps they're a go for me after all.

Using a chick or chicks as tutors does work well. The high protein feed that the turkey poults need is not harmful to the chicks. Studies have shown that chickens can tolerate much higher levels of protein than can turkeys.

What is really difficult is trying to raise just a few turkey poults by themselves. Trying to do a single poult by itself can be nearly impossible. I prefer to have at least 15 poults to get them doing well on their own which just happens to be the minimum order amount most places.

Good luck.

 

[biodegraded]

Very helpful information. Thanks for the replies.

 

[chicksducks1]

Thanks everyone so much! I'm pretty sure I want to get some, so I'm trying to decide on breeds. I think I definitely want some meat birds so I was thinking of getting 7 or 8 and then keeping a tom and some hens for next next seson to breed for the next group for meat. I'm sure other people do this how does it work for you guys? What breeds do you guys like to keep? And what kind of coop run area do you keep for them?

 

[R2elk]

Thanks everyone so much! I'm pretty sure I want to get some, so I'm trying to decide on breeds. I think I definitely want some meat birds so I was thinking of getting 7 or 8 and then keeping a tom and some hens for next next season to breed for the next group for meat. I'm sure other people do this how does it work for you guys? What breeds do you guys like to keep? And what kind of coop run area do you keep for them?

The meat varieties (BBB & BBW) are cheap enough for poults, readily available and too hard to try to breed (Artificial Insemination usually required) that there is no point in trying to keep a breeding group.

If you want to raise your own turkeys then you should select a heritage variety that is capable of natural reproduction.

Due to common misuse of the term there is a lot of bad information about turkey breeds. There is basically only one "breed" of turkey. There are many different varieties of turkeys but unlike chickens there is only one breed since they are all turkeys.

 

[chicksducks1]

The meat varieties (BBB & BBW) are cheap enough for poults, readily available and too hard to try to breed (Artificial Insemination usually required) that there is no point in trying to keep a breeding group. 

If you want to raise your own turkeys then you should select a heritage variety that is capable of natural reproduction.

Due to common misuse of the term there is a lot of bad information about turkey breeds.  There is basically only one "breed" of turkey.  There are many different varieties of turkeys but unlike chickens there is only one breed since they are all turkeys.

That's really good to know I would have never even thought about the varieties instead of breed. Do you know of any good heritage varieties?