Turkey Talk for 2014

[BullChick]

Are these turkeys big by nature or does the food have some think to make them grow and get fat. Because I know that some farmers give them hormones. I have one turkey and I give him greens and corn. All natural. I really don't know. I am a beginner with turkeys.

Hormones have been illegal in chicken, turkey, lamb and swine since 1953.
The turkeys are bred to be huge. No matter how you feed them.

 

[BullChick]

Has anyone noticed a personality difference in the heritage verses the BB breeds? My BBW is calm and almost affectionate while my 2 heritage mutts are squirrely. It is a shame the tamest turkey is the one named Thanksgiving. I was told the heritage pair would make better pets but they act like I'm about to kill them if I approach them. Any tips on taming them?

I was told the BBW would be tamer. They were handled a lot for the first two months or so. The Bourbons were not handled. They are actually more laid back. They have all been in the same pen since Friday. Yesterday, while fixing a tarp, a BR sat (and stood) there with her face in mine the whole time.






If my last response sounded snippy, I apologize. I should have used more words to keep it from sounding harsh.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Didn't sound snippy or harsh to me.

-Kathy

 

[insanity]

MotorcycleChick You didn't seem snappy just "to the point". All 3 of my turkeys were handled as poults but it didn't seem to help with the heritage. I of course tried food incentives as well but they would rather hunt their own.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

@lbrykowski2011
 , call your state necropsy lab and ask an avian pathologist what diseases can cause gray lungs in poultry.

-Kathy

Now that you say liver, I'm not sure if i was looking at the liver or lungs. Being my 1st time dressing one out and all. It was large compared to the rest, I tried looking some pics up on you tube for dressing out a turkey and organs to see, but i'm not finding much to know exactly what i was looking at. We have no vets in the area that do poultry and I think Michigan State has a lab, which is many hrs away. If i could figure out what I was looking at, then I'd call and ask. Good thing is it looked good other than I thought the color was off compared to the other organs, but def no pockets or anything that looked like blackhead. I will keep looking, thanks

 

[BullChick]

Not one of my turkeys will eat anything but food and grass. Not any kind of bread, fruit or vegetable. The feed I currently have only comes in crumbles. They (both flocks did it separately) dump them on the ground, and won't eat them off the ground. The BBW are worse about it. They are okay with FF, but don't prefer it. Oh well. They will be back on pellets soon.

The BBW obviously don't roost, but the BR are now refusing to roost at night. They will roost throughout the day, but just as it gets dark they lay on the ground like the BBW. As of last night, they were even laying in a group with the BBW pair. When I send the BBW to freezer camp next month, will the BR roost again, or are they only laying on the ground for now because of the new pen?

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: Didn't sound snippy or harsh to me.

-Kathy
Insanity, I spend a lot of time with my turkey and I have both BB and heritage and my heritage and BBW are the tamest. The BBB are more standoffish but I take treats out regularly for them to eat out of my hand so they have gotten used to me feeding them with my hands so I can pet them. They do not like to be held but they fly and run to me when I go out there to feed and water or give treats. When I have treats I always say "ugh oh whats momma got" and they come flying at me. lol so sweet! Treats will win them over quick!

 

[lbrykowski2011]

It was the liver not the lungs I was looking at. There is a government site on what's safe to eat that covered blackhead and histomasis, I'm sure i spelled that wrong, lol and a bunch of other diseases. According to that, it is safe to eat if it had any of those diseases, just to discard liver, which I discarded all the insides anyways. Thanks for all the help

 

[Penny Hen]

I checked pictures of blackhead and fowl pox, he did not look like either. He had a totally red head and red neck with just a dime sized patch of black on the top of his head. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures. After he was dressed out, he was 11 lbs. I would hate to waste it if it was good meat, but I don't know. As long as the meat is thoroughly cooked, would it be safe either way? All of his organs were pinkish red other than the lungs. The lungs were gray. Is that a cause for concern? Thanks so much for your help!

Heat exhaustion can cause heart attack. If the heart seized then the blood would cut off to the lungs (blood runs through the heart to the lungs and back to the heart and out to the body). That might account for the grey lungs.

 

[Penny Hen]

Now that you say liver, I'm not sure if i was looking at the liver or lungs. Being my 1st time dressing one out and all. It was large compared to the rest, I tried looking some pics up on you tube for dressing out a turkey and organs to see, but i'm not finding much to know exactly what i was looking at. We have no vets in the area that do poultry and I think Michigan State has a lab, which is many hrs away. If i could figure out what I was looking at, then I'd call and ask. Good thing is it looked good other than I thought the color was off compared to the other organs, but def no pockets or anything that looked like blackhead. I will keep looking, thanks

If the lungs on a turkey are like those on a chicken they are right hard on the ribs and have to be scraped out. The liver just slides out real easy by comparison. It is right beside the lungs.