Turkey Talk for 2014

[roostersandhens]

I don't think I would like a turkey in the house. Even from the small ones, you can get an amazing amount of poop! And my turkeys test everything they encounter to see if it is food. I could see a turkey easily jumping up on your counter and plowing through everything there.

That being said, the two smallest breeds are the Midget White and the Beltsville White. Royal Palms are a little smaller than the other breeds, but not by a whole lot.

I have no input on the sweetest variety. I think you will find it is down to the individual, not the variety level as far as personality goes. Some people have even said their commercial type BBB and BBWs can have sweet personalities.

Ok. Thanks!

 

[SilkieSensation]

My turkeys are currently housed with chickens, ducks, geese & goats. The turkeys are very high in the pecking order only out ranked by the pair of buff geese & the goat doe. All 6 of my turkeys keep my head roo in check & he is nearly as big as my palm hens except for his legs being shorter. He's a big boy & only about 9 months old.

 

[SilkieSensation]

My bbw was the sweetest bird I have had so far. She would come right to me & let me pick her up. If I had not planned on her being Thanksgiving dinner from the start (even named her Thanksgiving) I probably would not have been able to process her. I was sad to see her go but greatly enjoyed having her for dinner.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Can anyone give me some suggestions on a smaller turkey breed? I know about the midget white, the jersey buff and Beltsville. Are there any others I should be considering? We are a smaller family of three, so don't need the really big turkey, but do want to raise a heritage breed. Thanks in advance!

Of the 8 heritage turkeys admitted into the American Poultry Association (as of my 1998 Standard of Perfection), the "standard weights" are as follows:
Bronze -- Tom 25-36 lbs, Hen 16-20 lbs
Narragansett -- Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
White Holland -- Tom 25-36 lbs, Hen 16-20 lbs
Black - Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
Slate -- Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
Bourbon Red -- Tom 23-33 lbs, Hen 14-18 lbs
Beltsville Small White - Tom 17-21 lbs, Hen 10-12 lbs
Royal Palm -- Tom 16-22 lbs, Hens 10-12 lbs

(Note: In the above weight ranges, the first number is for the young bird, and the second number is for the old bird. Many lines will not reach the standard weights because these are fairly rare birds that have not always been bred to fully meet the standard.)

There are many other heritage turkey breeds out there, but these are the only ones listed in the SOP. There is some controversy about the Midget Whites, but many people believe that they are just a specific line of Beltsville Small Whites that was developed, and are often along the same size as the Beltsvilles.

There are several places where you can get breed specific information. Try http://www.heritageturkeyhatchery.com/turkeys.htm, and http://www.porterturkeys.com/ to start.

T

 

[gevshiba]

My turkey hens hate the chicken roosters, with good reason. The roosters are tactless and aggressive in their pleas for mating, and the turkey hens don't tolerate that type of behavior. The other day a rooster came up to a Spanish Black turkey hen, jumped on her back and plucked a neck feather. The toms gobbled and surrounded the rooster, and the hen attacked him -- feet to face, then got his head on the ground and was stomping on his head and neck -- I thought she was going to kill him. When he got up and tried to run she grabbed his comb in her mouth and held on for a few minutes as he helplessly twirled around her. After it was over he's behaved himself for a few days, but he's starting to get more interested in the turkey hens than the chicken hens again, and I have no doubt that the turkey hens will again put him in his place.

Your situation may be different because your hens are BBBs. Because of their huge size, they don't have the agility (or possibly the instinct) to defend themselves adequately with their feet, so they use their beaks and get their heads injured (other than the loss of one feather and a bit of initial indignity, my hen had no injuries at all). When they can't defend themselves adequately, and don't have toms to defend them, they're going to feel more vulnerable and not want to sleep in the same house as the rooster. If he roosts up higher than them they will feel especially uneasy with the situation. Is there any way to separate the turkey hens and the rooster, especially at night?

Unfortunately, there's no way to separate my birds at this time. I tread lightly with the neighbors. They hate my re-purposed coop. I built it while they were out of town (sneaky). I hope to add a few more chicken hens soon. If that doesn't settle Yeller down, he goes to the freezer. Although the BBB's can't really use their feet to defend themselves because they are so big and clumsy, they do gang up on the rooster. Sometimes they all go after him at once and sometimes it's one after the other. I'm not sure why he goes after this one particular hen all the time. She started laying the day this all happened and hasn't laid since, as far as I know, which is understandable. The other hen who wasn't laying also laid that day for the first time and has laid a few more since then. One way or another, though, the bullying will stop.

 

[SilkieSensation]

You have broad breasted bronze that have made it to laying age & can still walk???

 

[chiqita]

Can anyone give me some suggestions on a smaller turkey breed? I know about the midget white, the jersey buff and Beltsville. Are there any others I should be considering? We are a smaller family of three, so don't need the really big turkey, but do want to raise a heritage breed. Thanks in advance!

Hello!
I would really like a house turkey, whether that will actually happen, I don't know. I just heard about someone on BYC who has a house turkey! I was wondering what is the smallest breed of turkey, how much work are they, what is the sweetest breed, if anyone has an answer to those questions please answer!

Thanks!

I think from anecdotal evidence midgets are the biggest puppy pet turkeys followed bbw. Regardless of if they are a subset of Beltsville or not .

 

[Arielle]

Urch does offer turkeys, but I've only ordered chicks from him. I posted his current sales list on the urch thread.

Will check it out-- didn't know we had a thread running.

Quote: THey are so pretty and quirky, and look at you with one eye up close!! Yup very hard to cull, I understand. I'm not traveling as much so send me a PM in the spring and we'll make arrangements.

Which heritage type turkey has the best meat qualities? I have raised BBB and Narragansetts.......

I'm not an wxpert, but will share what I know . . . .

BBB and BBW are the fastest growing, and with the correct feeding are the most meat for the age of the bird; they have the very large breast meat of the commercial birds. Ready for the oven at 4 months and shouldn't be held over for breeding as they are hybrids designed for super growth and not longevity.

Narragansetts-- I have 2 boys and have NOT eaten any as I cannot bring myself to separate these two buddies. Both are larger than my Bourbon Reds by a wee bit.

What is best meat quality--- I find meat flavor reflects what the birds are fed. I remeber eating my first BBW years ago and was disappointed that the flavor was the same as the gorcery store bird. TOok me some time to figure out it is in the feeding.

THe APA birds are distinctive in other characteristics than feather color and size; this info is hard to find and maybe we can all work on gathering some of this info this year and sharing on this thread.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:

Quote: To addd to this-- most of the birds have not been bred for meat characteristics for a long time and fall short of these numbers. AND the smaller birds have not been bred to stay small and many lines are now about the size of the palms. Please ask specific questions of the sellers, or know you will be something that needs some work if you plan to be breeding.

Becareful on the beltsvilles and the MW. For the SOP they are lumped together-- long story. In my research MW are easier to find and beltsvilles are almost impossible to find. THeyare not the same bird and have a very different history of creation-- several threads on BYC--- but if you just want a smaller turkey does it matter which one you get?

LOVE LOVE LOVE that someone has the SOP-- I've asked for 2 CHristmas's now and even sent DH an email with my ONE request. Last year he bought me formal china-- (( shakes head:: and this year dvd's. Maybe that is a hint he doesn't support my poultry habit. lol

 

[Arielle]

THe more time I have spent with a poult, the nicer it is as an adult. Maybe it is the lines that I have to start with IDK. But I have had a bad tempered turkey . . . . . yet.