Turkey Talk for 2014

[Chaneys Ranch]

Maybe NOT!! IF 40# at 5 months but not at 9 months-- the cest on a BBB is very side and ou feel huge mucles on the chest. THe heritage birds are far far less in muscling and the keel is easy to feel and the msucling is much lighter. Now having said that, I am wondering if per haps youhappen to have a very good heritage bred bird . . . . .which is very rare but don't dump him without more information . Also I would keep him or her to add great muscling to a mixed generation of heritage and commercial !! THat has been my goal and youare beating me to it!!

I saved a BBW back that was very small, and she is just a year old. still pretty small! She is molting right now, looks half plucked, poor girl. No eggs yet.
I am pairing her up with my younger BR pair. The 3 get along well, and pretty much grew up together, so Its been a good fit. Just had to give it a try!

 

[Momhunter]

Do most people set turkey eggs every 7 days or gather them and set every 10 days? How long do you still get good hatch rates if kept between 50-70 degrees and turned twice daily??
I ask because we are going on a trip in June and I either need to sell some eggs or just save them longer before incubation so that none are due to hatch while I'm out of town. The kids do a good job taking care of the poultry while I'm gone but don't want them havering any hatch.

 

[BullChick]

The feed is from Southern States. It is possible that it is incorrect information on their website. I see a lot of misprints.
I purchased 28% protein, but it was moldy. The store ripped every bag open to discover a bad batch. The turkey starter they gave me was in a sack (they went through it too). Therefor I don't have the tag telling me the protein. I will be asking when I go again.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote: Maybe NOT!! IF 40# at 5 months but not at 9 months-- the cest on a BBB is very side and ou feel huge mucles on the chest. THe heritage birds are far far less in muscling and the keel is easy to feel and the msucling is much lighter. Now having said that, I am wondering if per haps youhappen to have a very good heritage bred bird . . . . .which is very rare but don't dump him without more information . Also I would keep him or her to add great muscling to a mixed generation of heritage and commercial !! THat has been my goal and youare beating me to it!!
The SOP calls for the weight of the heritage Bronze to be 25# for the young tom, and 36# for the old tom. It does not define at what age a bird is considered a "young tom" or an "old tom," but I have always assumed that it paralleled chickens. So the young bird would be up to one year of age, and the old bird would be the full mature weight, which in most large heritage breeds is around 18-24 months for the males. Since I do not show I could be misinterpreting these definitions.

But 40# would be a bit over the appropriate weight for a fully mature tom, at whatever age that is. In all likelihood he isn't just 4 lbs over the standard, but 15 lbs over the standard. That either makes him a BBB, or a bird with a growth hormone problem.

 

[piglett]

I could also be way off price wise, but I would think $75 a pair would be really high. These are meat birds, with almost no capacity to reproduce without artificial insemination. They make absolutely wonderful pets, but their very short lifespan and high pain levels as they become increasingly disabled are a predictable heartbreak to anyone who adopts them for that purpose. If a heritage tom were placed with a BBB hen the breeding might be successful, but the eggs should be incubated, as the BBB is often too big to brood successfully, and many crush their eggs, and many die from the stress of brooding (such as sweet Scarlett, owned by KEpp on this thread, whose eggs are currently doing well in the incubator). The BBB toms are usually too large to breed successfully, and their huge size quickly makes them disabled and painful as they age (actually, as they grow up, as they rarely reach more than 18 months old without extensive care, and many die before 12 months). So with rare exception, these are meat birds, and should be sold at meat prices.

you bring up some good points

not sure what meat prices for live turkeys would be

& i'm still not 100% sure they are BBB

i might be able to find out at the feed store where i purchesed them last July

oh 1 more thing last fall they ate like horses but now the feed they go through is much less

so there growth has slowed way down i'm guessing

thanks
piglett

 

[R2elk]

you bring up some good points

not sure what meat prices for live turkeys would be

& I'm still not 100% sure they are BBB

i might be able to find out at the feed store where i purchased them last July

oh 1 more thing last fall they ate like horses but now the feed they go through is much less

so there growth has slowed way down I'm guessing

thanks
piglett

Meat prices for home raised turkeys be they broad breasted or heritage bear no resemblance to the prices you see in supermarkets. The key for top meat prices is timing such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. Around here $50 to $75 for a fresh unfrozen processed free range turkey is not considered unreasonable since there is no comparison in quality and taste to grocery store turkeys.
.

 

[piglett]

LOL--- anything you havent' done with animals? lol My kids ask for ferrets and I give them the look . . . . eventually they forget about asking for one until the news or an article in a kids magazine and they ask again. NO ferrets. I have lots of limits here or we would be needing a zoo license!! lol





I was thinking in terms of putting up verticl saffolding to hold cukes off the ground and some smaller squash can limb too like the pattipan squash as I recall, been a while. I have thought of black plastic but . . . how long does it last before crumbling??





Maybe NOT!! IF 40# at 5 months but not at 9 months-- the cest on a BBB is very side and ou feel huge mucles on the chest. THe heritage birds are far far less in muscling and the keel is easy to feel and the msucling is much lighter. Now having said that, I am wondering if per haps youhappen to have a very good heritage bred bird . . . . .which is very rare but don't dump him without more information . Also I would keep him or her to add great muscling to a mixed generation of heritage and commercial !! THat has been my goal and youare beating me to it!!

we will reuse the black plastic from last year

we got the good thick stuff which was more $$$ but it should last much longer

a 10' x 100' roll was $59



i'll take my doctors scale outside (yes i have a real scale that in fact came from a doctor who was moving out of state)

not sure i trust the $15 wally word scale

i'll get an exact weight on both the tom & hen

i'll also feel for the keel bone


thanks
piglett

 

[piglett]

Quote:
i feed 28% multiflock chick starter to all my chicks i get it from BlueSeal feeds i have been told that the higher protein will not harm any of them & i only need to buy 1 bag of starter oh also i never feed medicated feed

 

[Reyvaughn]

Every one of the turkey eggs laid have been fertile so far! I am getting 2-3 eggs a day now, so hopefully soon I can sell some! If I counted right, we would be setting eggs for the Cinco de Mayo hatch-a-long on April 7th, so April 1st or 2nd I'll start collecting eggs to set for that. I can't wait!

 

[yinepu]

turkey eggs are hatching.. two poults out already.. another zipping as I type..