Turkey Talk for 2014

[Sydney Acres]

Sat down this morning and took stock... Come July/Aug I will be downsizing and sticking with the breeds that are dual purpose.. I *think I have at the very least 65 chickens out there of various ages. From three that are over 3 years old to numerous 1.5 year olds down to a couple week olds.. I am going to keep my big Rooster Blue (Blue Orpington) and our new comer Buff Orpington as the only two roosters on the property. we culled the EE rooster day before yesterday.. I have 10- 7 week old chicks, half of which are roosters and will be going to freezer camp when ready. Out of the 7 that the mamma and I hatched I will only keep two of those if they end up being girls.. My end goal by September is 25 laying hens, all under 2 years old and the two roosters. I sell enough eggs that there is no out of pocket expense right now for all the feed for the 65+ chickens but its overwhelming with so many.

If I can get the turkeys to hatch (first round this coming weekend) I am keeping 8.. from those I will keep 2 hens and one Tom the rest will go in the freezer, Pretty much have all the others sold already which is going to pay for feed for the ones I am keeping... DH is still wanting to keep 2 geese. we are also going to start managing the rabbits better.. I have a buyer for 5 of the 2.5 month olds and 9 of the 2 week olds when they are ready.. Told Dh I would like to downsize to a breeding female and male and then we can split their offspring, half in the freezer and half sold..
By my calculations in doing this I can make the animals pay for themselves instead of just depending solely on egg sale.

Just because one can hatch doesn't mean one should hatch

I'm just about where you are in my poultry adventures. In the past I've always kept all my hens and culled only the troublemaking roosters, but I either need to change my management style or start being more practical regarding numbers. The birds are just taking up all my time, and I'm having a lot of fun, but I'm not getting anything else done around the farm. So I've decided that once the hens that aren't breeding quality and aren't pets are done laying this fall, they're going to freezer camp. I'm not going to get any new breeds, and I'm only going to get new birds of my current breeds if they will improve my breeding stock. I'm going to cull appropriately and decisively, with a focus on selective breeding so that each new generation has the potential to be better quality than its parents.

Except for the ones that are pets, or have served a lifetime and are enjoying a well-earned retirement, or were inherited from my father-in-law so they're family heirlooms, or ...

Oh dear, all my friends are laughing right now!!

 

[kimerzde]

So I'm not new to turkeys, had a Burbon Red, named grumpy who lived to ripe old age of 8. He was sweet and never hurt me or any of the family. Got him because a farmer told me Turkeys and Geese chase the Eagles away. Watched an unknown black/white turkey hen I got at the Feed store chase the Eagle away personally. I've never heard a hen make that awful noise ever again. She was not having that thing in her yard.

This year I've purchased 8 miniature White Turkeys, because I want to save a Tom and 2 hens for next year. I bought a large 8x4 6 feet tall covered dog run for their own pen. Plus a very large dog house for them to brood in. I suspect they won't brood till next spring as I'm not getting them until the 29th of this month. I'm so excited and will post pictures here when they come home. We will eat the 5 that we don't keep for breeding purposes and hopefully they will do exactly what they are supposed to do and reproduce.

 

[kimerzde]

So question on eating old hens. How do you make them not be so rubbery? We tried an old hen and she was awful. I baked her like a normal chicken. Any suggestions? I hate to kill the old girls just cause and not even use them.

 

[TurkenItUp209]

Both of my hens are laying in the same nest, up to 4 eggs in there atm. When one decides to go broody on the clutch what will the other hen do? Build a new nest? Stop laying?

 

[Kelsykin]

So question on eating old hens. How do you make them not be so rubbery? We tried an old hen and she was awful. I baked her like a normal chicken. Any suggestions? I hate to kill the old girls just cause and not even use them.

Old birds need to be stewed..... Make them into soups and stews personally.

 

[Sydney Acres]

So I'm not new to turkeys, had a Burbon Red, named grumpy who lived to ripe old age of 8. He was sweet and never hurt me or any of the family. Got him because a farmer told me Turkeys and Geese chase the Eagles away. Watched an unknown black/white turkey hen I got at the Feed store chase the Eagle away personally. I've never heard a hen make that awful noise ever again. She was not having that thing in her yard.

This year I've purchased 8 miniature White Turkeys, because I want to save a Tom and 2 hens for next year. I bought a large 8x4 6 feet tall covered dog run for their own pen. Plus a very large dog house for them to brood in. I suspect they won't brood till next spring as I'm not getting them until the 29th of this month. I'm so excited and will post pictures here when they come home. We will eat the 5 that we don't keep for breeding purposes and hopefully they will do exactly what they are supposed to do and reproduce.

Is that a misprint, or are you planning on keeping 8 turkeys in an 8X4 foot run? Is that just their predator-proof night time enclosed pen, and they'll be free ranging during the day? If that's not a misprint, and they're not going to be free ranging, then that's not nearly enough space. That's only 4 square feet per bird. That's tighter packed that high density intensive factory farming. Please don't do that to such a wonderful animal. They'll be miserable.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
old chickens work great in the crock pot too.. never had a tough turkey regardless of it's age... but then again when I bake a turkey I go with low and slow... otherwise we just deep fry the buggers!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Both of my hens are laying in the same nest, up to 4 eggs in there atm. When one decides to go broody on the clutch what will the other hen do? Build a new nest? Stop laying?

If they don't go broody at the same time, in all likelihood the broody will stay on the nest, and the non-broody will visit the nest daily (or as needed) to lay her egg. When the non-broody leaves the nest, the broody will take the new egg and add it to the pile of eggs that she's brooding. As long as there's enough room, turkey hens will huddle into a nest together (and sometimes even when there's not enough room).

The problem with this scenario is that all the different eggs will be on a different schedule, and you'll have a staggered hatch. If they all hatch within 1-2 days, that's usually no problem. If it's staggered over a longer period, then the broody will need to abandon the late eggs to take care of the poults that are already running around, and those partially developed embryos still in the nest will die. Additionally, if the total number of eggs becomes too many for the broody to effectively cover, then your hatch rate drops even further, sometimes very low. If there are too many eggs to cover effectively, then the eggs on the periphery get cold. If they're too cold for too long, the embryos die. Because the hen will turn and rotate the eggs, every egg that takes a turn on the periphery can potentially die. Only the eggs that stay in the center will develop to term and be able to hatch, which may be all the original clutch, or half, or none. Too many eggs under a broody is not a good thing.

What most people do is collect eggs that they want to hatch. Write the date they were laid on them. Do not wash them or get them wet at all, even if they are visibly soiled, but you can lightly brush them off with a clean towel or paper towel. Store them pointy end down in a carton in a room that is 50-60 degrees, warm enough to keep the embryo alive but not so warm that it will start developing yet. Tilt them about 45 degrees, and alternate the direction of tilt 3-4 times daily. They can be stored this way up to 10-14 days, but hatch rates start to decrease around day 7. When a hen goes broody, put some labelled throw-away eggs or ceramic eggs under her for 2 days to be sure that she is committed to brooding. Once you're sure that she's really going to brood, and she's in a safe place, you're ready to put the real eggs under her. Draw a circle around the outside of each egg so that you can identify that egg no matter what position it's laying in. Exchange all the throw-away eggs/ceramic eggs for all the saved eggs all at the same time, at night, with as little disturbance and drama as possible. That way the incubation of all the eggs will start at the same time, so you should have all your poults hatch quite close together. If there's another hen that will lay eggs in the broody nest, check the nest every 1-2 days and remove all new eggs to prevent a staggered hatch, and to prevent an excessive number of eggs under the broody. If you have eggs stored more than 7 days (or 10-14 at the most) without a hen going broody, then you can rotate the 8-15 day old eggs back into the refrigerator to eat. As long as you don't wash the bloom off the eggs (the oxygen permeable "sealant" that prevents bacteria from penetrating the shell), eggs can safely last for quite a long time out of the refrigerator.

 

[Kelsykin]

Quote:
old chickens work great in the crock pot too.. never had a tough turkey regardless of it's age... but then again when I bake a turkey I go with low and slow... otherwise we just deep fry the buggers!
Low and Slow works with the old birds, but many times hens become Chicken soup around here. The children and husband eat ti by the gallon in the winter...

 

[AmericanMom]

I'm just about where you are in my poultry adventures. In the past I've always kept all my hens and culled only the troublemaking roosters, but I either need to change my management style or start being more practical regarding numbers. The birds are just taking up all my time, and I'm having a lot of fun, but I'm not getting anything else done around the farm. So I've decided that once the hens that aren't breeding quality and aren't pets are done laying this fall, they're going to freezer camp. I'm not going to get any new breeds, and I'm only going to get new birds of my current breeds if they will improve my breeding stock. I'm going to cull appropriately and decisively, with a focus on selective breeding so that each new generation has the potential to be better quality than its parents.

Except for the ones that are pets, or have served a lifetime and are enjoying a well-earned retirement, or were inherited from my father-in-law so they're family heirlooms, or ...

Oh dear, all my friends are laughing right now!!

Its so funny where I am today and where I was last year at this time.. I know which ones I'm getting rid of.. I have about 25 Pullets I will be selling come July. got 7 or 8 roosters for freezer camp along with 3 old hens.. I love my BA's but they aren't laying so well anymore.. I get one egg a day from all three of them, which means they are each only laying 2 times a week.. Today was a bonus, all three girls laid One of the BA's has went broody and if she will do it again I will keep her as she was an awesome broody and momma. I'm keeping all my pure breeds that I purchased this year and will start my flock from there with my two Orpington Roosters... Hatch out enough to replace any hen over the age of 2 ... regardless the incubator is going put up for the year...Going into this winter I want 25 hens and two roosters... I sell enough eggs out of my 17 hens now to barely have enough for us