Turkey Talk for 2014

[chickadoodles]

Where did you order them from?

Country Hatchery. I was suppose to get them two weeks ago but they had some bad storms and lost power and all their eggs!

 

[racinchickins]

Quote: I was just curious. I have an order in to Porter's, and haven't heard anything yet.

 

[desertmarcy]

Box of Penciled Palms I hatched: Ignore their color coding, I needed to make sure I didn't mix them up with my regular Royal Palms

The two on the upper right are Red Penciled Palms. The other will be either black and white or tricolor.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Please let us know how these turn out. Some of the breeders at Country Hatchery are supposed to be from Frank Reese, although I'm not sure if all the varieties are from him. If these are his stock, they have the potential to be excellent quality.

I had heard that many of the midwest hatcheries were having problems because of the storms, but it seems strange that a hatchery, who's very existence depends on electric incubators, wouldn't have backup generators. Was the damage so bad that employees couldn't get to work and refill the generators with gas?

 

[desertmarcy]

Please let us know how these turn out. Some of the breeders at Country Hatchery are supposed to be from Frank Reese, although I'm not sure if all the varieties are from him. If these are his stock, they have the potential to be excellent quality.

I had heard that many of the midwest hatcheries were having problems because of the storms, but it seems strange that a hatchery, who's very existence depends on electric incubators, wouldn't have backup generators. Was the damage so bad that employees couldn't get to work and refill the generators with gas?

Perhaps it has more to do with the turkeys themselves? Kevin Porter told me he is a month behind in hatching because of the extended cold weather. Turkeys just weren't breeding as early as normal.

 

[Wasson6Pack]

I have a black winged Narragansett hen and a red palm tom, which means that next year I will get a brood that is 100% golden phoenix.  I have been trying to breed for golden phoenix for about 4 years.  I sure hope I like them.  I actually have two hens that are black-winged golden narragansett which should look almost identical to golden phoenix, and I like them a lot.  One will be bred to the red palm (half of those will be golden phoenix or black-winged golden narris), and the other will be bred to a red bronze with a couple of hidden recessive genes.  Unfortunately, up here I don't get eggs until March 20th.  Its a ways out.  I'm thinking about artificial lights to get a bit of a head start.

I would love to see pictures, I didn't know Narrs come in different colors. I have 7 sweetgrass that I hatched, 5RP that were delivered from a hatchery yesterday and 5 Narrs that are in the Hatcher that were shipped. Narrs are a favorite and colors colors would be great!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
That makes more sense!

 

[chickadoodles]

Please let us know how these turn out. Some of the breeders at Country Hatchery are supposed to be from Frank Reese, although I'm not sure if all the varieties are from him. If these are his stock, they have the potential to be excellent quality.

I had heard that many of the midwest hatcheries were having problems because of the storms, but it seems strange that a hatchery, who's very existence depends on electric incubators, wouldn't have backup generators. Was the damage so bad that employees couldn't get to work and refill the generators with gas?

Sydney, If you recall. I am the one that called Frank Reese and he told me he sold some of his stock to Country Hatchery after I told him I desperately wanted his stock! These are from his stock, that is why I bought them and am so excited about getting them. Country told me back when I ordered them that his birds did not start laying till March or April. And he already had orders so I had to get in line.
I only know he had some problems as he called to tell me it would be another week or two. I did not mind they are worth the wait!

 

[chickadoodles]

Box of Penciled Palms I hatched: Ignore their color coding, I needed to make sure I didn't mix them up with my regular Royal Palms

The two on the upper right are Red Penciled Palms. The other will be either black and white or tricolor.

Your chicks are adorable! I would love to see some pics when they are grown.

 

[desertmarcy]

I love the Penciled Palms! They are the same genotype as Royal Palm, except addition of 2 penciling genes which give the feathers an unusual swirly pattern. I got mine from Kevin Porter last spring. Unfortunately, I only got 1 pair. Both of mine also have one red gene, hence they are a "tricolor". I am hatching out all my hen's eggs and raising them (at least that's what I say NOW

) because I want some of the black and white without the red gene. I had a tom like that from Porter several years ago, but a bobcat got him before I realized bobcats were a problem around here. Stupid me. He was gorgeous, and not even full grown. With my tricolor pair, only 25% will lack the red gene. 25% will have 2 red genes and will be red penciled. They are the closest to the buff color you see in chickens that I have seen in a turkey. The true Buff turkeys look like a light colored Bourbon Red. These Red Penciled look blond. But the penciling is not as sharp. I wasn't even for sure my hen was a tricolor until the poults hatched because she only has a hint of reddish. But I have some solid yellow poults, and those will be red penciled, which I couldn't get unless both parents carry the red gene. The Penciled Palms seem to vary a lot, so it will be fun to see how they develop.

Here are pics of my adult pair: