Turkeys For 2013

[kuntrygirl]

For the last 2 days, I noticed that one of my hens "was not herself". One night I found her roosting with the chickens in the chicken stalls and that is NOT normal for her. This told me that something was wrong. So, the next day, I monitored her again. She was sitting in the chicken stalls again. So, that told me that something was definitely wrong. I didn't disturb her but I was patient and wanted to see what she would do when I bought food out. I noticed that she got up slowly and tried to step out of the stall but she tripped and fell. She did get up but was moving slow. So, I let her eat and I continued to monitor her to see if she was going to let me know what was going on. Well lo' and behold I see that the TOMs tried to breed her. It was a group of them trying to get her. So that told me what has been going on. I immediately pushed them away and picked her up. I noticed that she had some feathers missing on her back . So, she was the favorite hen that all of the boys "enjoyed" and she has been suffering from it. Now, she is isolated from all of the animals, especially the Toms . She will be in isolation for a couple weeks or until she heals. I have been having a few extra toms that I needed to sell or process but have been to lazy to process them. Now, I am actively trying to sell about 6 of them. Whatever I don't sell, I will process. I really want to process ALL 6 of them. I may recruit my cousin. The last turkey that we processed a couple months ago was delicious, so I want to eat some more yard turkey. So, now it's a waiting game for my girl to recover. Looks like her legs are weak from the boys mounting her. She walks with a limp. Poor girl. The boys better behave because I will get rid of ALL of them and only have 2 toms, which I should have done that a long time ago. I don't mind eating turkey every few days.

 

[chicken pickin]

Sorry for your hen that is very sad that they were ganging up on her. I hope she recovers just fine and hopefully you can get your freezer full and have peace restored in the yard.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Sorry for your hen that is very sad that they were ganging up on her. I hope she recovers just fine and hopefully you can get your freezer full and have peace restored in the yard.

Thanks. Same here. I taste that juicy turkey meat in my mouth right now.

 

[TexasLisa]

Thanks. Same here. I taste that juicy turkey meat in my mouth right now.

kuntrygirl, do you put your turkeys in a brine before cooking?

Lisa

 

[chickadoodles]

kuntrygirl, I am so sorry about your hen! I hope she recovers quickly!

I have been worried about that myself as I have 6 toms and one hen? But they still have another month before they are old enough to breed and lay and egg.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Thanks. Same here. I taste that juicy turkey meat in my mouth right now.

kuntrygirl, do you put your turkeys in a brine before cooking?

Lisa

Believe it or not, the one we cooked a couple months ago was not put in a brine. We cooked it for 2 hours and it was tender and juicy.

I would love to try a brine to see what the difference in taste is.

 

[kuntrygirl]

kuntrygirl, I am so sorry about your hen! I hope she recovers quickly!

I have been worried about that myself as I have 6 toms and one hen? But they still have another month before they are old enough to breed and lay and egg.

Thanks. Yes, I need to do a better job with the ratio. It's my fault because I have been too lazy to process. This is a lesson learned. I think I will keep 3 toms. In case something happens to 1, I will still have 2. And with the 4 new poultss, with my luck, they will be all males.

 

[Celie]

Believe it or not, the one we cooked a couple months ago was not put in a brine. We cooked it for 2 hours and it was tender and juicy.

I would love to try a brine to see what the difference in taste is.

How old was it? Was it one of the poults hatched in January or from last year? I roast mine breast side down, until the last 1/2 hour. That is, if I CAN FIT IT INTO MY OVEN, 30+ pounds after processing is a big turkey and some have to be halved to fit. How much (about) do you think the BR you cooked, processed out to weight? If you don't mind my asking?

Thanks. Yes, I need to do a better job with the ratio. It's my fault because I have been too lazy to process. This is a lesson learned. I think I will keep 3 toms. In case something happens to 1, I will still have 2. And with the 4 new poultss, with my luck, they will be all males.

It's not that you are too lazy, It's been too hot and muggy!!! Same problem here, also have to use up some more rabbit and chicken to make room for the 10 big toms I need to process.
My Midget Whites, I hatched this year, are doing great, but I want to hatch more to have a flock of about 40 by next year. Hubby calls them our "Empty Nesters Turkeys ",because they are small enough for everyday meals. Hollands taste great, are always tender with a large breast, but very large for only 2 people. We usually quarter them and still eat turkey meat for a week off just one quarter of a turkey. One turkey makes a lot of cutlets, roasts, sausage and ground turkey meat, for the freezer, so you get a lot of meat from just one turkey, but I am also looking forward to having turkey the size of a large chicken for smaller roasted turkey meals, too. Bourbon Reds and Narragansetts are in the plans for next year. When you are ready to hatch some White Holland eggs, let me know, but everyone is still in molt here. Only 1 or 2 eggs a day lately.
If you want to tell the sex of your last 4 poults, you can weigh them, males will weigh substantially more than females, hatched at the same time, by the time they reach a few weeks old. Also, if you turn them upside down in your lap and let them calm down, toms will put their legs out, while hens will draw them in close to their breast. This is how I can guess sex at just a few days old, with 90% accuracy or better.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Believe it or not, the one we cooked a couple months ago was not put in a brine. We cooked it for 2 hours and it was tender and juicy.


I would love to try a brine to see what the difference in taste is.

How old was it? Was it one of the poults hatched in January or from last year? I roast mine breast side down, until the last 1/2 hour. That is, if I CAN FIT IT INTO MY OVEN, 30+ pounds after processing is a big turkey and some have to be halved to fit. How much (about) do you think the BR you cooked, processed out to weight? If you don't mind my asking?

Thanks. Yes, I need to do a better job with the ratio. It's my fault because I have been too lazy to process. This is a lesson learned. I think I will keep 3 toms. In case something happens to 1, I will still have 2. And with the 4 new poultss, with my luck, they will be all males.

It's not that you are too lazy, It's been too hot and muggy!!! Same problem here, also have to use up some more rabbit and chicken to make room for the 10 big toms I need to process.
My Midget Whites, I hatched this year, are doing great, but I want to hatch more to have a flock of about 40 by next year. Hubby calls them our "Empty Nesters Turkeys ",because they are small enough for everyday meals. Hollands taste great, are always tender with a large breast, but very large for only 2 people. We usually quarter them and still eat turkey meat for a week off just one quarter of a turkey. One turkey makes a lot of cutlets, roasts, sausage and ground turkey meat, for the freezer, so you get a lot of meat from just one turkey, but I am also looking forward to having turkey the size of a large chicken for smaller roasted turkey meals, too. Bourbon Reds and Narragansetts are in the plans for next year. When you are ready to hatch some White Holland eggs, let me know, but everyone is still in molt here. Only 1 or 2 eggs a day lately. 
If you want to tell the sex of your last 4 poults, you can weigh them, males will weigh substantially more than females, hatched at the same time, by the time they reach a few weeks old. Also, if you turn them upside down in your lap and let them calm down, toms will put their legs out, while hens will draw them in close to their breast. This is how I can guess sex at just a few days old, with 90% accuracy or better.

Hey Celie!! Where ya been? I was wondering where you were. You been ok?

This was from the first group that was hatched this year. If my memory serves me correct, yes, it was January's group. This one had broken her ankle and I had her in recovery. Well the ankle healed but in that process her hock was messed up and her leg had turned backwards. I knew that she couldn't recover, so I made the decision to process her. She was WAY WAY smaller than the rest. I will have to look back on my records to see what her weight was. She wasn't gaining much weight because she wasn't able to free range and enjoy the bugs and other daily fruit like the others. She was big enough to where we fed either 5 or 6 people. May have been 5 adults. So, we had a perfect Sunday meal.

You are right about the weight. If I had an air conditioned outside kitchen to process, I would process as much as possible. I have been lucky enough to where 2 of my customers who I have either gave a turkey too or gave them a good deal on animals, have offered to either process the birds for me or have offered to let me go and get their plucker and take to my house and process all the birds that I want. THANK GOODNESS !!!!!! I am so grateful to my wonderful customers.

 

[Turkeytruff]

Hi it's been a while since I've been on this thread. I got 5 Blue Slate poults about a month ago from a breeder and of the 5, 1 is blind and 1 has what looks like a weird sort of hernia on its crop - It's not the crop, it's hanging extra low and is quite soft. The poult eats and is not suffering in any way, but I just wondered if:


1) anyone else has had blind blue slates hatched
2) had their turkey have this 'hernia'
here are some pictures:






the blind one does pretty well at following the others around and getting to the food but I feel so sorry for her/him at roosting time. Needless to say, these 2 will not be kept for breeding.