Turkeys For 2013

[Celie]

Not to change the subject, but we are often asked, how to tell the sex of turkey poults and young adults. These are the facts I believe to be true and if anyone would care to contribute to the list, please do. If I have something wrong, please correct me, since I do not want to spread incorrect information. This seams to be the number one question asked on the turkey threads !

1. All colored feathered turkey hens will have lighter edging on the breast features and toms will have darker edging.
2. Males will weigh more than females hatched at the same time and this will become more apparent as they grow older.
3. Toms will have thicker legs than hens.
4. Both can have beards, but toms will grow longer.
5. Toms have longer thicker snoods as they reach maturity.
6. Toms Chronicles will be bigger than hens and the heads and necks will be a darker red.
7. Toms will be bald, while hens will develop a thin line of feathers up the back of their heads.
8. If you can hold the bird on your lap, laying on it's back, at any age, if it holds it's feet up close to it's back, it is probably a hen, because it is a defensive position for a tom or a rooster, too,(for that , matter) to extend one or both legs. This, I find works from day old chicks or poults, with 94 degree accuracy.
9. Both will display when young, but by the age of sexual maturity, only toms gobble.

This year I have done my own research on how to tell the sex of very young poults and chicks before they are old enough for the above! I have used a couple hundred poults to test as I hatched out Holland White, Midget White and A few Bourbon Red Poults this year, with 94% accuracy!
10. If you can hold the bird on your lap, laying on it's back, at any age, if it holds it's feet up close to it's back, it is probably a hen. If it extends it's legs or even just one leg, you probably have a tom. This, I find works with day old chicks and poults and seams to be based of their natural defensive posture of male vs female responses in these birds. I thought someone else might benefit from my findings, too, so I thought I would share.


Arielle, this is the experiment I spoke to you about last winter, before I had enough research done to support my suspicions. Hope it helps!

 

[Celie]

This is what my meat grinder from Harbor Freight Tools looks like, except it also comes with the sausage stuffing attachments, too. Hubby remembers the price to be $59.95 plus tax, which was still the price, last time I was there several months ago. I remember buying the same model at Wal-Mart, years ago, before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I haven't seen any at Wally lately. Ebay has one like this for $69.??, without the sausage attachments, plus 9.99 shipping.

 

[Arielle]

Quote:
OH no! Love me some tenderloins and ribs! Froze the bacon slabs for cooler weather to smoke them.

but he was a good size and did do a lot of sausage. We didn't do hams this time so used the ham cuts for sausage also. Will be raising 2-3 next time, we went thru that pork pretty fast.
Good for you!! WIsh I lived closer !! I love pork, but I love the little piggies too so I need to find someone to buy from at this point. I know my limitations with pigs! lol

Quote: YOu are a great cook!!!

This is what my meat grinder from Harbor Freight Tools looks like, except it also comes with the sausage stuffing attachments, too. Hubby remembers the price to be $59.95 plus tax, which was still the price, last time I was there several months ago. I remember buying the same model at Wal-Mart, years ago, before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I haven't seen any at Wally lately. Ebay has one like this for $69.??, without the sausage attachments, plus 9.99 shipping.

NICE !!!!

 

[Arielle]

I wanted to share this as some of us raise birds to eat.
From this article: http://www.fertilegroundusa.net/index.php/herd-the-news/36-herd-the-news/117-made-in-america-and-the-good-shepherd-poultry-ranch-story


Heritage bird meat had yet to be tested for nutritional quality until Frank partnered last year with Kansas State University to conduct a nutritional analysis. The results are outstanding -- Good Shepherd chickens were found to have higher nutritional values than the commercially raised birds! Good Shepherd’s ground chicken was found to have half the fat of commercially produced birds and twice the level of protein! It was also found to have six times the trace minerals AND six times the Omega 3 fatty acids of any other chicken tested, including an unexpected finding of Vitamin C as well. Kansas State continues to do testing with the birds even as this is written, and as these findings come to light, this noted scientific discovery of quality will certainly push Good Shepherd ahead of others in the marketplace.

 

[chickadoodles]

I wanted to share this as some of us raise birds to eat.
From this article: http://www.fertilegroundusa.net/index.php/herd-the-news/36-herd-the-news/117-made-in-america-and-the-good-shepherd-poultry-ranch-story


Heritage bird meat had yet to be tested for nutritional quality until Frank partnered last year with Kansas State University to conduct a nutritional analysis. The results are outstanding -- Good Shepherd chickens were found to have higher nutritional values than the commercially raised birds! Good Shepherd’s ground chicken was found to have half the fat of commercially produced birds and twice the level of protein! It was also found to have six times the trace minerals AND six times the Omega 3 fatty acids of any other chicken tested, including an unexpected finding of Vitamin C as well. Kansas State continues to do testing with the birds even as this is written, and as these findings come to light, this noted scientific discovery of quality will certainly push Good Shepherd ahead of others in the marketplace.

Thanks Arielle for sharing this news with us! I will read the story.

 

[chickadoodles]

This is what my meat grinder from Harbor Freight Tools looks like, except it also comes with the sausage stuffing attachments, too. Hubby remembers the price to be $59.95 plus tax, which was still the price, last time I was there several months ago. I remember buying the same model at Wal-Mart, years ago, before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I haven't seen any at Wally lately. Ebay has one like this for $69.??, without the sausage attachments, plus 9.99 shipping.

Thanks Celie, I was looking at them on harborfrieght.com yesterday. They are a little different and a little cheaper. But I am going to order one.

 

[TexasLisa]

Not to change the subject, but we are often asked, how to tell the sex of turkey poults and young adults. These are the facts I believe to be true and if anyone would care to contribute to the list, please do. If I have something wrong, please correct me, since I do not want to spread incorrect information. This seams to be the number one question asked on the turkey threads !

1. All colored feathered turkey hens will have lighter edging on the breast features and toms will have darker edging.
2. Males will weigh more than females hatched at the same time and this will become more apparent as they grow older.
3. Toms will have thicker legs than hens.
4. Both can have beards, but toms will grow longer.
5. Toms have longer thicker snoods as they reach maturity.
6. Toms Chronicles will be bigger than hens and the heads and necks will be a darker red.
7. Toms will be bald, while hens will develop a thin line of feathers up the back of their heads.
8. If you can hold the bird on your lap, laying on it's back, at any age, if it holds it's feet up close to it's back, it is probably a hen, because it is a defensive position for a tom or a rooster, too,(for that , matter) to extend one or both legs. This, I find works from day old chicks or poults, with 94 degree accuracy.
9. Both will display when young, but by the age of sexual maturity, only toms gobble.

This year I have done my own research on how to tell the sex of very young poults and chicks before they are old enough for the above! I have used a couple hundred poults to test as I hatched out Holland White, Midget White and A few Bourbon Red Poults this year, with 94% accuracy!
10. If you can hold the bird on your lap, laying on it's back, at any age, if it holds it's feet up close to it's back, it is probably a hen. If it extends it's legs or even just one leg, you probably have a tom. This, I find works with day old chicks and poults and seams to be based of their natural defensive posture of male vs female responses in these birds. I thought someone else might benefit from my findings, too, so I thought I would share.

Thanks Celie for the information! I remember you saying you were working on some research. I am going to put this in my turkey folder. I also appreciate the posts on sausage-making and the grinder!!

Lisa

 

[chickadoodles]

Thanks Celie for the information! I remember you saying you were working on some research. I am going to put this in my turkey folder. I also appreciate the posts on sausage-making and the grinder!!

Lisa

X2 Thank you so much for so much helpful info Celie! I do appreciate it very much! I have had one turkey that I kept saying was a hen out of 7! And now I def know that she is a hen! Due to the fact she has the light edged feathers on her breast! I have 4 poults that I will check to see what they are later holding them in my lap! I checked the wing feathers when they got here and I think two of them are girls and two are boys. So we will see, they are a month old.

 

[Celie]

When you lay them on your lap, make sure you wait until they are fully relaxed, or you will get a false female response. They will relax very quickly if it is quiet, without birds chirping or gobbling. At a month you should also see a difference in weight, if they are the same breed and age. As they grow up, the weight difference will increase substantially, too. I banded mine at hatching and weighted them once a week, keeping weights and for each to gauge the acceleration in weight of the males vs females. I was hatching a couple dozen every 5 days, when they were laying good in April, but started when they first started to lay in December. All were sold in the first couple of months, without all the buyers letting me know what they grew up to be, so I scratched that and started keeping them longer and some for next year's breeders in April. I sold are traded several batches of eggs, so I don't know how many eggs turned into male vs female. Maybe next year for that, but I had 15 grown females, kept from last year and 12 males and processed 3 toms last Thanksgiving, so my original hens laid 50 % male and 50% females. Please keep us posted from time to time, as the grow, how things turned out with yours?

Thanks !

 

[chickadoodles]

When you lay them on your lap, make sure you wait until they are fully relaxed, or you will get a false female response. They will relax very quickly if it is quiet, without birds chirping or gobbling. At a month you should also see a difference in weight, if they are the same breed and age. As they grow up, the weight difference will increase substantially, too. I banded mine at hatching and weighted them once a week, keeping weights and for each to gauge the acceleration in weight of the males vs females. I was hatching a couple dozen every 5 days, when they were laying good in April, but started when they first started to lay in December. All were sold in the first couple of months, without all the buyers letting me know what they grew up to be, so I scratched that and started keeping them longer and some for next year's breeders in April. I sold are traded several batches of eggs, so I don't know how many eggs turned into male vs female. Maybe next year for that, but I had 15 grown females, kept from last year and 12 males and processed 3 toms last Thanksgiving, so my original hens laid 50 % male and 50% females. Please keep us posted from time to time, as the grow, how things turned out with yours?

Thanks !

Thanks Celie, I will bring the poults into the porch to hold them and see what they do so that it will be quiet. I only have a small kitchen scale for eggs. But I will look around for one for them. I already banded all my females when I got them so we will see if the wing test is proven by the leg test... lol So far I have three 5 month old Narri's and two 5 month old Slate's. Then I have two narri and two slate poults that are a month old. I bought 5 of each but 6 died in shipping. I am hoping that my Narri hen will lay this year. She keeps going into the coop during the heat of the day and she is watching the chickens lay eggs in their nest boxes. Should I make her one now or wait a while longer to make her one?
I will let you know how things are going with my birds.
By the way the one that has been a mystery turkey for me for the last 6 months has finally shown me what he is! At first he was supposed to be a royal palm! But he never got his black markings. So then I was back and forth trying to figure out if he was a MW or a WH. But since all my other turkeys are now larger than he is, that tells me he is a MW. He is our favorite boy since he played daddy to 18 other babies poults and chicks at a month old! They all still love him! He will live a long happy life here with us!