Turkeys For 2013

[Arielle]

Turkey question:

My turkeys like to roost on top of my mobile chicken coop. They do have access to go in the coop any time (and one does), at least until the auto door shuts at night. Over the summer, this has not been a problem. But it has rained here in Indiana for two days now, and the weather is getting ready to turn colder. Do I need to worry as it gets colder? I don't really have anywhere set up for them to get out of the weather yet. Will they go in the coop if it gets nasty?

The rain has been pouring or spitting or few hours of sunny --for 3 days--the birds go under the hemlock, wander in the rain, or just stand in the rain during the day. The youn'uns go to roost on top of the coops; the yr old are herded to a secure coop.

I prefer to have the birds secured for my peace of mind.

 

[uphilljill]

Every coop construction project could use a few turkey supervisors.

 

[Arielle]

Every coop construction project could use a few turkey supervisors.

Is this a MW???

 

[uphilljill]

Yep. The hens especially can fly pretty well due to their smaller size.

Re your earlier question about breast size: Ours are only 5 months old right now and breast still seems a bit shallow. I'm hoping it fills out a bit more in the next few months. Will be sure to update.

 

[Arielle]

Looking forward to it!!

 

[Momhunter]

So what is the best smaller turkey to raise for meat? We love to eat turkey but I only have a family of four. I started with 4 royal palms and two blue slates for this year. I love their personalities and the RP and real characters. But would midget whites be better for table birds??

 

[Arielle]

So what is the best smaller turkey to raise for meat? We love to eat turkey but I only have a family of four. I started with 4 royal palms and two blue slates for this year. I love their personalities and the RP and real characters. But would midget whites be better for table birds??

I think that the MW and Beltsville were designed for small families. THe larger birds originally, from what I have read, were for hotels and restaurants. In my family of f4 , we can polish off a big bird in a matter of days. So I do like having a larger bird myself at this point but I am intrigues by the history of the MW as they too are from Massa chusetts.

 

[Reyvaughn]

I prefer a turkey that dresses at 20lb or better for my family of 5. I can get 3 meals out of it (turkey and waffles, turkey corn chowder, meat pies or turkey sandwiches) and makes life easier for me. I thought RPs were smaller anyways, and topped off at 12 to 22lbs. A RP should be perfect for your family after processing. Unless you want a smaller meat bird over a heritage.

On a side note, my mother works for an older gentleman that raised turkeys three years ago. We still talk about his birds. We bought the smallest off him and it dressed at 40lbs. The largest was 68lbs dressed weight. We couldn't find a pan big enough for the one we got, so we can only imagine the PITA the 68lb bird was. We did end up using an electric roaster for ours. They were BBW and processed at 7 months old, if you are wondering. As far as I am aware, their diet was regular turkey feed, corn, all the table scraps possible and daily foraging.

 

[Arielle]

DH bought a new roasting pan when the 34# BBW did not fit into our old roasting pan!! THe heritage fit just fine!! TWo can fit side by side.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Where'd you get the new pan? And how big is it?
I just got done drooling over Porters turkeys again. I discovered my Blue Slate hen is actually Self Blue. If I read correctly, I should get 100% Red Slates from my Bourbon and the Self Blue, or did I misread that?