Turkeys For 2013

[Chaneys Ranch]

My sneaky hen daring me to touch her stash.....

.....and some adventurous jakes hanging out with a few cows.

She is lovely! Her color is exceptional.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I like wooden floors. Just be sure to put on a lot of layers of poly for protecction, and runner rugs to take the brunt of the traffic.

me too. forget carpet, what a dust magnet!!! Tile or hardwood is my thing.
I hate carpeting, its just a dust mite magnet.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I had to put down plywood subflorring too, and i'm not on a cement slab.

We built on a slab. I really like it, but I love ceramic tile.
I have no carpeting. Hate it..

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

The hen or tom question...
My BR so far the toms are tall hens necks are shorter, and the sounds are different.

 

[KrisH]

its hard to get far enough back to get a picture...



Bronze and Auburn



RobertH
Bourbon Red (moulting Buff in the background)

 

[Arielle]

So...I found this thread about four months ago, right before I bought my turkey poults from my favorite feed/pet store. I was really torn, just because we had bought a few poults before and they had all died due to issues that BB Whites tend to have. Needless to say, I wasn't going to make the same mistake again.

So we purchased three standard bronze poults and only lost one a couple months ago. The remaining two are going to be 17 weeks this Friday and I'm so excited. It appears like we've got a tom and a jenny, a lucky pairing! And just the other day, our tom displayed for the first time.


They've been doing really well so far. He's by far the heaviest bird I've ever held, but what's worse is that our jenny hops up on my shoulder or arm whenever she gets a chance. Having a 12 pound bird (to be honest, she feels heavier than that) on my shoulder is so scary, haha! It doesn't look like I'll be processing anyone this year, but I did have a question.

Around what age do you prefer to process your turkeys? I got these turkeys with the idea that they should be about 9 months old before processing, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just because I want them to lay some eggs for me to hatch so I don't have to buy anymore poults. And maybe it's because I've gotten oddly attached to them. They haven't tried to escape the yard, they are inquisitive, they actually listen to me more than the chickens. I even raked apart a termite mound and they ate all the larvae for me without fear of the rake, unlike my silly chickens.

Welcome to the world of turkeys!!

WE discussed this a short while ago. SOme like to butcher at the14-16 m mark when there is more meat on the bones. Others butcher at THanksgiving or 9 m because that is what works timing wise.

Now that Celie pointed it out, I do see a lot more meat on the older birds. Just hard to feed so many over the winter here with out much browse.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
have you tried tossing in alfalfa hay?.. mine will tear it up during the winter when we don't have anything for them to munch on in the pasture

 

[LBejaran]

Welcome to the world of turkeys!!

WE discussed this a short while ago. SOme like to butcher at the14-16 m mark when there is more meat on the bones.  Others butcher at  THanksgiving or 9 m because that is what works timing wise. 

Now that Celie pointed it out, I do see a lot more meat on the older birds. Just hard to feed so many over the winter here with out much browse.

Hm, I think butchering next year around Thanksgiving will work. I really wasn't sure if doing it after they were more than a year old would affect the meat or make them more difficult to cook. We have pretty mild winters down here in the Rio Grande Valley, TX, so feeding isn't much of an issue. So long as I sit out there with them, they'll graze. Unfortunately, they only seem to do it when I'm outside, haha! These crazy turkeys just love having company while looking for bugs.

 

[Celie]

SO true!!


What do you all think??

I have 6 auburns, but no female. THEy are pretty rare so finding a female locally seems very unlikely. ORdering from Porters, would mean a big order, and he usually only sends about 6 as I remember.

So do I try to hold on to 2 -3 toms and order next year in hopes of a few girls? OR can them all and start a new???

All opinions are welcome.

If it was me, and I needed more than just the Auburns, I would keep a tom and include 3 Auburns poults in my order, but tell him I need at least 2 to be females, because he sent you 10 males last year! Breeders can guess pretty good at sex at hatching, like I do, but in a breeding program, hold back more females for their breeding program. 10 out of 10 males is an astronomical offset of averaging, for straight run, without sexing! Why can't you order the number of whatever you want to raise? A breeder should have at least 30 eggs hatching every 5 days from each breed, if he is going to be supplying his customers with good service! I was going to try ordering some from him, but not if I have to settle for a limit of 6 of a certain breed or accept a substitute, instead of what I order. Who is the customer and who is doing the servicing anyway? How small of an operation can only supply you with 6 and then expect you to buy 15, when that might be the only breed you want? I know a lot of people praise him and he probably have some nice birds, but most are cross breeds, from what I see and I know I some will want to tear me a new one for saying this, but he is not the only good hatchery around !

I might even still, buy a few, if someone around me wants to split an order, just for diverse genetic from a different line, but I wouldn't want any substitutes, not at his prices!

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
I've ordered from him several times and he's never had to substitute any of the birds I wanted.. He told me once that he asks for substitutions in case he runs short on a specific type.. so if you asked for 6 Sweetgrass and said Chocolates would be acceptable as a replacement.. and when he got to filling your order he only had 5 Sweetgrass he would toss in a chocolate in order to get your order out instead of putting you off for a few more weeks..
You're always free to order from other hatcheries though.. I happen to like his birds and his service.. having gotten poults from other hatcheries I can honestly say I prefer the ones from Porters..