Turkeys For 2013

[kuntrygirl]

That white pea is simply stunning

Thank you.

 

[TamTurkey]

Celie

The Bigger Bird is "show quality" he does not taper at the bottom He is long and wide! I am pretty impressed. Most other breeds that are home raised usually taper and aren't full awesome job!!!

 

[Celie]

Celie

The Bigger Bird is "show quality" he does not taper at the bottom He is long and wide! I am pretty impressed. Most other breeds that are home raised usually taper and aren't full awesome job!!!

Thank you. So far, almost all the Holland turkeys I have processed, look like these. I bought some from McMurry Hatcheries and later added some from a local source, to keep the genetics diverse. I like the idea of having 2 separate lines, so less inbreeding is possible. In nature, it is only the strongest that survive, which weeds out the weaker genetics, but hand raised, we try not to loose any, so we have to watch genetics closer, IMHO, or we would be undoing what the original breeders spent much time and money developing.
I do not show poultry, we eat it, but there are people I sell to that do raise for show. I would not know what show quality is, but when buyers come, they can see the parent stocks and select what poults they want.
This spring, or before, Hubby is building me a brooder house, with my GQF incubator in the middle along with oil filled electric radiant heaters. There will be built in brooder boxes along all the walls, with heat lamps above the boxes for the youngest hatchlings. as they grow, they will be in less heat till they come out at 3 months to free range and get introduced to the flocks.
People can buy hatching eggs, to be shipped or picked up within 48 to maybe 72 hours of laying, and by day 4, all remaining turkey eggs will go into the bater and go from the bater to the brooders upon hatching. Customers can select whatever age they choose and pay accordingly, up to 3 months. After that I sell pairs and trios for breeding and single toms for processing. I hope this arrangement works as well as I am hoping, because it seems that more people are getting into growing more of their own healthier food and turkeys, IMO, is a good choice for small livestock.

 

[racinchickins]

Thank you. So far, almost all the Holland turkeys I have processed, look like these. I bought some from McMurry Hatcheries and later added some from a local source, to keep the genetics diverse. I like the idea of having 2 separate lines, so less inbreeding is possible. In nature, it is only the strongest that survive, which weeds out the weaker genetics, but hand raised, we try not to loose any, so we have to watch genetics closer, IMHO, or we would be undoing what the original breeders spent much time and money developing.
I do not show poultry, we eat it, but there are people I sell to that do raise for show. I would not know what show quality is, but when buyers come, they can see the parent stocks and select what poults they want.
This spring, or before, Hubby is building me a brooder house, with my GQF incubator in the middle along with oil filled electric radiant heaters. There will be built in brooder boxes along all the walls, with heat lamps above the boxes for the youngest hatchlings. as they grow, they will be in less heat till they come out at 3 months to free range and get introduced to the flocks.
People can buy hatching eggs, to be shipped or picked up within 48 to maybe 72 hours of laying, and by day 4, all remaining turkey eggs will go into the bater and go from the bater to the brooders upon hatching. Customers can select whatever age they choose and pay accordingly, up to 3 months. After that I sell pairs and trios for breeding and single toms for processing. I hope this arrangement works as well as I am hoping, because it seems that more people are getting into growing more of their own healthier food and turkeys, IMO, is a good choice for small livestock.

I love your plan. I'm working on converting part of my barn to house my birds. My plan after that is a brooder room along the lines of what you were describing. Would love to see pics of the brooder house as it goes up!

 

[Celie]

Celie, I ws really hoping to over winter some of my stock to increase the growth but the prices of grain are rising again. We were expecting a bumper crop-- and my contact at the mill said the price will be going up anyways. THe prices are at the highest I have ever paid. Last year the hay prices were the highest ever because of the MIdwest drought ( took hay from the NOrtheast for the first time) . . .

I would really like to come up with a viable method of feeding everyone for the winter . . . I just don't see how it is possible to grow enough to feed over the winter . . . I"m brain storming how to extend the fall availabiliy, increase the summer foods tuffs, and improve an early spring feed. Will still need to buy for the winter I think.

You might try working on faster growth rate. I find that some individuals, mature faster than others. If I were in a shorter growing season area with colder longer winters than we have in the deep South, that is what I would shoot for. There see nothing wrong with mixing breeds to accomplish this end. If one exceptional bird develops faster and another develops more meat, breeding the two, producing a cross, might give you a meatier bird faster, without the problems of the BB breeds! I just object people selling crosses, that can not produce kind after kind, and sell ing them as a "New" breed, to unknowing public, which hurts all breeders and gives us the reputation of that associated with used car salesmen! I know there are honest used car salesmen, so I am not trying to insult anyone, but the stereotype reputation, is an example. If someone could come up with a breed that will fill out a bird say in 9 months, with quantity and quality meat and have them reproduce, naturally, without heart and leg problems, I think you would have the perfect table bird. I have read that it takes 10 generations to achieve having them hatch out true to the breed, bit, IMHO, it would be more than worth the effort!
As far as feed, you can only feed what you have available! I try to grow as much of my own feed on my little 5 acres as possible, but if I had the land, I would grow high protein soybeans and mix in the cheaper store bought grains, to balance their diet, and store for the year in big silos. Living in the South, we have 2 garden growing seasons, which helps a lot. Also, with our small orchard, the birds get a lot of fresh fruit, ( they seam to get more than we do, when it gets windy) LOL. We only have a couple of months a year, that we have to rely entirely on store bought, and during the higher demand periods, the prices get ridicules!
You have to decide what works best for you. For me it would be, raise fewer birds, just to supply ourselves, and fork out the big bucks out of pocket for the winter feed( and hope a predator doesn't take any) or I can winter over a dozen hens and a dozen under full mature weight for next year's processing, (after the first year they eat a lot less and put on more meat) and sell as many hatching eggs and poults, juveniles, etc. to pay for the winter feed and supplementing summer feed and free range a greater number, knowing I will loose a few to predators, along the way!
I really don't know which is better, either, I am just winging it , like everyone else!
That's why this site and the people on it are so important to me and the help is invaluable and given freely by like minded generous people, like yourself! I want to thank you and all the others for this fabulous thread KuntryGirl started last December!!!

 

[Celie]

15 lbs is still a good size, though not what your used too. I have a Bourbon Red Tom, he is about 6-7months old, being processed this Sunday for my neighbors thanksgiving dinner. I hope he is at least 15lbs... or more

You can get a good estimate by weighing him live and multiplying the weight by 80%. If you do not have a fish or some other scale big enough for him to fit, use your bathroom scale on a very even surface. Weigh yourself and then you holding him. The difference will at least be close to his actual live weight. I find that the heavier they are, the more the meat to bone ratio is, too. At 35#, the birds are 75% meat and 25% bone, but at 20#, they are 50/50, In Hollands (half grown) , this 15# looks about 40-45% meat. I had one that got killed be a predator, before the dogs chased it away, that had eaten just the innards and part of one leg, that I processed and was about 30% meat to 70% bone, because it was much younger.

 

[Reyvaughn]

I had my 3 meat boys (BBBs) done on Monday. They have been in a tub of water and ice since. Two seem to be more limber than the other. I can't keep them in that tub forever - I am running out of ice! They need to come out of rigor and soon!

The biggest is easily 25lbs. The other 2 are not as filled in in the breast as the biggest boy. They are still around 20lbs, though. They were 5 months old and I kept them on a low protein diet up until these last couple months. I honestly think they needed at least another 3-4wks for the breasts to fill out on the 2 smaller guys. I'm happy. They just better be tender and juicy when I cook them.

 

[chicken pickin]

If you have refrigerator space they can finish going through rigor in there.

 

[Reyvaughn]

If you have refrigerator space they can finish going through rigor in there.

I cleaned out the fridge, but no, there isn't enough room for them all. I can get one in, maybe two. I am giving the two we are not eating until tomorrow and I am going to freeze them. The one we are eating will go in the fridge. I have a bit of an issue with timing. Seems pointless to freeze our holiday bird, but it will be out to long if I don't. I guess I didn't think that out very well, did I?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Does anyone brine their turkeys?