Turkeys For 2013

[chickadoodles]

Thank you for the quick upload!! I see they are like my birds and like to stand on top of the car. THey look bigger thn I imagined-- maybe their size is an illusion.

Arielle I had a MW and when he was next to my Narragansett he was not that much smaller that the Narri. uphilljill you have very beautiful birds. I found a pic with the two together.

 

[Arielle]

THose MW are MUCH larger than I figured on. Hmmmm. maybe the MW need constant selecting for small ness, like the others need constant selecting for larger.

If anyone has Beltsvilles I 'm game to see those too!

 

[uphilljill]

The hens are 10 & 8 lbs each. The toms are around 20 each. And yes, they should be selected (breed) for smallness, which is a bit counter-intuitive if you're used to working with standard size turkeys. Only way to keep them midgets instead of reverting back to large size.

 

[uphilljill]

I'd say my toms are a bit on the large size. I believe they should be closer to 13-15 lbs ea. something to work on next yr!

(edited to correct ideal weight)

 

[Arielle]

THis is a bigger challenge than raising the bigger turkeys. Makes my head spin. Looks like we need some professional help reaching some of these goals.

Faster growth easily leads to a bigger bird. I bet there was an ideal growth rate to keep the MW at their preferred adult weights.

my head aches.

 

[uphilljill]

Since they were developed from

a cross of a commercial Broad Breasted White turkey and a Royal Palm, I suspect it would be very easy for the breed to get over-sized quickly. We must be vigilant! ​

I will be processing one of the toms in a week or two. I am very curious to find out if this weight is with fully developed breast/meat, or just mostly early growth/frame. He's only 6.5 months now, so if it's with a full breast, that's a pretty fast full-size growth rate. I know some standard size turkeys take up to a year to put on the meat. If you find any research about ideal growth rates, I'd be very curious to see it.

The best thing about selecting for the smaller size is that you get to eat the bigger culls. And the hens still lay an almost full size turkey egg.

 

[Arielle]

That is one of the appeals to me, I would like to over winter only the breeder birds. Meaning I need to have relativly fast BW gains of frame AND muscle before about OCtober when the grasses grow slower and the bugs have dissappeared.

Begs the question: has anyone played with crossing the BBW or BBB with a heritage line ? I can see the merits of this now. As in creating a beast that needs 6 months to grow out rather than the 4 months of a BBW.


Can you feel the size of the breast?? My heritage feel rather meatless compared to the BBW.

 

[uphilljill]

The hens are a little lean, but the toms are big chested. I'm having a hard time telling if it's meat or fat tho.

And I've never had a BB variety to compare. I'll be sure to post a pic of the processed bird soon.

 

[Arielle]

That dreaded fat pad is annoying!! ANd I swear the area is easy to compressed like it is full of air!!!

 

[chickadoodles]

I am not sure why my MW got so big. I thought he was going to stay small.I bought him from a lady that told me he was a royal palm.

I sold him the day before thanksgiving with one of my Narri's. DH said we will get some more come spring he wants some larger birds and some Bourbon Reds and I would like a few more Narri's. We are going to buy poults since I don't have any luck hatching them...