Turkeys For 2013

[Arielle]

Quote: Great resource!! Thanks for posting this scott

 

[kuntrygirl]

If you had 15 BR turkeys, and you had some free range and some feed, can you take a just a guess how many 50 # bags of feed you would need to get to say 20 weeks? 

That is a great question. I'm sure others would like to know about feeding as well. Please post what information that you find. That would be a beneficial bit of information to know.

 

[kuntrygirl]

If you had 15 BR turkeys, and you had some free range and some feed, can you take a just a guess how many 50 # bags of feed you would need to get to say 20 weeks? 

Coming from experience and the chart found here-  http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/turkeymanual/ALBCturkey-4.pdf
 You would need 12 bags of feed for 15 turkeys to 20 weeks.

Without looking at the chart, what amount would each turkey eat?

Thanks for posting.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I agree about the butchering. I take 1 sheep to the butcher once a year and to process and cut up is about $50.00 and I bring home about an average of 120 lbs of meat. One lamb meal at a fancy shmancy restaurant would be about $50.00 if not more. :/ Makes sense to me.

Oh you raise sheep too! FUN!!! What else do you raise. Ive been thinking about goats and maybe sheep later down the road. DH wants a cow so bad but we definitely dont have enough land for that.

edited to add  I just read your signiture line lol nevermind

 

[Celie]

Celie, I may splurge and buy some BOSS. A made a few dollars this weekend selling chickens, ducks and duck eggs. I think $50.00 is a fair amount. You should set that price and see what happens. You would be surprised. When I set my prices on my turkeys, people don't blink an eye. I only had 1 problem with the cheapskate that I told ya'll about but other than that, they pay the price I set. I don't make bargains on my turkeys. NO WAY!

I agree with you about putting in the freezer . I have been dragging my feet for months and have not processed one single turkey.

I don't have a plucker and one won't be built for me for another month or so. And I DO NOT want to pluck but I may have to.

Thanks about the birds. I must say that I have a great group of turkeys. They are so tame and so adorable. They don't give me any trouble at all. I couldn't ask for a better group of turkeys. I'm excited about putting the babies out in the yard in a few months. I have to get some sand in their run and get that all taken care of before I put them out.

I also noticed that some of the eggs are a lighter color as well. Does anyone get any light colored eggs?

We don't have the Home Grown brand here. All we have is Purina. I only use about 4 or 5 bags of Gamebird as they are growing and then I switch them to Pellets. I love the which is why I am a repeat buyer. I don't know what I would do if they stop making it.

I process my extra toms at around 18 months, which should start being reached for the staggered hatchings I had last year. I find that is about the age they reach their maximum weight and have the most meat, without adding any add'l feed cost for meat gain. The only reason that I might weight an add'l month would be if the tom was substantially under or over weight. Under weight, I might give him a little more time, over the expected weight, he may become one of my breeders, all other things being equal !
As far as egg color goes, every hen, just like chickens, will have it own egg color and texture and lay that same looking egg consistently.
I used to rely on the Purina label as a sign of quality, but a few months ago, I was feeding my rabbits the Purina brand feed, when 2 of my does died overnight from the bloat, so I went to the rabbit thread and asked some breeders with a lot of rabbits, like hundreds, and found out Purina was cutting their feed with corn and that corn should never be fed to rabbits, because it causes bloat. Well I looked at the feed, again and I could see pieces of corn in it! The Home Grown brand did not have any nor did they have it on their label, and it was a few bucks lower, so I switched. In the summer, I can grow most of what the rabbits eat, but during winter, depending on the weather, it can be a little difficult to do.
DH has not finished my plucker yet either, or I would loan it to you. The tractor needed to be fixed and then there was maintenance work on the trucks and other equipment and then several people lost cattle with all the rain we had and needed burying, and the water stayed high and it has been one thing after another. Now so many people need parts made, he's got to finish his shop.

That's a good question. If no one knows, I can ask the guy at the feed store that makes their feed this weekend. Saturday is my feed run. I can report back then.

That would be great to grow our own stuff and make our own feed. Let's talk about our ingredients and what we will need, including the info about the protein that you asked about.

On another thread, someone said that he used a 36% poultry base, so I look him up and saw that he posted another thread that someone gave him a lot of soybeans and wanted to feed them to his poultry, so maybe....... I PMed him and asked, but so far haven't heard from him and it has been a few days now. Hopefully someone here will know.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I have sheep too-- origianlly for the wool quality and the lamb as an extra. I passed on goats because theyare very clever at finding a way out of fencing that is not maintained. Saw the neighbors goats walking down the street on a regular basis ( back road) . At this oint I know my fence is rock solid and I would love to not deal with shearing and just enjoy the goat meat. THough the vet tells me the boys stink-- my rams just smell like sheep- not a sinky male goat. trade offs. Hmmm maybe a wooless sheep breed. . .

I have also skipped cattle since dealing with them at college. Too big for me to manage. I can mange a 300# ram. I don't want to deal with a cow, nor the AI breeding though I could if I had to. I prefer smaller animals.

 

[Scottingitup]

Without looking at the chart, what amount would each turkey eat?

Thanks for posting.

40 lbs

 

[kuntrygirl]

I agree about the butchering. I take 1 sheep to the butcher once a year and to process and cut up is about $50.00 and I bring home about an average of 120 lbs of meat. One lamb meal at a fancy shmancy restaurant would be about $50.00 if not more. :/ Makes sense to me.

Oh you raise sheep too! FUN!!! What else do you raise. Ive been thinking about goats and maybe sheep later down the road. DH wants a cow so bad but we definitely dont have enough land for that.

edited to add  I just read your signiture line lol nevermind

I have sheep too-- origianlly for the wool  quality and the lamb as an extra. I passed on goats because theyare very clever at finding a way out of fencing that is not maintained. Saw the neighbors goats walking down the street on a regular basis ( back road) . At this oint I know my fence is rock solid and I would love to not deal with shearing and just enjoy the goat meat. THough the vet tells me the boys stink-- my rams just smell like sheep- not a sinky male goat. trade offs. Hmmm maybe a wooless sheep breed. . .  

I have also skipped cattle since dealing with them at college. Too big for me to manage. I can mange a 300# ram. I don't want to deal with a cow, nor the AI breeding though I could if I had to. I prefer smaller animals.

I wish I knew how to spin.

Saw the neighbors goats walking down the street on a regular basis ( back road)

I bet that was a sight to see.

I have hair sheep for the same reason that I wish I knew how to spin. I did not want to shear. With hair sheep, no wool at all.

I'm with you, I can only handle small animals. It's just me, so cattle is out of the question.

 

[Arielle]

Feeding-- here is my take on feeding at this point. THis is not meant to dis any birds. THey all, heritage turkey, BBW, commercial chickens, heritage chickens, etc. have a place IMO.

Each type of poultry has a genetic growth rate, and a specific muscle: bone ratio. THese birds were designed to live in a specific farming situation to utilize their abilities. For example:

A BBW must have high % protein feed and lots of it ( high poundage a day) to maximize growth, and weigh a massive amount in a fairly short time ( 4 months) Grain is milled to have a very high % protein and fed right to the bird.

Heritage turkeys and many chickens-- good foragers to find thier own food; some better than others. I have some chickens that are right out into the woods and others that hang at the feeders. My turkeys hang at the feeders.

Egg layer hatchery breeds of Chickens-- almost the opposite of BBW, very slow growing, with very light muscling by 5 months, weighing about 5 pounds. Poor growth rates for the amount of feed they eat ( feed to muscle conversion.)

Heritage turkeys-- each breed does seem to have some growth rate differences and that reflects the mucle: bone ratio and final adult size. THese are the birds that IMO are good for foraging situations; and while they would benefit from pelleted/commercial/ custom mixed grains, they grow slw enough that the expensive feed is not a must like the BBW.

I am wondering if the BBW can be successfully pasture raised; perhaps with special considerations and management. I would consider a half bred before a full bred but we work with what we have, right? I'm concerned with this type of bird not getting enough protein, not to maximize the meat growth, but because the body wants to put on muscle fast does this bird even survive in a free range sittation. ( I'm thinking of trying this as an experiment this summer) Maybe some of you have this experience and can share.

For the 6 months of growing season I have here, I'm thinking I would want a bird that is ready for the freezer in 6 months. Feed is VERY expensive here to winter over extra animals. Most animals go thru a fast growth period, then pack on muscle then slow the growth until it platueas to final adult body weight.

Oddly the BBW and BBB is th bird that fits into this scheme. Or a chicken.

Has anyone tracked growth rates? Celie you live in an area with foraging year round so it makes sense to process at 18 months. Can you tell me what your birds weigh at 6 months or 8 months?

Most of this is thinking out loud, and I have little scientific info rather a few years of raising livestock and observing my birds for a couple years.

Love to have input.

 

[fowlsessed]

Great discussion everyone. Kuntrygirl, you asked how much I would pay for a prime hen, I don't know!!! lol Hoping I can find something pretty inexpensive though. I guess $50 isn't bad from what I'm hearing here, and since I know I can find some for that price, I probably wouldn't exceed that amount, around here at least. So, to answer your question, not more than $50, lol

As far as sheep, I hope to eventually get some. Probably going to get Katahdin or Dorper, those are hair sheep bred for meat. But supposed to be really hardy, thrifty, great parents, parasite resistant and not really suffer from all the other things sheep are usually susceptible to. Sound too good to be true!!

For growing some feed, I am really interested in this subject! Soybeans are a good source of protein, but need to be heated before feeding to release some dangerous substances. And then grinded. I was looking into amaranth, it is REALLY high in protein 14%-18%, easy to grow, easy to harvest, and it wouldn't have to be crushed. I think it still needed to go through some heat process before being perfectly safe though. Here's the link, http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/feed_ingredients/grains.html been a while since I was on there. But amaranth seems like the secret for me. That site also has a lot of other useful info.I'm sure it will be of benefit to some of you.
I hope to grow this year some corn, oats, millet, amaranth, BOSS and then garden produce that stores well like pumkins, mangles and the like.
I'm also interested in growing Black Soldier Fly larvae. I find it easier than worms, crickets and meal worms. Look them up, I think they are great. I grew some in a homemade bin, but had trouble with the crawl off ramp. Oh yea, did I mention they're self harvesting, self probogating and only need your turkey manure to live on? lol
I'm thinking I can dry or freeze them for use in the winter months.