Turkeys For 2013

[kuntrygirl]

How much are they willing to pay? What about $50.00?

Im not sure how much they are willing. They just emailed me and asked if Id sell them one of my toms. I hadnt even advertised them for sale. Maybe I could suggest $50.

Yes, I would agree. Try that and let us know what they say.

 

[Treebird]

Chicken Pickin, I wouldn't go lower then $50. You know what it cost to raise a tom to adulthood and not even $50 covers that alone. I've been selling Lilac toms for $50 and they are just my extras but feed is crazy high. $50 is a bargain and of course to someone who hasn't put the time and energy into raising them it seems high. Depending on location, shipping for a 18-20 lb tom is around $100 plus the $40 USPS approved shipping box.

 

[Treebird]

Also Chicken Pickin, I would fix that ratio ordeal. If you only have 2 hens, you need to only room them with 1 tom. More than one tom in a pen with so few hens will certainly bring about fighting which can result in infertility all together because neither tom will allow the other to mount the hen.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thank You Treebird. I also agree that I cant let them go for no less than $50. And again I also agree the ratio is awful. I bought the 5 of them as 2 week old poults hoping for more hens but just wasnt my luck that time. I plan to seperate 2 toms or sell one and seperate the others in pairs.

 

[Treebird]

Sounds like a plan. I never get more hens or even equal amounts in any of my hatches for some reason. Must be something in the water Because I have friends who always end up with equal or more hens. Always ends up being 60-75% toms so I feel your pain,lol

 

[kuntrygirl]

My hatch ratio is usually 2 hens to 10 toms. Lol. Gotta love the luck I have.

 

[Treebird]

Yeah people ask me how much I would sell a hen for and I tell them $100. They usually don't ask me again,lol.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Yeah people ask me how much I would sell a hen for and I tell them $100. They usually don't ask me again,lol.

Hens are priceless. I tried to help out a local person in my area by giving him a discount. He said that he wanted to try raising turkeys. Well, after a few weeks of him buying them from me, he turns around and tried to re-sell them at a higher price than he paid for them from me. I was steaming mad!!!!!! I will NEVER EVER sell him ANYTHING EVER AGAIN for the rest of my life. That's what you get for trying to help a fellow farmer by "paying it forward.". He BETTER NEVER pick up the phone to call me EVER AGAIN!!! I have no respect for him. He can't even get directions from me.

 

[fowlsessed]

I just want Turkeys to add another bird to my hobby of breeding Games and Ducks. So I have no big emphasis on meat production really. Do you think Bourbon Reds and Midget Whites would still be a good choice to have free-ranging, raising their own young and then sell some young to pay for feed and care? Apart from those, Royal Palms are my next choice, if they are known to be as tame as the rest?

Thanks everyone, looking forward to your advice.

 

[Treebird]

Fowlsessed, I've never known a turkey to make a good parent. They maybe hatch 15 poults but only 3 end up surviving. Anymore to be honest, I can see turkeys being more of a luxury bird with the high cost of feed. I see a lot of people backing away from them because of their size and appetite. The only people who will be left raising turkeys will be people who just really enjoy having turkeys. Seriously, I did a feed map of raising 5 turkeys from poult to table and each bird at butchering time had $150-$165 in feed, times that by 5. I keep mine on a turkey gamebird starter (expensive) for 3 months, then went to a maintenance feed then to straight grass and shell corn. The final bird is worth its weight in gold. I think poults should at least be $20 easy. Only a person who raises turkeys can truly appreciate their value. Sorry to hear about your ordeal Kuntry, I've had the same thing happen before with geese. But above all, when it comes to chickens people need to not charge so dang much for fancy breeds! A chicken is a chicken and the only valuable aspect of a chicken is that it puts eggs in the fridge! I don't care if its lavender, cuckoo, gold laced, lavender laced, imported from Bejing China or Antarctica, people are CRAZY!!!!!!! for charging such ridiculous prices for the swine of poultry! Chickens eat your checkbook because they are chickens, it shouldn't be because people want a pretty bird. I wasted so much money on fancy chickens that ate my money and gave me NO omelet. Ok, I'm off that soapbox