Turkeys For 2013

[chickadoodles]

Sending good vibes your way. That is exciting. Keep us posted.

Thanks kuntrygirl! I have 3 staggered hatches that week! I am hoping I get all to hatch! I will give an update after they hatch.

 

[chicken pickin]

chicken pickin
Love the pic! They are so beautiful! Good luck on their hatch!

Thank you!!! Good luck on your hatch also. Post some pics once they hatch.

 

[chickadoodles]

Your welcome! And thank you! I will post pics!

 

[racinchickins]

How old are turkeys usually when they start to lay? My oldest are at 14 weeks, so I'm not thinking it is imminent, but would like to know when to get nesting areas ready.

 

[chicken pickin]

They should start laying next spring.

 

[jepot]

How will I know the gender of my 42 days old pouls?

 

[jepot]

How will I know the gender of my 42 days old pouls?

 

[chicken pickin]

How will I know the gender of my 42 days old pouls?

You could post pics we may be able to help. Also a page or 2 back there was a list posted on ways to tell the gender of turkeys. What breed/s do you have?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

No new hatches for me yet. But I have first time broody turkey hens sitting on a clutch of eggs. I think around 12-15 eggs. Both hens seem to be sitting on them together. Im guessing hatch day will be early sept. Im trying to decide what to do with my Toms so they don't disturb the hens and their clutch...


edited to add pics

Lovely hens, good luck sending good vibes

Quote:
OH no! Love me some tenderloins and ribs! Froze the bacon slabs for cooler weather to smoke them.

but he was a good size and did do a lot of sausage. We didn't do hams this time so used the ham cuts for sausage also. Will be raising 2-3 next time, we went thru that pork pretty fast.
Good for you!! WIsh I lived closer !! I love pork, but I love the little piggies too so I need to find someone to buy from at this point. I know my limitations with pigs! lol


I tried the breeding route, just not feasible yet, too expensive and very slow weight gain for heritage pigs. Went over a year for my Hereford and not a single pregnancy. Same with my Berks. I look at Craigslist for mine, I will not buy at an auction. Landrace or yorkshire seem to be the best breed for fast growth.
I hear you. I"m not ready to deal with a boar-- I"m down siziing!! In many ways. A big boar is not to my liking once I really thought about the reality of a full size animal. I can deal with raising piglets, been there, but I would like a pastured situation this time.

I'm learning that some of our health problems as a natin are because of the grain only fed meats. THe arachadonic acid causes high blood presure for those people sensitive to it. THis is especially true of grain fed beeef and eggs from grain fed chickens. I'm looking to have some source of normal aa meats. ANd grazing does that. All grass fed is best. ( I do eat store meat too.)

WOuld like to buy from someone butchering their own and buy half a hog 1-2 times a year. THe Butcher is half the cost to sent it to a facility.

Can get piglets here for about 75-100$ each.
I got mine last year at $30 each or less, this year they are pretty pricy! Those babies were 8 weeks, and just adorable! Yorkshire were very docile too, my herefords would get nippy.

 

[Celie]

I hear you. I"m not ready to deal with a boar-- I"m down siziing!! In many ways. A big boar is not to my liking once I really thought about the reality of a full size animal. I can deal with raising piglets, been there, but I would like a pastured situation this time.

I'm learning that some of our health problems as a natin are because of the grain only fed meats. THe arachadonic acid causes high blood presure for those people sensitive to it. THis is especially true of grain fed beeef and eggs from grain fed chickens. I'm looking to have some source of normal aa meats. ANd grazing does that. All grass fed is best. ( I do eat store meat too.)

WOuld like to buy from someone butchering their own and buy half a hog 1-2 times a year. THe Butcher is half the cost to sent it to a facility.

Can get piglets here for about 75-100$ each.

Mot many people will free range a hog, because they will uproot everything in your yard, Bushes, trees, grasses and dig and dig and eat anything in their yard, animals and plants. As adults, pigs will clear your land of snakes, too! Even venomous snakes do not have much of a chance, if bitten, the venom goes only into the fat on the lags and cannot penetrate to the meat or bloodstream, The lower les, where a snake would bite, is mostly very thick fat and bone. Some people feed the leftover waste form processing poultry, including feathers to their hogs, They eat any and everything they can get. People around me use pigs to clear land as everything including small trees and all underbrush is uprooted and eaten. Any small animals are eaten, including cats and dogs, unless it is penned. I raised Chester White pigs back in the early 80's. All pork can cause health problems , because they eat putrid food line buzzards and alligators, and they have no sweat glands(except very few around their snoot), so all the disease is stored in their fat throughout the meat. They were created to clean up the earth, keeping the diseases away from the earth and do a good job of it. I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this, but I came up on pork and shellfish and the results almost killed me!

How old are turkeys usually when they start to lay? My oldest are at 14 weeks, so I'm not thinking it is imminent, but would like to know when to get nesting areas ready.

I assume you are talking about fertile eggs? Heritage turkeys will lay around 8 or 9 months or Turkey laying season, in your area, whichever comes later. In your area, probably by Spring!

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Lovely hens, good luck sending good vibes

I got mine last year at $30 each or less, this year they are pretty pricy! Those babies were 8 weeks, and just adorable! Yorkshire were very docile too, my herefords would get nippy.

I bought mine at an auction in Hattisburg, Mississippi and got very good castrated 2 month boors. I bought 3 and paid 22 cents a pound in the 80's. Never buy Just one, they fatten up for slaughtering @ 6 months. They need to compete for food, to produce a lot of tender meat at 6 months slaughter age. We raised them of pig feed and corn, and wormed them several weeks before slaughter, then put them on straight corn. At the catfish farm in Wiggins, They feed the growing pigs on the waste from the filleted catfish, and finish them off with corn for the last month or so. A pig will add 1 pound of weigh for every 3 pounds of feed. At 6 months a white pig should weigh 250 pounds, before processing. The next time I bought a pregnant sow from a lady in the newspaper for $100 and she weighted around 600 pounds, if I remember right. She was very gentle and would follow me around the yard when not in her pen. If you raise them on bare ground, you will have mud puddles they will swim in like hippos do and eat the mud including their body waste, with their food, but if raised on cement, they cannot dig up the mud, but the piglets need to be given an iron shot, as soon as they are born. Miss Sueeeee gave birth to 11 piglets. After that, My Nephew had caught a young wild our and mated him with my sow, she had 9 in that litter, but the meat was wild tasting and stringy. I think your best price and quality would be the auction house, nearest to you, because pigs have large litters and are already castrated to grow fast and will not be aggressive, and fill your freezer in only 4 months! Domestic animals are not aggressive like wild animals are.
Again, no offense is intended and I hope none are taken !