Turkeys For 2013

[kuntrygirl]

I saw a minimum was 8 for BR.

Porter's minimum order is 15 poults. You can mix and match different varieties. He has limits on the number of poults per breed, usually 6 or 8.

The BRs have me so spoiled, I wouldn't know what else to order.

 

[chicken pickin]

WHen refering to Bourbon Reds I also prefer a deeper richer red. My toms are pretty dark and I find them gorgeous my hens are slightly lighter. When I look to bring in new blood to my flock I will make sure they are from a darker richer line to keep the deep color intact.

 

[chicken pickin]

Kountygirl do your birds often hatch out on the lighter side?

 

[kuntrygirl]

I made a chart on my computer of proposed breeding pen set up for next year. I have 7 pens for breeding and one large grow-out pen I use for turkeys. If I am going to keep my Mottled Blacks, I am a pen short. Right now, most of the pens are being used to grow out turkeys. I have 3 pens with young hens and 3 pens with young toms, and 2 pens with my older, established breeding stock.
Then I made a list of which birds to keep and which are available for holiday processing. This is ridiculous, but I have down to keep 21 hens and 14 toms!! With so many rare color varieties, I am feeling like I should keep an extra tom for each breed. I have Narragansett, Royal Palm, Slate, Lavender, Red Slate, Lilac, Bourbon Red, Mottled Black, and Penciled Palm. I am also raising 2 other bloodlines beside Porter's of the Bourbon Red. So to keep an extra BR tom of the Porter line, and a tom from each of the other lines---that is 4 toms just for Bourbon Red. For all of you thinking about ordering from Porter for next year, just be aware that it doesn't always turn out the way you want. This is not just from Porter, but from anybody selling poults. Your plans can change depending on what you end up with. And not every bird may be of breeding quality. Of my 6 BRs from Porter, 2 didn't make it, so I only had 4---which is why I got the other bloodlines. I wanted to make sure I had enough for a good breeding group. Good thing, too, because 3 of the 4 are toms. Only one Porter hen. Now on the Penciled Palms, I only got 2, which luckily are a pair, because the tom he was using early on in the season was not very fertile. So I got 2 Red Penciled Palms and 2 Chocolate Penciled Palms as substitutes. All 4 of those are toms! I will keep one Red Penciled as my spare, but I am in limbo what to do with the Chocolate Penciled. Then with the Lilacs, I ordered 6 but only got 4 and Red Slates were my substitute, so I got 3 of those (one extra). Now that I have them, I am finding they are turning into a favorite color. So I am setting up a pen to breed the Red Slates, a pen I was not planning on!! See how this can get out of control?

WOW !!

You ARE out of control over there.

 

[chicken pickin]

The BRs have me so spoiled, I wouldn't know what else to order.

My fav are the Fall Fire. When I get more space that is what I plan to order.

 

[kuntrygirl]

WHen refering to Bourbon Reds I also prefer a deeper richer red. My toms are pretty dark and I find them gorgeous my hens are slightly lighter. When I look to bring in new blood to my flock I will make sure they are from a darker richer line to keep the deep color intact.

Exactly!!!!

Here are a few pics throughout the years of my different adults, adolescents and poults. You can see the different colors. Sorry for the overkill on the pics.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: The BRs have me so spoiled, I wouldn't know what else to order.

Here is my bias--- the AUburns need more breeders. I enjoy my auburn boys as much as my BR. THe auburn is an OLD breed but is not APA.

I have 2 narri boys and they are slightly bigger than my BR and AUburns. THese interested me because Narriganssetb Bay is just south of me in Rhode ISland.

I'm afraid to order any more varieties as I don't have room for everything. lol

Many are just color breeds; some are old breeds from the end of the 1800's/1900's and a few before that as I mentioned aobut the Auburns. Blacks are old. Buffs are a recreation from all that I have read-- this is a bit foggy though and would need a turkey authority to verify my take on the situation.

You can read more about the BUffs at SandHill Preservation-- he breeds a lot of poultry. ANd POrter got some of his stock from SandHill, like the Auburns.

Some breeds are not as meaty as others-- the palms apparently are not as meaty. I have not checked this personally, just a lot of reading. Some are just very pretyy.

I sure which s and S poultry would chime in.

All have good temperaments that I have gotten from Porters.

 

[desertmarcy]

WOW !!

You ARE out of control over there.

Ha, ha, you are right, there! I want to be the largest turkey breeder in this area. I may already be, not sure. When the gal from the Arizona Public Media came to interview me for a TV story about my turkeys, she said she called around to try to interview a big commercial operation as well, but could not find any around here. She said they have all given it up, not profitable enough in this climate, I guess. I just really like the turkeys and am not trying to be a business or make a ton of money. If I can cover the feed cost and turn other people on to heritage turkeys, I am happy.

 

[uphilljill]

You guys have inspired (or maybe enabled?) me to look over the Porter's website again. Don't know if I'll be able to resist this time. LOL

 

[kuntrygirl]

Kountygirl do your birds often hatch out on the lighter side?

Good question. It has only been the last 2 or 3 years that they started hatching lighter colors. The first 7 - 8 years were no light birds. And it's really only about 3 or 4 poults for every 50+ poults that hatched, so it's really not a lot.