Turkeys For 2013

[speedy62]

The poults resting!

They have taken over my flower bed. Lol

 

[casportpony]

Too cute!

-Kathy

 

[chickadoodles]

They are so adorable! They make me was some!!

 

[Celie]

Celie, do you do your own processing? I do, and when I process a tom over a year old, I have a devil of a time getting the crop out. There is a ton of fat in the neck. I ended up cutting a lot of the fat out, trimming around so I could get the crop out.

Your price structure is very reasonable. That is approx. what I do, but I am not a stickler for selling pairs, it just depends on what I have at the time that I don't want to keep. However I feed organic, so my processed birds are more expensive. I can't free range here, so everything they eat is what I provide. I don't think I'd be able to keep a pen of toms over to the next year to sell as processed with the set up I have. Most people just want a big turkey for Thanksgiving, some maybe Christmas. If they were hatched early, in April, then they would be 20 months old come the following Thanksgiving. Do you hatch later in the year, so they are a bit younger? I agree, the adults don't eat nearly the feed the growing turkeys do.

Yes, but with using the tractor to pick up the big toms. LOL I raise Holland Whites and they get really big by the time they hit 16 to 18 months, at full maturity for max weights. They dress out between 34 and 35 pounds by then. Yes, the crops are a little tougher, so I just cut the neck off and work a small knife around it till I get it all out. and if some fat comes out, I don't worry, because they still have plenty of fat to keep them well basted and juicy. I think the flavor is much better in a mature bird and we eat turkey year round. The only problem I have run into is fitting these large birds into my oven. I have big family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas of 50 to 100+ people and love to see everyone's expression when we serve them roasted whole. For the freezer, we quarter them or make cutlets, roasts, ground turkey, sausages, etc, Roasts and quartered, I pluck, but for everything else, I just skin, so it goes a lot quicker. I have been selling pairs and promised one guy 2 toms and 3 hens, next week, as 9 month old breeders for $250. Here in Louisiana, our laying season is pretty long, running from Mid-December into September and October. I still have 2 Holland hens laying. I'm not getting enough eggs to sell and I am done incubating, till the new brooder house is built, next month or two, and then the incubators will go in along with the brooder bins. About 10'x12', fenced in area of about 60'x80' along with the open air rabbit previllion.. I now have a few Midget Whites and one BR hen. Hopefully, next year I can get about a dozen MW hens and 2 toms hatched and producing for "Empty Nester" roasting turkeys and a few more BR hens and a couple toms for smaller gatherings! When we processed a tom at 8 to 9 months, last year, he weighed exactly 20 pounds, but had not filled out, especially in the breast, so most of the weight was bone. at 18 months, most of the weight was meat and very large breasts. About the same weight as far as the bone frame goes, but the other 14 to 15 pounds are meat. My SIL calls them the turkeys that "keep on giving", because they don't run out of meat to carve until after everybody are full and still have plenty for leftovers. I sometimes mix the ground turkey with rabbit and or beef chuck, to make a firmer ground meat and use both white meat and dark for the best flavor. I mostly sell the poults and eggs, but this year, with 15 HW hens, I had quite a few poults left over a staggered 8 month period, so I had about 10 pairs to sell. Some people just want a half grown tom to finish and process themselves for Thanksgiving. I sell them at 8 months or older for $2.50 a pound live and they do their own processing or $4.50 a pound and I do the processing. I don't get a lot of orders for processed birds, mostly live, which is good for me. I hope the extra large shrink wrap bags will fit, but bought some very large polly bags, too, just in case!

 

[RockerHen]

I've been wondering why my royal palm hen has been sneaking off and disappearing for a few hours each day.... sneaky thing has a nest with 16 eggs! I thought she was done for the season! I don't even know if they are fertile, she hasn't been with an adult tom in a long time, just teenage jakes. I stuck 10 in the incubator, I guess I'll see.

 

[Celie]

I prefer a turkey that dresses at 20lb or better for my family of 5. I can get 3 meals out of it (turkey and waffles, turkey corn chowder, meat pies or turkey sandwiches) and makes life easier for me. I thought RPs were smaller anyways, and topped off at 12 to 22lbs. A RP should be perfect for your family after processing. Unless you want a smaller meat bird over a heritage.

On a side note, my mother works for an older gentleman that raised turkeys three years ago. We still talk about his birds. We bought the smallest off him and it dressed at 40lbs. The largest was 68lbs dressed weight. We couldn't find a pan big enough for the one we got, so we can only imagine the PITA the 68lb bird was. We did end up using an electric roaster for ours. They were BBW and processed at 7 months old, if you are wondering. As far as I am aware, their diet was regular turkey feed, corn, all the table scraps possible and daily foraging.

I have never raised a RP, myself, but avoided them, because several people who have them, told me they were beautiful but very tough and stringy when they tried to eat them! Is this true or what? I raised BBWs that weighted over 80#s before processing, but would not suggest letting them get that heavy due to the leg and heart problems.

 

[Celie]

I thought porters sold midget whites but didn't see them on their web page. Where can in order some from?? Any of you going to ship eggs next spring??

I would suggest you contact flocksalot for hatching eggs. I got some from her last year and they were fresh and packed very well. I also got some from another member on BYC and they came very poorly packaged in a used Lipton Tea box, and arrived as nothing but scrambled eggs. BEWARE !!!!

 

[Celie]

Palms are so pretty!! THe lack of meat causes me a lack of i nterest.

THe white Holland though sound like a meal for 20!! ANd the MW--well they just need saving. GOtta eat more turkey.

I roasted a chicken the other day--and leftovers are inthe soup pot now cooking away. As much as I love chicken soup, I love turkey soup MORE!!!

I agree and really sold a lot of young pullets and poults both this year. Between poults and eggs, turkeys pay their own way a lot better than chickens do. Of course they don't come close to rabbits for a good return on the feed dollar. I cook rabbit a couple times a week and the breeding stock I sell more than pays for the feed they eat. During about 9 months out of the year, the fresh grass and hay we grow and mow, replaces a lot of the wintertime store bought feed, even thou we keep their feeders full. Both poultry and rabbits get fruit and veggies, we can't eat by ourselves. I don't can veggies anymore, but do freeze some. We also can grow 2 crops a year in the South, Spring and Fall and the Poultry can free range year round. We seldom get any snow. I reduced the chickens and increased the turkeys and still get more chicken eggs than we could possibly eat, but with the price of eggs tripling, have orders for more pullets, come early Spring. I sell all my 6 month old extra roos to a chef, so I don't have any problems there. As word gets out ,regarding the superior taste of heritage turkeys, I think you will see a bigger market open up for them. Before I started raising turkeys, I only saw them in feed stores as poults and once live when I was very young. I have actually seen more peacocks than turkeys! Pretty sad, isn't it?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I've been wondering why my royal palm hen has been sneaking off and disappearing for a few hours each day.... sneaky thing has a nest with 16 eggs! I thought she was done for the season! I don't even know if they are fertile, she hasn't been with an adult tom in a long time, just teenage jakes. I stuck 10 in the incubator, I guess I'll see.

Wow, good luck!

Quote: I have 2 jakes I am growing out, will let you know!

 

[Celie]

What type of turkey is everone planning to eat for the upcoming Holidays? Mine will be BR.

This year, I got too late a start to have fully matured turkeys by Thanksgiving, other than my Holland Whites. Comparing fully mature to half grown, would not be a fair taste test, but next year, hopefully BR, Narri, Midgets, Hollands, Beltsville and ?