Turkeys...

[theOEGBman]

My uncle got me talking today, and told me that if I would raise them, he would buy a couple BB turkeys and pay for the food. Now, I wanted to raise some Cornish X chicks, so I said yes immediately. I'll talk to him some more and see if we will go through with it. I decided to pass up on the broody idea because another option became open! My question is, how long does it take a turkey to reach the right age for butcher? My uncle is wanting Thanksgiving turkeys, so I probably wont get any for a couple months, but the feedstore usually carries them for most of the year. They have some in there right now, in fact. Also, is the care the same as the Cornish X Chicks? Thanks for any input.



Jordan

 

[greyfields]

I do not have a specific answer, except to say get them as late as possible. Every year in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I see people dragging in these 50+ lb turkeys which they can't even get unloaded from the truck. They can't even fit them in the cones and have to stick them their on the loading dock. I bet if they went back and looked through the feed bill, they would have been better off buying an organic, free range, day spa treated turkey from Whole Foods and then being double charged.

 

[chickenannie]

I've seen this discussed on here several times in the last month or so. Do a search. Here's just one of those threads:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=43314

They're a lot bigger than Cornish, and therefore they take more space to live, more time to grow, more protein in their feed, etc. There's also a big difference in size between a turkey hen and tom.

 

[theOEGBman]

Thank You Both. Annie, I knew about the search but to be honest, Im lazy. If I wanted to search I wouldnt have posted.

 

[chickenannie]

OK, ya, I know what ya mean.

I think my farm friends get there BroadBreasted Whites in July for Thanksgiving. Don't know how their growth rate compares to Bronzes, but they had 18-26 pounders by end of November.

 

[theOEGBman]

Thank You. I'll go check out that link right now.


I do have a question though. I know the turkeys need a higher percentage of (protein??) than chickens, but could the Cornish X chicks eat the turkey starter until time to butcher?

 

[silkiechicken]

I hear they take about four months to reach a good table weight, but I will see. I have two bb bronze right now that I anticipate to eat in the summer. They are amost 3 lbs each at 4.5 weeks old. The cornish X I have are about 3 lbs each at the same age. All were on turkey feed for the first few weeks, but now have separate food and living establishments. The turkeys are much more active and might end up injuring the Cornish if kept together too long.

 

[theOEGBman]

Ok, thank you, Silkie. Your answer was very helpful. I'll keep that in mind when Im trying to get this figured out!