Which breed of turkey to buy?

[Eggs4Sale]

I'm going to pick out a few turkeys at C & C Hatchery in Queen Creek, Arizona next month.
I would like to get a tom and hen and have them breed.
We'd like to eat their eggs, but we'd like to give the hen a chance to set on and hatch out her own eggs from time to time.
We plan on raising them for eating, too, and we don't care if they're a certain weight.


Q: We'd like to free-range them, but we have free-ranging chickens, too. Is blackhead a given in that situation? Are some turkeys more prone to it than others?


Q: Also, we have three children, so the breed must be gentle with kids.


Q: Any suggestions?

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

The varieties are basicly the same except for size and color, the ones we have act slightly different. Here is a run down of the ones we raise. Hope that gives you a starting point

Royal Palm - They aren't really a meat turkey as they were never bred for it, so they don't fill out as much as the others. The meat is fine and tasty but there is just less of it. They are good sitters and mothers, they don't lay as well as the others because they tend to go broody quickly. They tend to be kind of flighty when young, once they get older they calm down.

Beltsville Small White- A good meat turkey, they develop well and dress nice. The down side is they are actually lacking in taste compared to some others. They are the best layers by far, good sitters and mothers. They are kind of standoffish though, they aren't as curious or friendly as others.

Standard Bronze - If you want a large turkey this is the one for you, they are flat out huge. Ours are easy waist high on me. They are calm natured, if you have small kids I could see them knocking them down just because they are so big. They dress well except for the dark pin feathers, not as good of layers as the others, we have about 1/2 the hens are good sitters the others not.

Bourbon Red - The most friendly and curious and the 2nd best tasting. great sitters and mothers and good layers. once again they tend to go broody quick. With any of them that tend to be broody you have to keep the eggs gathered for them to lay the most eggs. That includes chicken eggs, guineas - any egg will do for them to sit on it.

Midget White - is the best tasting by far. They are calm but when young they can fly very well so covered brooder boxes and grow out pens are needed. A interesting note, for the smallest turkey they lay the biggest egg. I have no idea why it was in the way they were bred and developed. Great mothers and sitters

White Holland - 2nd in size to the Bronze - very calm natured. I would say they are the calmest. The dress out well with plenty of meat. Great sitters and mothers - when they raise poults it's whole flock job. They all watch out for the poults.


Blackhead is not a "given" It has to be there in the soil for them to get it. Check your local ag agent and they can let you know. If it's not in your area I wouldn't worry about it. We have been raising ours together for years and have had zero problems.

One thing with turkeys is the more you work with them the more people friendly they will become. With the kids you also have to train them to a point. Don't get between the hen and the poults, don't run and chase them etc, basic animal 101.

Steve in NC

 

[chickenannie]

I bought Bourbon Reds because I read that they forage a lot and I thought that would keep feed expenses down. Since I don't have any other breed, though, I've never been able to compare. They are very pretty, though, and ranked 2nd highest on the taste-test for Thanksgiving turkeys, along with Midget Whites.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

That's a lot of GREAT information! Thank you so much!

I'm going to call the ag office right now. I'm glad to know it's either a yes or a no on blackhead. That simplifies it a whole lot.

I think I'm going to research the Bourbon Red, Midget White, and White Holland. And I'm definitely cutting and pasting this thread to my Word pages! I'll need this.

Thank you again!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

You can't go wrong with any of those 3! We have pics on our website if you want to see more what they look like other than hatchery pics.

See which type is popular in your area, I was thinking of poult sales would help you offset the feed bill some. Every little bit helps there!

Steve

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Quote:
I saw a bunch of your photos on feathersite. I was surprised at how FEW photos they had of turkeys...

I really like the idea of the bronze, because I like keeping chickens and turkeys that are otherwise dying out, but they sound just too big too free-range here without wiping out the lawn. If I put them in an area I already have fenced off, do you think they'd be content? Two sides are 6-foot tall chain link, but one side is only three feet tall. Would they stay in? It's about 200 feet along each side. Four ducks had plenty of room there, but they're DUCKS, not turkeys. There are trees along the edges for shade, and we'd build an open-air coop and roost of sorts.

Are the Bourbon Red, Midget White, and White Holland in dire straits, too? Or is that not to be a concern for a setup like mine since am not a turkey grower/seller?
For example, I have Blue Andalusian and White-Faced Black Spanish chickens, but I don't see how that perpetuates the breeds since I'm not selling hatching eggs or chicks. They will have their eggs eaten every day and then die of old age. The turkeys would be the same (except they wouldn't be dying of old age), so is the preservation idea just a feel-good thing for us, or does it actually somehow help to preserve these breeds? Am I making sense?

Let's put it this way. If I were to buy 6 of your eggs come September, which would you recommend I buy? And why?

By the way, I LOVE your website!! You are doing a beautiful job with those turkeys..... just amazing!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
I saw a bunch of your photos on feathersite. I was surprised at how FEW photos they had of turkeys...

I really like the idea of the bronze, because I like keeping chickens and turkeys that are otherwise dying out, but they sound just too big too free-range here without wiping out the lawn. If I put them in an area I already have fenced off, do you think they'd be content? Two sides are 6-foot tall chain link, but one side is only three feet tall. Would they stay in? It's about 200 feet along each side. Four ducks had plenty of room there, but they're DUCKS, not turkeys. There are trees along the edges for shade, and we'd build an open-air coop and roost of sorts.

Are the Bourbon Red, Midget White, and White Holland in dire straits, too? Or is that not to be a concern for a setup like mine since am not a turkey grower/seller?
For example, I have Blue Andalusian and White-Faced Black Spanish chickens, but I don't see how that perpetuates the breeds since I'm not selling hatching eggs or chicks. They will have their eggs eaten every day and then die of old age. The turkeys would be the same (except they wouldn't be dying of old age), so is the preservation idea just a feel-good thing for us, or does it actually somehow help to preserve these breeds? Am I making sense?

Let's put it this way. If I were to buy 6 of your eggs come September, which would you recommend I buy? And why?

By the way, I LOVE your website!! You are doing a beautiful job with those turkeys..... just amazing!

You don't have to be a grower/seller to preserve a breed. That's how the old breeds survived to this day. As people dropped them for the quicker growing, faster maturing types, the backyard breeders kept them going when nobody else wanted them. Don't be mislead into thinking that you need to keep a rare heritage breed to breed them to market. Breed them to the APA standard. Your effort is a big help, bred them pure and like I said do the best you can to keep to standard. The heritage turkeys have gotten very popular in the last few years, there are a few farmers that grow them for market - at $50+ per bird plus shipping alot of people will jump in. After awhile the market will fade and the ones trying to make a buck will go away and the backyard breeders will still be there.

For Sept. I recommend some of each. that way you can decide for yourself.

I'll send you a PM

Steve in NC

 

[Harp Turkey Ranch]

I saw a bunch of your photos on feathersite. I was surprised at how FEW photos they had of turkeys...

What photos on feathersite ?? I have searched over and over again and I seem to not be able to find 1​

 

[bryce vanderwall]

royla palms are the best

 

[dixiedoodle09]

We have two standard bronze hens.... and they are pretty good size birds! But they are very friendly with us... we got them for our daughter, so eating them is not an option. I do know they are all about what treat they are going to get!!!!