Devonviolet Acres

[greybeard]

My B-I-L raised turkeys one year, a couple of dozen. They cooked at least one for Thanksgiving a few years ago, but those birds got huge and he ended up giving most away..live. I think some he couldn't get rid of and turned them loose in the forest, probably to become varmint turds. Tried to give them to me and I said "not no but %$#! NO."

 

[Devonviolet]

Have @Latestarter take the other 4 to go with the 6 he said you should get

 

[Southern by choice]

So happy you have some cochins! I love them, so sweet!

As far as turkeys, just keep in mind most turkeys are extremely territorial and therefore will protect the chickens in "their" flock... but often will attack "outsiders.
Some female turkeys if no male is around can start to change sex. Yep, believe it or not. It is so weird. When they start acting like Tom's and getting aggressive- freezer they need to go.
I prefer the heritage breeds. They really are great foragers the down side is if you range they can and often do leave for the woods to lay their nests or to find a mate... around here there are a lot of wild turkeys. None of ours ever went inside anything. They roosted on the building rooftops or in the trees. They can jump straight in the air 6-7 ft high with no issues. They also can be territorial of their people and property. Most turkeys will go after light blue, keep that in mind.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Most turkeys will go after light blue, keep that in mind.

That's crazy!! Silly birds - no wearing faded jeans around them, huh?!

 

[Latestarter]

Well, there ya have it! I'm not really into those particular breeds however... I really wanted to get a combination of breeds including possibly:
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/white_holland_turkey.html
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/blue_slate_turkey.html
and maybe a couple of the traditional https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/standard_bronze_turkeys.html
or maybe even https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/giant_white.html But I understand they can get really heavy/large.

Problem is, they come straight run so you really have no idea what you'll get... Being by myself, I really don't need 10+ turkeys and only getting one or two of each, might not get a breeding pair. I don't have a coop/place for them in any case, and there are other farm additions I want that have higher priority.

I went by Jersey Girl dairy a few days back and spoke with the wife/owner. I asked if they had any angus/jersey cross calves due or expected in the spring. She said they do keep a smallish angus bull with their older and low production cows and if one of them takes, then good for them as they have a calf to sell. She asked if I wanted them weaned as that would take quite a while. I said not necessarily, and that I would be willing to consider a 2-3 day old calf as long as it had received plenty of colostrum from mom. So we'll see what comes of that. I'd also like to get some sheep, and I have a spot all picked out for the pig pen. Need to get a legit coop built for the chickens as well.

What I REALLY need is to have started this whole adventure 20 years ago...

 

[Bruce]

I see more fencing in your future.

 

[Devonviolet]

What I REALLY need is to have started this whole adventure 20 years ago...

I'm totally with you there LS!!! If we had started this adventure 20 years ago, the infrastructure would be finished by now, and we would only have to worry about maintaining what we had. Not so now.

 

[Devonviolet]

Thanks @Southern by choice. So, since the BLUE Cochins actually look gray, the should be safe, right?

With regard to flying up on buildings, we keep our birds in a fenced yard. Edie always ran into the chicken yard at meal time. If we train the poults to do that, we shouldn't have a problem with barntop roosting, should we? Can you clip turkey wings like you do with chickens? That works for us (with chickens, ducks & geese anyway.)

As far as the turkeys getting huge, we would butcher them on the young side. What is the best age to butcher, for freezer camp?

 

[Latestarter]

In the literature from McMurray, they say if you want the turkey for the holidays, getting a June/July poult should give the birds the 3 months they need to be ready. Of course if you get them earlier, they'll be bigger. It also depends on the breed you select as some grow faster (& larger) than others. Can't remember all the details as that's research I did quite a while back and didn't really "take notes"... just remembered the breeds I selected/wanted.

 

[Southern by choice]

That's crazy!! Silly birds - no wearing faded jeans around them, huh?!

It is more the Carolina Blue color. If you ever notice when turkeys get mad or are in protect mode their snood turns blue... this is basically the color they will go after.
Our feed bags were that color and my goodness if one was laying around the turkeys would stomp them and get crazy!

Thanks @Southern by choice. So, since the BLUE Cochins actually look gray, the should be safe, right?

With regard to flying up on buildings, we keep our birds in a fenced yard. Edie always ran into the chicken yard at meal time. If we train the poults to do that, we shouldn't have a problem with barntop roosting, should we? Can you clip turkey wings like you do with chickens? That works for us (with chickens, ducks & geese anyway.)

As far as the turkeys getting huge, we would butcher them on the young side. What is the best age to butcher, for freezer camp?

Turkeys are more prone to sickness when cooped this is why even commercial producers don't lock them in buildings.
Clipping wings does not prevent jumping. At a stand still they can really JUMP!
If yours do ok cooped then go with it.

Our turkeys just like our geese would surround cars as they pulled up. People could not get out of their vehicle.


BTW - Ideal Poultry still has the best health history of any hatchery.