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Woodford , aBourbon Redheritage breed joker , roost on the rail on our back stoep each nighttime . In the aurora , as soon as he see me moving around inside the planetary house , he pecks on the Elvis of our projection screen threshold .
Tap , pat , tap … until I open up the door and come out to recognize him . I squat down on the stoup and Woodford nuzzle into my arms . I pet his large , fluffy tit expanse , scratching under the feathering . He commit his question over my berm , change in our embrace .
We hug like this for several minutes , until he has his fill of pets and wants me to get him a handful of scratch . I did n’t be after to have a best-loved turkey . I in reality take off raising heritage breed bomb for meat . But , before I even get my bomb to size , it became obvious that joker were not going to be a sustainable seed of meat or eggs for us or for trade at a market .
Now , do n’t get me wrong , even though I love Woodford , I am not oppose to processing animals for meat . I have work plenty of turkeys . Most of them are not as amiable as my pet turkey , which makes it a bite gentle to do . But , there are some big reason why turkeys are n’t so common on modern homestead .
1. Higher Purchase Price
Turkey poultsare rarely useable at farm provision memory board . Individual bomb stock breeder are also hard to find . So , most hoi polloi get turkey chicks , also called poults , by mail .
On average , you ’ll pay $ 6 - 12 for a joker poult , look on the breed . Plus there will be extra shipping monetary value . Per dame costs are higher on intermediate than chickens . Also , Meleagris gallopavo poults are more susceptible to dehydration , starvation , and stress from temperature changes during shipping than your ordinary bird would be .
Similar to lift ducks send by mail , you ’ll have much honest survival of the fittest rate out of the boxwood and in the brooder if you purchase from hatchery that can embark to you within 1 - 2 days alternatively of 3 days . I endeavor to buy from hatcheries that are within a sidereal day drive of my homestead so I know the odds are better of my poults arriving alive .
2. More Work Brooding
Turkey poults are more sensible to temperature changes and over - crowd than other homestead domestic fowl type . For the first three weeks of a dud ’s lifespan , they will requireintensive careto ensure good survival of the fittest rate .
Turkeys grow tall very rapidly which means they require more brooder space at the outset to ensure good wellness . They also have very sensitive lung and require better respiration than brave chickens or ducklings .
Frequent refreshing of bedding is necessary . Ensuring that the litter stays ironical is important . Also , the incubator needs sufficient airflow to dissipate ammonium hydroxide from the litter . But , drafts must also be limited to avoid temperature - related stress for poults .
Many dud poults are also slow to learn to drink and eat on their own . You may call for to put their beaks in water and show them the food more than a time or two before they catch on . Poults that have dull growth pace or are sluggish need to be showed food for thought and water several time each day until they view up .
3. Sold as Straight-Run
Most turkeys are sold ‘ straight campaign . ’ This think of you will get both male and female turkeys in your fiat . Whether you are erect your turkeys for pith , eggs , or to breed , this can create some problem .
Regardless of which cover you choose , there are meaning differences in size between Male and females . For liberal breasted turkeys , most commonly used as a substance reference , males can top out at around 45 pounds while females finish grow at about 25 pounds in 5 months .
For many heritage breed , male can top out in the 35 - lb chain . But , it takes longer than 5 months to reach that size . Heritage breed turkey hens ( female person ) rarely make it to best-loved table bomb size of it of 15 - 20 pound on average before the core becomes less sore . So , they are usually swear out much smaller .
in the main , from a dwelling - processing perspective , this mean you ’ll need to process male person turkeys in the first place to get them at a size that will outfit in a freezer and an oven . Or , you ’ll need to offend down your carcase into parts for storage .
For female turkey , you ’ll require to fertilize and keep them alive much longer to get to the exercising weight most people opt in a turkey . Or , you ’ll postulate to harvest them closer to Gallus gallus size if process at the same time as the males .
in person , as a distaff squatter doing my own processing , I find that processing turkey at about 15 pounds is ideal . At larger weights , they incline to be more difficult to surmount for decapitation or for lifting into a kill cone .
Since my end is to have a quick , respectful destruction for any livestock I process , duck and chickens are only much easier for me to humanely march than matured joker . For large male turkey , you may want to view using a stunning gadget even though they are not de jure required for humane fowl processing .
If your compass point in ordering turkeys is to raise them as orchis layers , keep in nous that you only necessitate one male bomb for every four female turkeys for undecomposed egg impregnation . As with chicken , you do n’t need any Male if you only want egg .
So , you will need to swear out , deal , or otherwise dispose of any spare male Republic of Turkey that come in your mail monastic order . Even though hatchery say they average 50 % male person and 50 % females , in my past times rules of order , I ’ve had 75%-100 % Male . This is great for sum production , but not enceinte if you desire distaff egg layers .
4. Seasonal Layers
While we are on the subject of raising turkeys for eggs , something else to be cognisant of is that turkeys are not good egg layers in general . They are seasonal layer , which intend they lay during the mating time of year only .
You may get a few offseason egg , if you are favourable . loosely though , you should only ask eggs in bounce and summer . On the mellow side , you ’ll get 100 orchis per year . But many turkey custodian average closer to 60 - 80 .
If your end is to hatch those eggs for commercial - character broad breasted turkeys , you ’ll necessitate to use artificial insemination to ensure egg fertility . Those kinds of Republic of Turkey are no longer capable to reproduce regularly without help .
Heritage breeds can regurgitate naturally . However , they often have a strong tendency towards getting broody . As a result of those raw inherent aptitude , they will go to with child length to hide their eggs in a secret nest to keep them from you .
For good resultant , you need to confine position turkey to location that do n’t have a stack of options for potential nesting areas . Then , they are more likely to use the nest you offer to make orchis pull in well-heeled . Many the great unwashed use large frank - dog house type blank for this purpose .
5. Good Mothers are Hard to Find
As I mentioned earlier , turkeys require a lot of tender , heedful charge for at least the first three weeks of biography . Just like not all of us domestic fowl custodian are in for that much employment , the same seems to be true of Republic of Turkey hens .
Some Republic of Turkey hen have effective nurturing skills . Some only do not . Many Republic of Turkey mammy seem to fall behind pastime after a few days even though their babies still demand patient mothering .
you may meliorate your success charge per unit by confining the Meleagris gallopavo moms and chicks to their own consecrate incubation area . Then , for naturally inattentive mamma , be prepared to step in and attend with chick care just as you would if you brood them without a joker hen .
For secure result , do not leave your turkey hen and their wench in with the repose of your domestic fowl universe for the first few weeks .
6. Curiosity Kills Turkeys
There ’s an old expression that turkeys are so dumb they can even overwhelm in the rain . Well , I do n’t agree with the “ silent ” part . But all the turkeys I have know have been full of curiosity . Like quat , their curiosity does seem to get them into plight they do n’t survive .
My first loss come when 5 turkey poults , not even 2 weeks old , fly over a 6 - human foot splitter in my greenhouse to get to the other side . Three of them managed to get inside the lidded drum we apply as heat mass and drown . Another knocked over a digger and was lethally injured .
Then , much later , a posse comitatus of bold Meleagris gallopavo explorers ventured deeply into the woods that circumvent our sign . All my other poultry seemed to have the natural instincts to ride out in our 2.5 school acres . I suppose the turkeys , though , could n’t resist the come-on of their genetically prefer habitat .
This group went so far into the Grant Wood that they got lose . Then , they made a immense racket to get me to fetch them . I did . Unfortunately , it took me a while to get through the sweetbrier and rhododendron . By the clip I found them , several had been lash out by vulture due to all the stochasticity they were cook .
After that , I realized the only way to raise turkeys with any kind of comme il faut return pace was in total confinement .
7. Expensive Tastes
dud also want higher protein provender for good development . They will need game provender or 28 - 30%protein feeduntil they are full - big . Since that be significantly more than chick and chicken feed , that means it cost you more to feed them .
On top of that , bomb take about 3.5 - 4 pounds of feed per Cypriot pound of weight they win . This is a much higher proportion than you get from chickens ( 2.5:1 ) and is even a bit low-spirited than you get from ducks ( 3:1 ) .
In fact , it ’s about the same feed to meat ratio as you get when you raise pigs . Pig food , though , is much flashy than game shuttlecock provender . So , if you want cheap meat , turkeys are a terrible pick .
On the whole , call down joker for meat is costly meat per Ezra Pound . Which is why we generally do by it as a peculiar juncture food ( or , hunt for wild Turkey ) .
8. Turkeys Terrorize Other Poultry
Once they leave the brooder , my crybaby and duck gratis range together in perfect harmony . Turkeys , however , seem to take great pleasure in terrorizing other domestic fowl . So , they ca n’t join my regular flock in free - ranging .
Here ’s an example of what can go wrong when conjure turkeys and you mix them with other poultry .
Isabelle ( Izzy ) , a Spanish Black that I kept for breed ( may she rest in peace ) was grim in attack my male person Muscovy duck whenever they would mate my distaff duck . Unfortunately , after months of doing this , one of my male ducks decided to mate Izzy rather .
He mounted her , she start away . He try out again , she get by . So , then he pluck her up , fly her into our pond and checkmate her there . I rescue her from the pond , but she ’d already inhaled too much water . She only lived a few more hours .
Izzy was the only turkey I ’ve had drown by a Muscovy male . But , my other turkeys too were relentless in terrify smaller fowl . One poor wimp was almost torn to tittle by a mean - spirited Slate Gray Male before I give up the mind of intermixing .
9. Blue Buckets = Bad Behavior
I live near a Low ’s ironware store . So , I have a mess of their trashy , blue5 - gallon bucketful . alas , I can no longer use them , except in my turkey free garden area .
Large disconsolate buckets and even some lily-white buckets with blue-blooded committal to writing bring out the fierce natures of even the sweetest turkeys . I suspect the comparative size similarity and the semblance confuse sexually mature Tom ’s into thinking bucket are competition . They will unrelentingly assault buckets by breast - banging and annex - flapping until you drop it and they mate it .
Smaller bucketful are n’t as problematic , thankfully !
Conclusion to Raising Turkeys
Now , if nothing I have said has win over you to leave raising turkeys to others , then , you must really love turkey ! If that ’s the character , I can also tell you from experience that with good bomb - specific systems , you do n’t have to lose as many turkeys as I did my first meter through .
you could safely deal raising Meleagris gallopavo as long as you take into account these peculiar care I ’ve laid out above . Be disposed to manage a few extra challenges , set your expectations flop for nitty-gritty and egg production , and divisor in additional cost , and expiration .
Oh , and if you take place to devolve in love with one of your exceptionally smart turkeys and adjudicate to keep him as a pet , I go for you also get to experience the sheer joyfulness of a turkey hug . There ’s nothing like having a 40 - pounding gobbler put his head on your articulatio humeri and suspire with contentment in your ear .
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