# raising turkeys



## BaBaaHMonica (Jun 7, 2021)

I Thursday I returned from the feedstore with 18 cornish rock weekolds and 2 bronze turkey babies for $10.50.  They were supposed to be 50 cents a head for the rocks, but i think she miscounted.  The turkeys were only $1.00 each.  Checking prices online and inperson i think I got a good deal 

I figure they can't be that hard if kids are allowed to raise them for 4H projects, so I thought I would give turkeys a try. 

Should I keep them separated in the brooder?  The turkeys seem to be more active and chase each other, I think one might be a male as he is slightly bigger than the other and keeps pestering it by nuzzling the side of its head, of course the smaller one is uninterested at this point.  I have also seen the turkeys try to peck at the baby chickens mouth and eyes.  Is this behavior normal?  I was hoping to be able to raise them together since they eat pretty close to the same food.  Once they are out of the brooder, I would like them all to go into a moveable fence so they can have fresh grass.  I am guessing that the cornish rocks will go to the freezer at about 9 to 11 weeks, but how long for the turkeys??

Thanks again for your advice!  So far, I have gotten limited information about how to care for a turkey.


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## Baymule (Jun 7, 2021)

Congratulations on the great deal! I want to raise a few turkeys for the freezer too, but maybe next year. I’ll tag along with you and see what you do. We raise Cornish Cross chickens every spring, have 23 that need to hit freezer camp ASAP but life keeps getting in the way. Rain and lousy weather too. They will be 11 weeks in 2 days and are HUGE. Hopefully we can get to them Saturday and put 10 on ice. They should dress out at 7-8 pounds or more.


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jun 7, 2021)

I can bring turkey for Thanksgiving this year for both families that we usually cook for!

I am about to go check on them now...hoping they fared well since my last check at 4 am, just like the baby LOL


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## misfitmorgan (Jun 7, 2021)

You should separate them in the brooder. Poults are far more sensitive to temperature shifts and will peck at each other(chicks) a lot more esp the eyes. When they get older you could probly put them together but there will be quite a size difference and the turkeys may pick on the chickens. Turkeys and chickens do not each the same food, turkeys need more protein. Adults turkeys need 20% protein vs meat chicken being 15-18%, BBB poults need 28% protein for 12 weeks vs meat chicks needing 20% for 8 weeks

Meat chickens are normally butchered at 6-8 weeks old. Broad Breasted turkeys get butchered at 16 to 20 weeks old depending how big you want them to dress out. If you do not feed them the right feed, you can expect the 16-20 weeks to turn into more like 24-28 weeks like a heritage breed.


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## R2elk (Jun 7, 2021)

BaBaaHMonica said:


> I Thursday I returned from the feedstore with 18 cornish rock weekolds and 2 bronze turkey babies for $10.50.  They were supposed to be 50 cents a head for the rocks, but i think she miscounted.  The turkeys were only $1.00 each.  Checking prices online and inperson i think I got a good deal
> 
> I figure they can't be that hard if kids are allowed to raise them for 4H projects, so I thought I would give turkeys a try.
> 
> ...


The turkeys are broad breasted.  They need a high protein turkey or game bird starter for the first 6 to 8 weeks for proper development.  Chicken starter does not have high enough protein, lysine , methionine and niacin for turkey poults.

If you cannot find turkey starter locally, Chewy.com does carry several different kinds that are legitimate turkey or gamebird starters.  Their shipping costs are very reasonable.

Broad breasted turkeys can be ready to process by 4 months old depending on how big of a carcass that you want.  Definitely process them by the time they are 6 months old.

I don't recommend brooding turkey poults and chicks together due to the problems that imprinting can cause once they become adults.  If you are going to process them, avoid them as much as possible to avoid becoming too attached to them.


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jun 7, 2021)

Thank you all for the quick advice!  I am off to the store to buy some better feed for the turkeys.  I won't get so attached if i call them names like "Stuffed" and "Roasted".  I am not naming the cornish rocks.  I think the brooder is big enough to put a partition, or perhaps a box to separate them.  We already have a separate cage system set up for when they get big enough to not need the light.


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## Finnie (Jun 9, 2021)

R2elk said:


> The turkeys are broad breasted.  They need a high protein turkey or game bird starter for the first 6 to 8 weeks for proper development.  Chicken starter does not have high enough protein, lysine , methionine and niacin for turkey poults.
> 
> If you cannot find turkey starter locally, Chewy.com does carry several different kinds that are legitimate turkey or gamebird starters.  Their shipping costs are very reasonable.
> 
> ...


 Hi R2elk!


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## R2elk (Jun 9, 2021)

Finnie said:


> Hi R2elk!


How are those Sweetgrass doing?


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## Finnie (Jun 9, 2021)

R2elk said:


> How are those Sweetgrass doing?


Pretty good. They never sat on their pile of eggs, so I put 25 into the incubator. They are due to hatch on the 20th. I have only had to throw out 2 blood rings. Even the oldest, dirtiest looking ones started to grow. That was at one week of incubation. I won’t candle again until lockdown, but I imagine quite a few of the month-old eggs will have quit by then. No reason for the newer ones to not hatch though.

I have a waiting list for 8 poults. I’m sure there had to have been at least that many in the fresher category.


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## R2elk (Jun 10, 2021)

Finnie said:


> Pretty good. They never sat on their pile of eggs, so I put 25 into the incubator. They are due to hatch on the 20th. I have only had to throw out 2 blood rings. Even the oldest, dirtiest looking ones started to grow. That was at one week of incubation. I won’t candle again until lockdown, but I imagine quite a few of the month-old eggs will have quit by then. No reason for the newer ones to not hatch though.
> 
> I have a waiting list for 8 poults. I’m sure there had to have been at least that many in the fresher category.


Older eggs left in the nest do not necessarily fail as badly as older egg collected and stored by people.  There has been some research that indicates that the short times of being warmed by the hens while waiting to lay an egg may be beneficial to their hatchability.

I got a call the other day from some guy wanting me to bring Sweetgrass poults to Denver for him.  Ain't gonna happen.


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## Baymule (Jun 10, 2021)

R2elk said:


> Older eggs left in the nest do not necessarily fail as badly as older egg collected and stored by people.  There has been some research that indicates that the short times of being warmed by the hens while waiting to lay an egg may be beneficial to their hatchability.
> 
> I got a call the other day from some guy wanting me to bring Sweetgrass poults to Denver for him.  Ain't gonna happen.


If he wanted them bad enough, he’d come get them. Like you have nothing else to do with your life, but cater to him.


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## Finnie (Jun 10, 2021)

R2elk said:


> Older eggs left in the nest do not necessarily fail as badly as older egg collected and stored by people.  There has been some research that indicates that the short times of being warmed by the hens while waiting to lay an egg may be beneficial to their hatchability.
> 
> I got a call the other day from some guy wanting me to bring Sweetgrass poults to Denver for him.  Ain't gonna happen.


Well, tonight was lockdown for a different batch, just chicken eggs. But I ended up candling the turkey eggs while I was in there. 7 of the ones I marked “old” or “dirty” had to be thrown out. They were obviously dead and liquified looking. I saw good veins and/or movement in most of the rest. There are 15 left now.

Wow! Asking you to go to Denver seems quite presumptuous! One time I had a caged bird for sale, and someone from Kentucky asked me if I would lower the price since they had to drive a long way. Well of course not! That’s on them, not me.


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## R2elk (Jun 12, 2021)

Finnie said:


> Wow! Asking you to go to Denver seems quite presumptuous!


The people in Denver seem to have the mistaken idea that Wyoming is a suburb of Denver.


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## Baymule (Jun 12, 2021)

R2elk said:


> The people in Denver seem to have the mistaken idea that Wyoming is a suburb of Denver.


Probably visiting the dispensary a little too much…….


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## R2elk (Jun 13, 2021)

Baymule said:


> Probably visiting the dispensary a little too much…….


Probably because there are more people in Denver than there are in the whole State of Wyoming.


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jul 1, 2021)

Update here on my chicks:  They are doing great and getting nice feathers.  I think I have a boy and a girl as the one is much bigger and keeps pestering the other one for attention.  She is smart though and wants nothing to do with him until there is food and then she tolerates his presence.  It is like watching PePe' le Puu the little skunk chasing after the cat .  LOL  They are named Stuffed and Roasted.  

The cornish rocks are getting big and feel like they are filling out nicely.  I do have a question though ... they seem to be getting feathers, but not around the butt.  Should I be changing their feed?  The lady at the feed store told me to give a little kitten chow to up the protein, but so far most of them still bald.  It might be a good thing so I don't get attached.


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## Baymule (Jul 1, 2021)

The Cornish Cross chickens are only 3 weeks old, they do look a bit scraggly at this point. They really don’t get thick feathers. That makes them easier to pick!


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jul 1, 2021)

Well another update:   Stuffed puffed up and his eyes got real big, even his tail fanned out!  I picked him up from behind and put him in the other run for a bit to move their run they stay in.  I figured that out from the egg layer roosters--they can't peck if they can't see what is holding them.  Since i never had turkeys before...raising them is all new.  They are starting to loose feathers on the neck and it is getting more red, but i think this is normal as adults get the flap of skin that hangs down.  

This is exciting!


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 2, 2021)

We have found putting the meat chickens out on grass as soon as possible helps with them actually getting feathers. To be honest though, you dont eat feathers and everything they put into growing feather is more you have to remove and less put into making size/meat. What are you feeding them?

Our meat birds despite grass and lots of room never have feathered out like laying hens would, we do butcher at 5-6 weeks old though as we only want 4-5lbs birds for our table.

I spent a lot of time with our turkeys while they were in the brooder. They are very friendly and dont mind being picked up. I do hold their neck with one hand when picking them up so they have no chance to peck my face. Not that they would do it out of meaness or anything they are just hardwired to peck anything shiny or glistening. I used that to tame them in the brooder, they were fascinated by my ring because the diamonds caught the light and glittered. They now follow me around everywhere and talk to me almost constantly. The boys do become jerks in spring but I've taught them that I dont mess around with them so they dont challenge me anymore...for now. Some day we will get a turkey fence up.


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jul 2, 2021)

i just finished the medicated chick starter so today they will be getting meat bird crumble.  I have a turkey/gambird chick starter for the turkeys.  I have been putting kale that i shred in pieces and the turkeys are right there with a look of "what you got??"  I put the clump of dirt the kale has around the roots hoping to give them a worm and they don't seem interested.  The chicks are too lazy to get some good food.  Maybe i should put the kale in before the crumbles?  When i move the run, it is quite a production since the chicks don't want to move, I am certain to squish one.  The run is a bit to heavy, so i pull it with a rope hooked to the bumper on my jeep.  
Since this is our first batch, we are learning and the next ones will have a box to put them into with a door so they move inside the run.  The run is plenty big enough, I just have an old wooden box Dad had for firewood in the house for a coop.  I have blue tarp held on with ziptiesover the whole fence area.  It is truly a bonus to be able to stand up in the run.  
and yep they go nuts over my rings.  I went through my craft supplies and found some big fake jewels and they go nuts for them.  I bought some marbles to put in there too.  That seems to satisfy that urge for pecking at shiny things.


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 2, 2021)

BaBaaHMonica said:


> i just finished the medicated chick starter so today they will be getting meat bird crumble.  I have a turkey/gambird chick starter for the turkeys.  I have been putting kale that i shred in pieces and the turkeys are right there with a look of "what you got??"  I put the clump of dirt the kale has around the roots hoping to give them a worm and they don't seem interested.  The chicks are too lazy to get some good food.  Maybe i should put the kale in before the crumbles?  When i move the run, it is quite a production since the chicks don't want to move, I am certain to squish one.  The run is a bit to heavy, so i pull it with a rope hooked to the bumper on my jeep.
> Since this is our first batch, we are learning and the next ones will have a box to put them into with a door so they move inside the run.  The run is plenty big enough, I just have an old wooden box Dad had for firewood in the house for a coop.  I have blue tarp held on with ziptiesover the whole fence area.  It is truly a bonus to be able to stand up in the run.
> and yep they go nuts over my rings.  I went through my craft supplies and found some big fake jewels and they go nuts for them.  I bought some marbles to put in there too.  That seems to satisfy that urge for pecking at shiny things.


Cornish can be lazy but ours have always eatten grass and moved around. I'm surprised they are having feather issues on chick starter, that is normally 22% protein or better. Meat crumbles are usually only 20% protein.

We used gamebird starter for our turkeys as well. 
Heritage birds: 28% protein for 8 weeks, then 24% until 14 weeks old, now they get 16% layer.
BBB: 30% protein for 8 weeks, 22% until 14 weeks, then 20% until butcher.

I made an entire spreadsheet with feeds and type for BBB, heritage, cornish cross, Bresse chickens, heritage ducks/meat ducks. Amount of feed, butcher age, cost to raise based on current feed price, etc. I then put all the dates in my google calendar color coded and printed out the calendar pages so I could keep them in the barn.


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jul 6, 2021)

I made contact with a guy in an Amish community to take my birds to for butchering this morning.  None of those roads in the area have names on them so finding the right road was pretty interesting.

They are asking me to bring 2 or 3 coolers full of bags of ice, give them water as usual, but no feed for that day.  I can take them down on a Friday evening and pick them up a little after 1 the next day.  The kid I talked to today was impressed that i started with 2 turkeys and they both still survived so far....I must be doing something right!

I stopped at the local farm store to get more feed and they were out of gamebird/turkey starter.  I was just about to leave and I noticed a 'clearance table' (which I seem to never be able to avoid) and I bought 3 electric fence chargers for $6.60 total!  I think they run off a battery.  I think I got a good deal here too.


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 6, 2021)

BaBaaHMonica said:


> I made contact with a guy in an Amish community to take my birds to for butchering this morning.  None of those roads in the area have names on them so finding the right road was pretty interesting.
> 
> They are asking me to bring 2 or 3 coolers full of bags of ice, give them water as usual, but no feed for that day.  I can take them down on a Friday evening and pick them up a little after 1 the next day.  The kid I talked to today was impressed that i started with 2 turkeys and they both still survived so far....I must be doing something right!
> 
> I stopped at the local farm store to get more feed and they were out of gamebird/turkey starter.  I was just about to leave and I noticed a 'clearance table' (which I seem to never be able to avoid) and I bought 3 electric fence chargers for $6.60 total!  I think they run off a battery.  I think I got a good deal here too.



Excellant! Hope you enjoy our chickens.

I agree your doing more then a few things right!


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## Baymule (Jul 6, 2021)

Home grown chicken is the best!


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jul 15, 2021)

My Hubby found the chicken crate in the old barn that my Dad used.  I remember it to be much bigger when i was 5 years old.  I think it is antique since it was already old way back then.  I don't think I can get all 18 cornish rock in there without cramming them in, but it think it will be just fine.  Some of the rocks don't seem to be nearly as big as the others, so I think I can wait a couple weeks.  Some of them kind of limp and can't stand up very well, and they don't bend their leg


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## Baymule (Jul 18, 2021)

Time for the big ones to go to slaughter before they start having heart attacks and keel over dead. I let mine get big, their breast gets so big, it’s heavy for them to walk. They stand, take a few steps, plop down. I package the breast meat, skinless, boneless, one half of the breast to a package. Yesterday I fixed chicken kabobs, using 2 halves, and fed 4 adults and 3 children. Even had leftovers.


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## BaBaaHMonica (Jul 26, 2021)

Update:  When I took the chickens to the Amish lady for butchering, I could get only 9 of them in the crate, I had 10 ready, but there was not enough room.  ....that was my first indicator of something good.  Then when i get there she was like wow they are big!  When i went to pick them up...she said they had nice livers and gizzards.  I am so proud of myself!  She said I gave them good feed and they nice and healthy!

Thanks you guys for your help!  I can't wait for next week when I bring the next batch! 
I know the turkeys are super healthy because they don't even want me to break the kale for them anymore!  They just grab it out of my hands before i get a chance and eat the whole thing--roots and all!


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