One of the greatest pleasures is to be able to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with a turkey that you raised yourself. Somehow the celebration becomes just that much more special.
Turkeys are fairly easy to raise. I’ve tried two kinds – the Broad Breasted kind – both white and bronze and while they do grow fast and produce huge birds they have the same issues as the cornish cross chickens. They cannot breed on their own due to their pondersous builds and often have legs that cannot support them, or they simply sit without moving. I didn’t have the heart attack issues that I had with the cornish cross, but they are not very bright – they can drown in a shallow water dish or simply get lost so you must take care of them more than the heritage breeds.
Here is my first experience with broad breasted turkeys:
As for white vs bronze in these birds – it’s a personal preference. Predadotors pick out the white birds quicker but the bronze birds have a darker skin when it comes time to butcher.
After that experience I aquired three Red Bourbon heritage turkeys along with my peacocks. I really like these birds. They are close to a wild bird as far as raising them goes. They refuse to go inside even in the worst weather – preferring to roost in small trees. The original male got a bit mean so he was Thanksgiving dinner but the two sons are very friendly. They get along well with the chickens out in the field but the males tend to get picked on by the peacocks, although they do stand their ground.
Here are the red bourbons:
The female turned out to be an excellent brooder, but once the babies are hatched she would lose them all! I then started to take the babies away as soon as they were hatched. She would product two broods a year that way.
Mother Red Bourbon with new babies
The year before last the mother quick nesting in the barn and went into the brush. We tried to find her but the raccoon beat us to her. They didn’t kill her, and she defended her eggs valiantly but it ripped off her tail and put a gash in her side. We sprayed on SCARLEX and amazingly she recovered fully but no more chicks that year.
This past year no turkey babies. I set up a Costco carport for them (at least the top half, the bottom half was destroyed by a wind storm!) I put in lots of straw and many of those igloo dog houses that I collect when I find them cheap. Perfect for nesting turkeys but there were chickens in their too and some ducks and they just kept disrupting the brooding turkeys. Next year I will separate out the turkeys so they have their own private place to nest. I hope that helps. They may even be able to raise their own babies that way.
Here is the “turkey carport”. I am going to move it this year and the current location will become a nicely mulched blueberry patch!
As for eating these turkeys, they do take a bit longer than the broad breasted to mature but you still can grow a good sized bird in one season. I like to let them go till the following season to create a nice big turkey, it’s all a matter of preference!
I am basically happy with my choice of Red Bourbon Heritage turkeys for the homestead.
For a smaller turkey, more suitable to two people, the royal palms are good birds. I have enjoyed having them and they are healthy birds. The slaughter size on a 7 month old bird was adequste for 6 meals. The carcass was halved, each half providing 3 meals. One of roasted bird, the second of leftovers, and the third of sandwiches.
We had a white broadbreasted and she was a sweet bird. I felt sorry for her – she seemed in pain with her legs and feet, but she got a chance to run free for a time and mix it up with the other birds. We had her to Thanks-giving dinner. I’ll never get another one of those – it’s sad that a creature gets bred to such unnatural featurs.
Regards,
Pat
Hi Pat, Good to know on the Royal Palms. The Red Bourbon tom lasted long enough for us (and guests) to be real sick of turkey!
I agree with the broadbreasted breed. They are very very sweet birds – makes it all the harder come dinner time and they are in so much pain after a while with their feet. It’s why I’ve decided to go heritage and dark cornish here.
Happy New Year to you!
Debbie
Thanks for the info on the turkeys! I like the “turkey-port” that you came up with! LOL That sounds like something my husband would come up with.
Did they find their own way to the igloos? Or did you have to show them what they were? I think the use of the dog houses is great! Do they have a normal roost that they use when there are no babies/eggs? Or do they use these exclusively?
Hubby and I are looking to raise some turkeys, and I need all the info I can get!
Annette
Hi Annette,
The turkeys pretty much take care of themselves. They find their own nesting spots, but they do seem to like the dog igloos to hide in. Mine do not cross 4 ft fences but they refuse to roost indoors of any kind – they roost in the trees! I’ve had them waking up with layers of snow on them but they won’t go inside the shelters! Now that I have so many fences up around here the predator problem is amost nil.
Debbie