Help me with turkey prices!

[freemotion]

I just got an answer to my ad for turkeys on craigslist, and plan to call tomorrow about a breeding trio of Bourbon Reds. What should I expect to pay??? And.....um.....will I know if they are two girls and a boy?

Any other advice?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

What to pay partly depends on age or maybe weight.

If they are selling them per pound, don't be surprised if they quote you a price around $4 a pound live weight.

If they are selling them outright, heritage breeds go for different price ranges. Example, Bourbon Red Poults go from $8-$10 each as day old poults. Don't be surprised if they want as much as $25 each for them.

If they offer you a flat rate for taking all 3, I would say anything that equals less than $25 each is a good buy. IMO

It may also depend on your area.

Do you know how old these are?

As for telling their sex, males tend to have a larger snood as adults, might have a beard if they are close to a year or over a year. Females tend to have "peach fuzz" on their heads and necks where the males are "bald". As one day old poults, and this is NOT always accurate, males snoods usually stand up while a females will be small, triangular, and kind of pasted to her forehead...but this is not always a sure fire way of sexing poults!

Good luck! I hope you get them for a great price!!

 

[freemotion]

What is a good age (I asked for poults OR a breeding trio, so I am hoping these are grown up a bit) to take them and keep them outside and have them for breeding more poults this spring/summer? What is too old to bother with?

I plan to temporarily section off a bit of the goat barn with wire fencing until they will hopefully agree to live there and come and go as they please....maybe 2-3 weeks?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Hmmm now that question I am not experienced on to answer. The oldest turkey I have had was 2 years old, and that was a bourbon red tom. He became mean, thanks to people coming to our home and antagonizing him, so we had to sell him.

My oldest turkeys now are 2 years old.

Turkeys mature at 9 months of age, so if you want them to lay this year, I would get ones that are 9 months or older. At 9 months, you'll definitely know toms from jennys.

Now, with poults, they acclimate to you from early on and you get to know their temperment. With teenaged or mostly grown birds, you are taking a chance on getting some meanies. Pay close attention to them when you go to look at them. Watch for signs of aggression. The Bourbon Red we had would flog anything or anyone that came in the yard.

We have the Royal Palms now. They are A LOT smaller than the Bourbon Reds and seem to have a much more docile temperment IMO, course, I was a total WITCH about it this time around, and laid into the people who teased our last turkeys and so I didn't have that problem this time around.

I don't know what would be too old to bother with. Maybe someone with more turkey knowledge can help you with that one.

The two we just brought home we only kept confined for a day. We already had turkeys here, though, so that may have helped them want to stay here. I fed them immediately when I got them home, so that they would recognize me as a source for food. I fed them the next morning before letting them out in the run. I would think 2-3 weeks of confinement would be enough for them to learn that is home.

ETA: Turkeys are like elephants, they don't forget things. For instance, My step dad antagonized our Bourbon Red with his car keys *dummy* Charlie remembered him. Everytime my step dad came up the drive way, he immediately fluffed up and strutted to the car on the attack. He wouldn't let them out of the vehicle. When it was us or my FIL he'd snatch car keys out of our hands and run with them. He hated car keys.

Also, if your run isn't covered, they will fly out.

 

[freemotion]

Ummmm......I planned to ultimately have them roam my pasture....fly out???? Ya mean go play with the wild turkeys????

Can I clip their wings like I did with my chickens so they don't get into the habit of flying over the 4' fence? I clipped the flight feathers off one wing each when they first were let out of the covered pen.

Or will they be like the three guineas (Thank goodness I did NOT buy 30 keats through the mail!) who flew boldly in spite of the wing clip, who would fly out even if I plucked them bald? But thankfully got a good scare from the neighbors' dogs and decided to live with us, mostly!

I think I'll venture over to BYC and start a free-for-all!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Free, we had a ten foot fence, clipped their wings, and even the fatty Broad Breasted Bronze's that we raised last year would fly over it (too heavy to fly my foot!)!

They fly to the roof of our trailer, and to trees to roost at night.

I'm just giving you my experience with turkeys. I think over on BYC you might find some people with far more turkey experience than I.

 

[farmerlor]

Best egg production for turkeys is in the first five years but they have been known to lay longer than that. But I'd say if they're getting on towards five years old it's probably iffy as to whether you'll get eggs out of them again.

 

[freemotion]

Update: I can get two Bourbon Reds, one male and one female, hatched last spring/summer for $50. Or a pair of 2 year-old Narragansets for the same price, and the option of two Narraganset 5-month-old hens for $10 each.

I am leaning towards the BR's. I will make a pen inside the barn about 40 square feet until spring foraging is interesting enough to hopefully keep them home!

Should I try to get the two little hens and add them to the BR's? Or is that asking for trouble?

Do Narragansets forage well? I'll have to go do some research....

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I have one Narraganset hen and yes, they are good foragers! I love my little hen! She came with my second Royal Palm Hen.

I'd go for the Narragansets! But that's just me!

 

[freemotion]

How are they for eating? That is the main purpose of getting them....if they can forage, they can get fat for less $$$!

My quick research showed me that the BR's come from Kentucky and the Narragansetts were developed in New England....might do better with the N's, but many generations later, who knows?

Maybe I'll get the four and let them cross-breed and see what happens!

I'll create a new breed and call it the Freemotion Heritage Turkey!