Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #105 on: October 15, 2012, 21:05 »
Oh good at least they are not on chicken food!  Which apparently has too much calcium in it so I read earlier.

Yes, they are a bit ugly, remind me of vultures.  But don't let agapanthus read this, she thinks turkeys are beautiful!   ;)

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Willow_Warren

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #106 on: October 16, 2012, 12:29 »

Hubby thinks they are really ugly so I said that he won't mind when its time for them to be dinner then!!   :ohmy:

I think I'd have to agree with him there  :lol:

They do seem to be growing amazingly quickly!

H :)

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #107 on: November 15, 2012, 11:48 »
Our next door neighbour kindly looked after our chickens and turkeys at the weekend and her daughter didn't believe they were the little chicks she had seen only 12 weeks ago.   :lol:
12 weeks old turkey poults 019 (508 x 381).jpg
12 weeks old turkey poults 016 (508 x 381).jpg
Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens!
Bagpuss RIP 1992 - June 2012, 1 huge grass carp (RIP "Jaws" July 2001 - December 2011), 4 golden orfe, 1 goldfish and 1 fantail fish (also huge)! plus 4 Italian quail, 1 Japanese quail, 1 Rosetta quail.

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New shoot

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #108 on: November 15, 2012, 21:15 »
Wow they really have grown  :D  Have you managed to prise them away from Dotty yet?

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #109 on: November 16, 2012, 10:58 »
Wow they really have grown  :D  Have you managed to prise them away from Dotty yet?

I took Dotty out of their run a couple of days ago as Bootsy (stag) was chasing her around like a hormonal teenager.  She is so tiny I thought she might get squashed in the excitement. 

She is now in with 2, 30 week old Welsummer bantams and 9 week old Welsummer LF male and female chicks.  Her sister Lotty is in the next enclosure with her 10 week old Partridge Wyandotte/Light Sussex bantam cross.  I am reintroducing Lotty and Dotty to each other carefully as they usually fight (to the death if not parted) when they have young chicks.

Bootsy and Snudge know where Dotty is and spend most of the day along the fence closest to her.  They do call to her which is upsetting but they are big and ugly enough now to look after themselves.   :lol:

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New shoot

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #110 on: November 16, 2012, 20:37 »
They really are big babies still calling to mum at their age  :lol:  Sure they will settle down after a few days  :)

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #111 on: November 17, 2012, 10:18 »
Snudge decided to explore my neighbours shed roof and was eyeing up her garden.  I couldn't chase her down without her going the wrong way.  Quick thinking and I chased Bootsy into their shed and he promptly started to call for help.  Snudge got down off the roof quickly and back in the shed.  Trimmed her wing again but don't know if it will stop her as she is lighter than Bootsy and more agile.   ::)

Last week our neighbour was looking after them and got back a little late to find Snudge and Dotty asleep on the shed roof.   :ohmy:

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #112 on: December 11, 2012, 16:46 »
Just weighed Bootsy 10 1/4 lbs and Snudge 8 lbs so they have some way to go before they are a decent weight.  Christmas dinner is being postponed until January when our youngest daughter will be home (hopefully with her chef boyfriend)!   :blink:

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #113 on: December 19, 2012, 23:23 »
Hope they put on  bit more weight for you ANHBUC.  What are you feeding them at the moment?

Brian culled ours over the last 2 days.  They are 18 weeks old.  The smallest hen was 6kgs and the  largest stag 9kgs.  Quite pleased at that. 

But an acquaintance that had a few of our poults off heat brought his over yesterday for Brian to cull and prepare for him.  Goodness knows what he's been feeding them on, but they weighed between 4kgs and 5.5kgs.  They were from the same hatch as ours.

He has a business in London and his wife has to look after them during the week.  she is a vegetarian and hates looking after the animals for him and we don't think she's been feeding them much, plus he told Brian they've been eating a lot of wheat and maize, but no mention of anything with any protein in it!   Poor things.

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #114 on: December 19, 2012, 23:49 »
I am changing them over to finishers at the moment.  Most advice I have read said to do it over weeks 17/18.  I am sure they will put more weight on but they are really active.  They love dancing around and flying a little (I have clipped one wing).  The wings grow really quickly so I have to do it every couple of weeks.

You are making me really jealous.  I wish I had hatched mine earlier but I had to wait for Dotty to go broody.  Never mind they will taste just as good in the New Year.

I will try and weigh them again to see how much they have put on in the last week.

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #115 on: December 20, 2012, 13:10 »
Ours were day old on 13th August, so not much difference in age to yours, but remember, ours are meat turkeys.

Snudge looks very much like those Crollwitzers we processed for that young woman.  She will never be huge if she is at least part Crollwitzer.  Don't know how you got that egg though if the breeders don't do that breed   ???

I know the internet says different things, but as yours, like ours were younger, they should have gone on to finisher earlier.  Most commercial turkeys are around 21-22 weeks when they are culled, so we are not far behind.  Ours went on to finisher about 4 weeks ago.  

This guide from Heygates is similar to what we do.

http://www.heygatesfeeds.co.uk/PoultryFeeds/Turkeyfeedrates.aspx

And this one from Masseyfeeds

http://www.masseyfeeds.co.uk/turkey_feed_guidlines.htm

So they all say to go on to finisher around 10 weeks
« Last Edit: December 20, 2012, 13:12 by GrannieAnnie »

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #116 on: December 20, 2012, 18:53 »
It is confusing with conflicting info on the net. 

Snudge is the bronze hen and Bootsy is the crollwitzer stag so he should be a fairly decent weight.  The breeder did breed them but didn't know how he got them mixed up.

How many weeks should I keep them on finishers before culling?   

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #117 on: December 20, 2012, 22:46 »
We usually put ours on plain wheat or mixed corn about 4 days before culling, but stop feeding for the last 24 hours to avoid a crop full of yucky food.  Still give them water though.

Sometimes if the crop is full of food, and the crop isn't taken out properly, you gets bits of food all over the place.  Much cleaner when the crop doesn't have much in it.

I think the professionals feed finisher to the last though.

Brian has his faults, but he does know how to do all the killing and processing properly!

Sorry, I thought the darker one was the stag.  Hopefully he will gain a bit more weight for you.  Just having a 'google' and one website reckons the pied crollwitzer stags reach between 16 and 28lbs, but that is live weight I suppose.  oven ready you can take off around 25-30% of that what with the bones, feathers and guts.

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ANHBUC

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #118 on: December 20, 2012, 23:06 »
Thanks for the info GA I am sure I will have more questions nearer the culling time.  My wall mounted dispatcher arrived today but the instructions are all but unreadable.  >:( I will have to email them and ask for a readable copy.  I would hate to use it and not have it set up right.

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: Dotty has hatched some turkey eggs
« Reply #119 on: December 20, 2012, 23:13 »
I have the little screw on my wall mounted one screwed almost all the way in, just leaving enough room for the skin of the neck.  that way you get a clean break, sometimes the skin breaks and you get some blood, but I would rather that than mess the job up.  Afterwards it is good to slit the throat and bleed them out.  If you don't, you can get blood build up in the breasts and it taints the meat.

will hubby help you?  I wouldn't like to do a turkey with the wall mounted dispatcher on my own, luckily, Brian uses his electric stunner, so I only use mine for poorly chooks.



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