Really enjoy your content guys. You were a main source of information when I began my chicken flock last year. I hope and pray all blessings for you and your channel.
@@HobbyFarmGuys Yup, she was allowed to pick a favorite (a black turkey she named Lacy) that will be excluded from the meat bird lottery so we are hoping that helps! Although her favorite meat has always been turkey too 😆
I like the look of the standard bronze the best. I think it's the biggest of the heritage breeds, too, so the more meat the better (without causing harm to the bird, of course).
I had royal palms and was amazed at how nice they were. My tom waited for me outside my back door and followed me around the yard all day. He always let me pick him up and the females would sit on my lap. Although this made my tom visibly jealous he never attacked me.
I am working on raising Beltsville small white. They are a small breed like the midget whites. They average about 2 lbs bigger than the midget white. They lay lots of eggs and are my favorite turkey breed. Great for a Sunday turkey dinner, without all the leftovers to use up. Don't let anyone tell you they are the same as the midget white. Livestock Conservancy lists them as endangered.
Thank you. This was really helpful. My stepmom got excited just spring and brought home several bronze and white broad-breasted turkey chicks. We had to figure out what they were (we wanted heritage breeds, but that's not what we got) and went from there. Now, I want to add at least 3 to 4 Slate Blue and either 3 or 4 Spanish Blacks or Royal Palm, so that if they do crossbreed, they seem to do really well. Or so I've been reading. This is a learning period.
I just added 3 white broad breasted turkeys to my 28 chickens. I enjoy watching then grow but look forward to getting some heritage turkeys in the near future. You guys are great. Thanks for the information and the joke.
I have always want to raise a few turkeys 🦃 and finally I got the ones I wanted. I have 6 eggs in the incubator now. They are white Holland. I hopefully get at least a 50% hatch ratio or more
Super informative!! We just got into turkeys when my wife brought home 4 turkey chicks as a surprise....didnt know much about them and unfortunately they ended up being the commercial broad breasted and we want to go for a more heritage style flock, but oh well, now we know and this should be a great test run, hopefully we can get all these birds to thansgiving or christmas and then maybe get some bronze!
Help! My turkeys are 4 mos old and I still can't tell if they are Toms or hens. Will they reveal themselves soon. I fear I might have 3 Toms and a hen! Yikes! Love your t-shirts....how can I order one?
Here are some ways to sex younger turkeys: - Males are usually larger and have thicker bones - Males feathers are sometimes brighter (Not really true in some breeds) - Males will have a larger snood - Males will have no feathers on the head and neck - Males will develop spurs, pointed bumps on the legs - The skin color on the males head will change color depending on level of excitement - You can also follow them and watch them poop. The male droppings may be spiral shaped with the females J shaped. Depending on breed they should show some of these signs soon if they don't already. We aren't selling shirts currently, but we should be later this year. We may be having a giveaway too, so keep watching for a chance to get one for free!
I am over the moon about the Royal Palm turkeys. I have seen some Turkeys that are like rainbows. I believe they are from south America. I would love to breed them.
I think you are referring to the Ocellated Turkey. We did a video about them recently. Here is a link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IrW5HieDeEE.html
We just bought our first 3 baby turkeys. They are so calm and focus. They are full breed Royal Palm Turkeys. Other then reading and watching videos we don't know much about these. The lady we bought them from was adamant about us not using them for meat and warn us that these are very rare birds. We do plan to raise a few and use a few a year for meat. Can you please give us more insight on the breed we bought. These are 3 days old and even tho I haven't lost a chick before I keep hearing that the first three weeks are the worst.
The Royal Palm is indeed an endangered breed, though I wouldn’t call it “extremely rare”. If you choose to raise them for meat they are perfectly good to eat and can be quite tasty. Here is a spotlight video we did on this breed: HFG Farm Animal Spotlight: Royal Palm Turkey *TURKEY WEEK* ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n141zSGF77k.html
Im incubating 13 Royal palms for pets. I dont eat meat but they seem to lay a grip of eggs for a turkey. My landlords royal palms are easy to catch and dont freak out andnthey have never been tamed. They are calm, not aggressive, can be with chickens and ducks and dogs ( if the dogs aren't bird killers) just fine. I only have five old torn shirt. I want one of yours please
you missed the chocolate turkey 33for Tom's and 18 for hens great breast meat very good in heat and cold and can be butchered from 22- 36 weeks wonderfully bird taste as good as bourbon red .
As you’ve pointed out, the Chocolate is another awesome breed! When we made this a couple of years ago, we tried to stick more to breeds that were easier to source, and the Chocolate was, and still is, hard to source for many people. Maybe it’s time to revisit the topic. 🤔
Hi I am looking to build a Turkey coop but don’t really know where to start I want a couple different breeds but don’t know if the different breeds of toms need to be separated
The only reason to separate breeds is if you are going to breed them. If the area is large enough and the hens are plentiful, the toms will get along. Otherwise they are prone to fight.
I live in the panhandle of Florida and want to know what type of large enclosure I can create for maybe ten to twelve turkeys of varying breeds, to keep as pets. I want them to stay within the specified area and not get out to roam around freely on my property. I have a possible spot that's roughly a half acre in size, but I don't know how to keep the turkeys in, nor how to keep varmints out, in an area that size. Thanks for your suggestions.
Enclosing turkeys can be tough. Steve built a smaller enclosure with high roosts and a roof where their food & water and nest areas are. If you keep them in there for about a week, you can then let them out to free range and the my should come back to their roosting area at night when predators are more of a problem. Add a sturdy fence to the area they will roam for added protection.
@@HobbyFarmGuys Thanks for the quick reply. I was thinking that there might be a problem with the turkeys flying over the top of whatever fencing that I would use to enclose them. I don't want them wandering out into the areas of my property that wouldn't be appropriate--- like the woods, the creek, my yard, etc. I will have to think about how to resolve that aspect of my turkey-raising-plans. haha. I wish they were more like horses or cows, where you can simply put up a fence to keep them in, and be done with it. thanks
So what are the usual growth schedule for Turkeys? And the broadbreasted breeding raises questions. Have you tried cross breeding? Is it a problem with the hen or the Tom? I’m contemplating a bit of husbandry.
The growth schedule will vary a lot based on breed and diet. Providing free choice high protein commercial feed to a broad breasted, a hen will get to 15lbs in about 14 weeks and a tom will get up to 40 lbs in 18 weeks. A heritage breed with a combination of pasture and feed, it will take about 30 weeks to raise a 15-30 lb bird. The problem with breeding a broad breasted turkey is that the tom is too big when mature to reach where he needs to. None of us have ever tried cross breeding with a broad breasted, but if you give it a try let us know how it goes.
I am looking for a breed that I can raise that is not aggressive, Tolerant to the heat in southern Alabama, That can either reproducer it's self or lay fertal eggs I can incubate
All heritage breeds can reproduce naturally. As for heat tolerance, generally speaking smaller birds do better in warmer climates. So the Beltsville Small White or the Midget White are probably the best options.
Royal Palm Tom’s are less aggressive than some breeds, and the hens are particularly good mothers. These two qualities make them an excellent breed for raising their own. The Blue Slate is another that comes to mind as a breed that will do well sustaining a flock naturally.
@@HobbyFarmGuys thank you for replying. I have another question if you please. I am an avid eastern wild turkey hunter. How are the bronze heritage breed? Will they fight others turkey breeds or good to raise? I’m sorry for asking another question but I’m trying to gain all the info I can. Thank you sooo very much for your videos.
Great question. While all heritage breeds grow slower than the commercial birds, the smaller breeds will likely reach market weight in less time. Holland White and Midget White are probably good options for faster heritage breeds.
Hey!! I have a question about the habitat. I have some and they are in free range, but since they are with geese, in the winter the floor gets muddy. Is it bad for them, or not really? Also, the winters here are a bit cold, going around the 5°/10°C. Thanks in advance
The temperature is not a problem at all. In fact, that seems like a warm winter to me! It is always a good idea to try to keep the area they are walking in as clean as possible, although it won't always be clean. My advice is to have a roosting bar for the turkeys, just a few inches off the ground is good. Also a layer of straw on the floor will make the mud less of an issue. Thanks for watching!
@@HobbyFarmGuys thanks for the attencion. The male is a commercial white one so thats my worry, he weights around 20kg and he cant jump, tho he has a little shack there with dry floor. The 2 females i have they have no issue because they sleep on the trees and dont run away. The only trust issue i had was about the geese being in the same spot as the turkeys. The turkeys are around 8 months old and the geese almost 2 years old
What are the artisan gold turkeys? I still can't find any straight answers. Some say broad breasted others say heritage. Somebody even told me a standard bronze and black Spanish cross.
The American Poultry Association does not list this breed which means it is most likely: 1) a hybrid, or 2) a variant of a known breed. Since most of the information on this breed comes from hatcheries selling it is probably a marketing name for one of the above. Although referred to as a "heritage breed" by many hatcheries, the fact that it is: not listed, the name only appears in fairly recent history, and many hatcheries say it will not breed naturally; my best guess is that it is a hybrid of a Black Turkey and a commercial breed (Broad Breasted Bronze maybe).
Yeah, the Sweetgrass can be hard to find in some areas so we left it off the introduction to turkeys list. But, we dedicated an entire video to it in our Spotlight series - check it out! They are great birds! Thanks for watching!!
