Our Tom's are out strutting it up for the hens. Spring maybe here?
Currently we have about 60 eggs in the incubator. We plan to sell some and keep some for the homestead. They are excellent at controlling summer bugs in our pasture!
Shalom! Healthy gobblers there. I'll be starting a spring project next weekend. I'm building a chicken coop for the first time. It'll be for laying hens.
I'm rather new at any kind of animal husbandry, but I've been around animals my whole life. I do have a question for you. Do you think turkeys are better to raise for meat than say Cornish Crosses? I'm trying to decide what meat birds to raise. Any help is appreciated. I feel you know what you're doing, as I've watched a fair amount of you guys on yt.
Hello redneckreject! I like your question and I will do my best to answer it.
When it comes to cost pastured turkeys are lower cost by 40-50%. They simply forage most of the day finding bugs and eating grasses. We use a small amount of food to get them into their pen at night.
The Cornish cross will be 8-9 lbs at 9-10 weeks and a young pastured turkey will weigh more but yield the same meat because of the larger frame at 6 months.
The Cornish crosses will be a more tender meat compared to the turkeys that walk around hunting for the majority of their food. There are many good slow cooking recipes for turkey and chicken making it difficult to tell the difference. But if you want to grill a chicken or turkey you will find the turkey on the tough side.
The turkey compliments a homestead by eating bugs that eat grasses for your grazing animals but a Cornish cross is a high consumer of typically purchased food. The Crosses do yield some high litter amount which can build up poor soils.
In summary if I am looking only at it from meat I would say the Cornish cross would win since it is what you currently buy in the store. The big difference will be how you raise them...pastured and high quality food.
Wow. You brought up some interesting points. I was thinking about using a chicken tractor for the litter purposes withe the cornish crosses. However, I'm not super wealthy by any means, and it's nice to know that the turks forage for most of their food. I have no problem with toughness lol. You've given me ALOT to think on. I appreciate the in-depth response. I guess I could always keep both. Less Crosses, while supplementing with turkey; gaining knowledge about both!
Last year we raised 100 Crosses (first time on our homestead) and they cost us 9.00 per bird but the average weight was 8lbs. We feed them a non-GMO and no soy feed on pasture which drove a higher price. We felt it was worth it since we are eating them!
That's a big number! I was going to start with around 12 lol. But then again, we aren't full on steading yet, and do rely on the grocery store alot. Thanks again for the VALUABLE information. Looking at yt is one thing, but advice from someone who is good at actually doing it is priceless.
My goodness, those guys are beautiful (and I'm not even a turkey hen).
We keep thinking spring has arrived. And then it hasn't. Our fruit trees are budding and we're hearing there may be a freeze this week. Hope the buds stay mostly closed and don't try to bloom!
Yes, the frost and fruit blossoms...always a nail-biter of a finish to actually get fruit! Thank you for the prayers - I'm keeping an eye on them and the weather report and since we have dwarf trees we could actually try to cover them or spray them down with water if it looks like there's going to be a blossom/frost collision.
Having fruit that blooms at all different times definitely hedges your bets for the tough years!
We have 7 hens and 2 toms. We hatch out 100-200 depending on the market in our area. We keep an additional 20 for pasture work and to bless friends and family near Thanksgiving. We typically keep 12 for our freezer...Great birds to have on a homestead!
Wow! I’m just trying to imagine all the work that goes into everything you do in your homestead. You have so much going on! I love turkey, so I’m sure they are worth it!
It takes the whole family. Homesteading is a great education tool for our kids plus I learn a lot from them also which is great! Nothing better than raising kids smarter than you!! :) Thanks for all your comment and following!
Shalom! Healthy gobblers there. I'll be starting a spring project next weekend. I'm building a chicken coop for the first time. It'll be for laying hens.
I'm rather new at any kind of animal husbandry, but I've been around animals my whole life. I do have a question for you. Do you think turkeys are better to raise for meat than say Cornish Crosses? I'm trying to decide what meat birds to raise. Any help is appreciated. I feel you know what you're doing, as I've watched a fair amount of you guys on yt.
Hello redneckreject! I like your question and I will do my best to answer it.
When it comes to cost pastured turkeys are lower cost by 40-50%. They simply forage most of the day finding bugs and eating grasses. We use a small amount of food to get them into their pen at night.
The Cornish cross will be 8-9 lbs at 9-10 weeks and a young pastured turkey will weigh more but yield the same meat because of the larger frame at 6 months.
The Cornish crosses will be a more tender meat compared to the turkeys that walk around hunting for the majority of their food. There are many good slow cooking recipes for turkey and chicken making it difficult to tell the difference. But if you want to grill a chicken or turkey you will find the turkey on the tough side.
The turkey compliments a homestead by eating bugs that eat grasses for your grazing animals but a Cornish cross is a high consumer of typically purchased food. The Crosses do yield some high litter amount which can build up poor soils.
In summary if I am looking only at it from meat I would say the Cornish cross would win since it is what you currently buy in the store. The big difference will be how you raise them...pastured and high quality food.
Wow. You brought up some interesting points. I was thinking about using a chicken tractor for the litter purposes withe the cornish crosses. However, I'm not super wealthy by any means, and it's nice to know that the turks forage for most of their food. I have no problem with toughness lol. You've given me ALOT to think on. I appreciate the in-depth response. I guess I could always keep both. Less Crosses, while supplementing with turkey; gaining knowledge about both!
Last year we raised 100 Crosses (first time on our homestead) and they cost us 9.00 per bird but the average weight was 8lbs. We feed them a non-GMO and no soy feed on pasture which drove a higher price. We felt it was worth it since we are eating them!
That's a big number! I was going to start with around 12 lol. But then again, we aren't full on steading yet, and do rely on the grocery store alot. Thanks again for the VALUABLE information. Looking at yt is one thing, but advice from someone who is good at actually doing it is priceless.
My goodness, those guys are beautiful (and I'm not even a turkey hen).
We keep thinking spring has arrived. And then it hasn't. Our fruit trees are budding and we're hearing there may be a freeze this week. Hope the buds stay mostly closed and don't try to bloom!
They do fight some this time of the year but overall they understand the pecking order.
It seems like fruit trees regularly get hit by frost. I pray your will stay closed and give you an abundant harvest!
I added some grapes last year to try to keep our fruit production up in bad weather years.
Yes, the frost and fruit blossoms...always a nail-biter of a finish to actually get fruit! Thank you for the prayers - I'm keeping an eye on them and the weather report and since we have dwarf trees we could actually try to cover them or spray them down with water if it looks like there's going to be a blossom/frost collision.
Having fruit that blooms at all different times definitely hedges your bets for the tough years!
60 eggs incubating?! Wow that’s a lot! How many turkeys do you keep at one time?
We have 7 hens and 2 toms. We hatch out 100-200 depending on the market in our area. We keep an additional 20 for pasture work and to bless friends and family near Thanksgiving. We typically keep 12 for our freezer...Great birds to have on a homestead!
Wow! I’m just trying to imagine all the work that goes into everything you do in your homestead. You have so much going on! I love turkey, so I’m sure they are worth it!
It takes the whole family. Homesteading is a great education tool for our kids plus I learn a lot from them also which is great! Nothing better than raising kids smarter than you!! :) Thanks for all your comment and following!
Do you need to protect them at night? Do you just let them roam in certain fenced in areas?
We lock them up in a coop then let them out in the morning. Overall really good birds!
How do you "call" them back into the coop?
I simple call (yell turkey a few times) then they see a white feed bucket and they run for it. I have no ability to make a turkey sound...
HAHA...so they are ruled by their stomachs...check!