tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post708340759594152603..comments2024-03-23T05:42:07.516-04:00Comments on The Deliberate Agrarian: Getting Started With TurkeysHerrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-31722150924973486742011-05-17T22:23:48.912-04:002011-05-17T22:23:48.912-04:00hi, I just found your blog. We have a few turkeys...hi, I just found your blog. We have a few turkeys, and agree they are stupid! We thought they would be similar to chickens, but they're not at all. We tried to free-range them and the gobblers couldn't even figure out how to get out of the cage! Anyway, I see this is an old post, so just wondered what happened next, any more turkey news? did you keep going with them? I can't see how to search your blog, so just asking the question instead :) by the way your chicken killing instructions are great, I've just referred to them in a post because I can't be bothered writing my own instructions when you've covered it so well. Cheers, LizAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12874273438983052621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-53556922583158477102008-08-04T08:32:00.000-04:002008-08-04T08:32:00.000-04:00Chickens and turkeys are DEFINITELY not the most i...Chickens and turkeys are DEFINITELY not the most intelligent farm animals (pigs and goats take that award), but heritage chickens and turkeys are worlds beyond the commercial birds. Try comparing a Bourbon Red turkey to a Broad Breasted White. It's like placing Marie Curie against Paris Hilton.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-41954144342014745552007-11-27T20:39:00.000-05:002007-11-27T20:39:00.000-05:00herrick; so are your turkeys finished out? any obs...herrick; so are your turkeys finished out? any observations from plucking turkeys in the standard whizbang?<BR/><BR/>Karl<BR/>FOP<BR/>westside@fullnet.netAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-22457693656668638822007-06-25T16:56:00.000-04:002007-06-25T16:56:00.000-04:00If you ever have the chance to attend a conference...If you ever have the chance to attend a conference where Joel Salatin does his impersonation of a turkey with it's head caught in an electric fence, please take advantage of the entertainment opportunity. Worth the price of admission. His point: they ARE stupid and will do the same stupid and dangerous things over and over and.....MrsBurnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18021698147806792473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-41738465691206047252007-06-25T16:31:00.000-04:002007-06-25T16:31:00.000-04:00I heard Joel Salatin say that turkeys spend 24/7 t...I heard Joel Salatin say that turkeys spend 24/7 the first eight weeks looking for a way to die and almost bulletproof after that. I believe that 50% their diet is plants, unlike chickens which is less than 20%. The best part is more meat for the same amount of processing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-26676925761538701342007-06-25T10:31:00.000-04:002007-06-25T10:31:00.000-04:00Herrick, we actually enjoy the turkeys more than t...Herrick, we actually enjoy the turkeys more than the chickens. The turkeys have more personality than the chickens for one thing. I love the way they sing while in the brooder. Also, once they are larger and out on the pasture, I can gobble gobble at them and they answer me. =) Also, the chicks run from you when you mess with them in the brooder. The turkeys actually run to us. We were told that you CAN NOT raise turkey poults without the medicated feed. We did it anyway and this is the 7th year we have raised them. We have a poultry feed made to our own recipe. We feed it to all the poultry on our farm from day one to either death or retirement (stew pot) for layers. We just do a few things different. We add some oyster shell to the layers feed and when the turkeys are brand new, we give them some raw milk and we pick grass and put it in from day one. They eat it up. Also, if chicks or poults do not do well, we give them some hard boiled egg. It works great. We raise the broad breasted white turkeys. We raise them for about 16 or 17 weeks.Marcihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00837798938089334872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-78263712212767562592007-06-24T22:35:00.000-04:002007-06-24T22:35:00.000-04:00Congratulations on raising turkeys! We started th...Congratulations on raising turkeys! We started that last year by purchasing Bourbon Reds, and lost close to half of them before they were 6 weeks old. We have 5 left, after butchering a few during the winter. This spring one turkey disappeared, and my youngest found her with a brood of 17 poults! We thought we would leave them with her, since maybe she would have a better track record than we did. Unfortunately, within a week they all disappeared, and we never found out what happened to them. So, we are back to the original 5. We do enjoy eating their eggs, though.Lynn Bartletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17435825858991342289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-63921037080601021432007-06-24T21:19:00.000-04:002007-06-24T21:19:00.000-04:00My husband wants to try turkeys but we have have b...My husband wants to try turkeys but we have have been warned about how stupid they are.<BR/><BR/>Stories about drowning in the rain & that sort of thing.<BR/><BR/>Maybe next year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com