[WinslowPorker]

Hi everybody,

we have just started off rearing pigs and loving, but of course the mind wanders and now we are thinking of doing a couple of turkeys for Christmas and yes i knos its only MArch but just wanted any sort of advice or experience.

Many thanks
WinslowPorker

[JulieS]

I'm looking forward to the replies too WinslowPorker.  My 16 year old son has decided he'd like to raise some turkeys for Christmas.

[WinslowPorker]

my 3 year old girl is loving the pigs, geese & chickens and the thought of a home reared turkey for Christmas is really appealing. Problem is going to be explaining that the pigs have gone to a new home in 3-4 months and the same for the Turkey, which will be on the plate a couple of days later........ hmmmmmmmmmm

[shetlandpaul]

once plucked you wont be bothered. wear gloves when gutting. they are fun to have. but a bit heavy on feed. get double what you were planning and use them as christmas presents.

[WinslowPorker]

Not a bad idea ShetlandPaul will be better than smellies and socks, plus i can get the wife an early present of a pair of gloves to do the gutting

[langdon]

lol

[dixie]

Just dont keep them with chickens or on ground previously used by chickens, unless you plan to worm them every 3 weeks for 7 days, do a search on here for turkeys and blackhead.

[WinslowPorker]

This is starting to gain some momentum, if i am not a broken man by tomorrow morning i will let you know how my pitch has gone to my delightful other half. What do we think to soften the blow, flowers or Chocs

[WinslowPorker]

Thanks Dixii, will they be ok in with Geese & Ducks or on the old land from the pigs?

[dixie]

Its chickens that are the biggest threat as they carry the blackhead protozoa. So long as you worm them with flubenvet not a herbal wormer they will become resistant, do a search though as its been covered on here before! turkeys are good fun though!

[Daisys Mum]

I have done 2 lots of turkeys now and have this years in the incubator, first lot free ranged till about 12 weeks belore d-day then went into a big shed. last years were free ranged right up until Christmas they were in with the hens and ducks for the last 8-10 weeks and I had no problems but I did have the hens on new ground so did not need to worry about worms.They are great escape artists and a 5ft wall is no barrier to them, they scared the life out of a neighbour by climbing the scafolding on her house and tapping on her bedroom window.
I must say I had no problem killing them at Christmas as they are not the prettiest of birds or even the friendliest although to be fair I did not make much effort to make them friendly. I was thinking this year about putting them on the old pig paddock.

[dixie]

Oh yes they dont like to stay low! we keep ours in a large pen with  7' mesh fence and they still got over that! we put up a perch approx 4' high and they liked that so much they didnt bother trying to escape anymore! they never went in at night though, much prefer to perch outside, so we ran elec tape around in case the fox came!

[gavo]

My advice is DON'T buy commercial birds use a traditional breed;   1 they are hardier.      2 they are tastier.      3 they look so much nicer.

 4 they don't get as heavy and can/will free range right up to slaughter.        5 they are much more active and forage more[therefore increasing

flavour]  6 you can sell as a niche product [charge slightly more]

[WinslowPorker]

Guys & Gals thanks for all thsi advice, as you can tell i am still a mere fledgling in this smallholding game but totally commited.

Next question:
What type of breed should i look at at?
Where do i get them from?
When do i get them and at what age so they are ready for stuffing, bread sauce, sprouts, pigs in blankets and a good dollop of cranberry??

Please excuse the dribble coming out of me at this point

[shetlandpaul]

try this web site
http://www.turkeyclub.org.uk/

i still have some loss of feeling in the hand that got infected at christmas. i needed 2 months worth of antibiotics. maybe funny but bloody painful. so wear gloves. the cut that caused it was extremly small.