November 23, 2011 Turkey Farm

[footfootfoot]

The Azores were the best place I've ever visited. What a great story! Thanks for sharing that.

[SPUCK]

Nice story indeed.

There was a turkey farm up the road from me. We used to deer hunt (archery) next to it. There were always feathers everywhere. The farm had about 8,000 turkeys. They all roamed around in the fields and ate from a really long metal trough. We have lightning storms about once every two years here. They usually consist of about 5 bolts and that's it. The next year we arrived to hunt and there were no turkeys, lots of feathers, but no turkeys. We asked the guy where they were and he told us a bolt of lightning hit their trough. It killed about 85% of them so the guy threw in the towel. Really sad. Free range turkeys.. They aren't very common anymore.

[CaliforniaMama]

Originally Posted by Griff

Yeah, she's a Royal Palm. Nice bird.

Beautiful, too.

[CaliforniaMama]

Originally Posted by hipshot

What a nice Thanksgiving tale (except for the turkeys...) Thanks for sharing.

Was the turkey farm in the Central Valley? I am in San Joaquin County, and we have quite a few turkey farms in the area.

Ramona St, Monterey

It was the only one in town. Ask any old-timer or almost-old-timer and they usually remember Terry's Turkey Farm, along with an anecdote of getting a turkey or having eaten a turkey from there.

[Griff]

I'd like to get a little free range flock going. Pen raising turkeys makes for a lot of concentrated poo. Cool story Calimama it was a different time, even the turkeys were different no broad-breasted white there. The modern industrial turkey is a marvel putting on like 25-30 lbs from July to Thanksgiving, but the disease potential is pretty high.

[sandypossum]

Originally Posted by aero geek

Am I the only one that finds that statement a bit creepy?

Yep, just you, AG. Great photo, great story!

We have chooks, ducks, geese and guinea fowl. I've thought of getting some turkeys as they can be quite spectacular, but neither of us likes turkey meat, so it seems a little pointless.

[CaliforniaMama]

Originally Posted by Griff

I'd like to get a little free range flock going. Pen raising turkeys makes for a lot of concentrated poo. Cool story Calimama it was a different time, even the turkeys were different no broad-breasted white there. The modern industrial turkey is a marvel putting on like 25-30 lbs from July to Thanksgiving, but the disease potential is pretty high.

Really? I didn't know that. I thought a turkey was a turkey. My aunt never talked about that.

What were turkeys like before?

[Griff]

They grew much more slowly and didn't get terribly big. The birds in your picture look like Bronzes. Harriet Jones, a Royal Palm, is also a traditional breed bird, but less improved. She and the Bronzes are as capable of normal reproduction as the wild turkey they are all descended from. I helped butcher 75 broad-breasted whites at my uncles farm last week. He has been shortening the amount of time they spend on the farm. This year he took delivery of chicks the first week of July and all the birds were big enough to butcher. They seem to grow until their hearts give out, so it is important not to take delivery too early. They need human intervention to reproduce.