These are roaming in my back yard I predict that they will stop roaming on or about the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
8 of them ranging from 17 to 28 pounds right now. Next year we are going to be raising heritage breed (not sterile like these damn things)
We gave up on raising turkeys. They have to have medicated feed to survive, they are the weakest ^%$^ing things around. We have muscovy ducks and geese now. The ducks are real survivers, we had them outside in rainy cold weather at a couple weeks of age and they were loving life. BWM
I agree that they are the weakest link! We started off with 20 no medicated feed but used game bird high protein kept basement brooder until they were nearly 6 weeks old. still lost 12. OMG there went 96.00 worth just in chick cost. We raised wild turkeys 2 years ago, bought 6 ate 6. much hardier bird. Next year is Narragansett or Wild Turkeys
We tried raising Narragansetts and had poor results with them. At that point my wife said she never wanted to hear the T word again, and she was the main one wanting to have turkeys. BWM
We went two for two raising turkeys. Raised both and ate both. Fed them regular turky starter and then the same thing as the chickens. Cracked corn and layer mash. They were very good eating birds. We are going to try some pheasants next. Kingfish
Now there are some tasty birds. Note, keep them real warm (100F) the first few weeks of life (they are like cotton balls with toothpick legs when you get them) very susceptible to drafts, damp and cold. need high protein game bird chow. You will need full enclosure tall and long. must have a top as after about 3 weeks old they are helicopters that will find any gap in your enclosure including the top. We raise about 30-45 per year, usually only loose a couple before we let them go. The ones that come back and hang out with the chickens are the ones that get eaten. Most of them come back every once and awhile. Especially when the weather is bad, snow/freezing rain/ice. They will move into the pines and in the fence rows. Sometimes we will find them roosting in the barn.