Need Heritage Turkey Poults

[annefoley]

Our 4-H Poultry club voted to try heritage turkeys for our Meat Turkey competition this year. Twenty kids signed up (a new record!) for a total of 50 poults needed. I just received a call from Murray McMurray Hatchery and they cannot deliver at the end of March as promised (soonest is end of April). I would like to know if there is anyone out there who can give me contact information on a heritage turkey breeder that could supply us this year in March or early April. We are flexible on the breed but for the sake of fairness, they all have to be the same breed. Straight run is good. Any help would be appreciated.

[Evy]

Try Duane Urch @ 507-451-6782 email..dpurch@netzero.net

[Neil E. Grassbaugh]

Admirable.

First, if this is a meat bird competition, you really have only one choice other than commercial strain white turkeys. That would be the Broad Breasted Bronze. Certainly some will be interested in Royal Palms, Narragansetts or Bourbon Reds but that would be like using Polish in the meat chicken class. Pretty and interesting yes. Meat birds, no.
Occasionally I run across Bronze or two in the market turkey classes I judge. I had one fair last year that had nothing but Bronze in the competition. It was a very nice class to judge and everyone seemed to really enjoy their involvement with the project. The birds were quite worthy to compete in a meat bird class.

I should think that getting fifty heritage poults, other than Bronze, in one hatch from any hatchery would be difficult. Even if you did the variation among the birds would be tremendous.

I suggest that you contact: Ridgway Hatchery www.ridgwayhatchery.com (http://www.ridgwayhatchery.com)

They have the best that I see. In any event I wish you good luck at getting anything other than commercial whites starting this late getting poults. Heritage turkeys were not develped to respond to off season egg production techniques and it is difficult to get them earlier than April.

I judge fairs where the poults are supplied to the exhibitors and they have chosen to use white hens. Using hens eliminates some of the problems associated with the toms. Easier to raise and handle, less agressiveness, shorter time period to get them to a typical market weight.

[Evy]

Oops :oops: That's what I get for reading too fast.

[Oggie]

It is my understanding that heritage breeds of turkeys do not include any "broad-breasted" varieties. Just plain bronze, slate, black, bourban red, royal palm, beltsville small white, holland white, jersey buff, narrangansette, and eastern wild would be the heritage breeds that are recognized by those whom are marketing "heritage" turkeys. If anyone knows who took over the flocks from Norman Kardosh, that might be a source of poults in numbers. Or, possibly try contacting Danny Padgett at Surperior Farms in Yukon, Okla.

[annefoley]

Thank you for the great suggestions. A lot of our 4-H Poultry Club families do not like to butcher or do not have facilities to butcher. After the fair, "meat birds" become backyard animals. Our broiler pen is now dual purpose (Orpingtons, or similar). The club members want a turkey that can live in the backyard, breed naturally, and be eaten if desired. Enrollment in our broiler project went from 4-5 kids when we had Cornish X in past years to maybe 90% of our kids (57 signed up this year) when we switched to dual purpose. In past years, enrollment in the meat turkey project (BB Bronze) was about 5-7 kids and this year when we voted on a heritage-type turkey we got 20 kids to sign up. We think that we are on to something for our 4-H club. Even though it is not the "traditional" meat-type competition, it works for us.

[goosedragon]

I noticed that our local "grow to order" turkey operation has an ad that they will grow heritage birds if there is enough interest. It isn't really grow to order, they only want to handle the birds they can feed from their own farm, and most of their customers will place a order for the following year in Nov or Dec when they pick up their birds. It is a butcher to order operation and they can only process so many birds in the busy season. They get big prices but their birds really have more taste than the commercial birds. With the "slow food" buy local produced food movement picking up steam they seem to do well.~gd

[Glenda L Heywood]

Go to this board as they have the poults. They should be able to supply the poults
Glenda L Heywood
http://www.gkpet.com

This came from
RareHeritageTurkey@yahoogroups.com

[RHT] selling heritage breeds,
From: "Stephanie Swain" <stephswain@earthlink.net>Add sender to Contacts To: RareHeritageTurkey@yahoogroups.com
Google 'Slow Food' and check to see if there is a local Slow Food Convivium
in your area. The local Slow Food group in my area handles all the
marketing of the Heritage Turkeys for my son's 4-H group every Thanksgiving.
They started with requests from Slow Food members and started a
"partnership" with our County 4-H group. Since the project started a few
years ago, the demand for Heritage Turkeys for the Holidays has increased
steadily in our area.

Stephanie

[annefoley]

I managed to find Bourbon Red poults for our 4-H club this year. Phew! Thanks to everyone for taking time to comment. The suggestion to make contact with Slow Food is a great one. I think we have a local "chapter" in our area.

[Patrick]

It is my understanding that heritage breeds of turkeys do not include any "broad-breasted" varieties. Just plain bronze, slate, black, bourban red, royal palm, beltsville small white, holland white, jersey buff, narrangansette, and eastern wild would be the heritage breeds that are recognized by those whom are marketing "heritage" turkeys. If anyone knows who took over the flocks from Norman Kardosh, that might be a source of poults in numbers. Or, possibly try contacting Danny Padgett at Surperior Farms in Yukon, Okla.

Some people believe, and I tend to agree, that the Beltsville is, or at least was originally developed to be, a broad breasted breed. The Eastern wild, is usually considered to be one of several subspecies of wild turkey, not a breed, and certainly not a "heritage" breed. The term has become so overused and misunderstood, that it no longer has much valid meaning, except to hucksters looking to make a quick buck, or to those who don't know any better. The APA has a name for heritage breeds. They call them breeds.

[Bob308]

While I do keep to my side of the show room a lot I do enjoy and study all parts of our fancy, including its history. Is it just me or has the term "Heritage" been thrown around a lot lately. I see it everywhere and very seldom in a specific way. Almost generic. Maybe it is just me.

Bob

[Patrick]

It's not you. It's lost it's significance. Even many of your bantams are now referred to as heritage, despite most having been developed within the last 50 or 75 years.

[MattL]

I think "Heritage" moniker has fallen the way of the "Organic" moniker which now means it cost a heck of a lot more than the regular stuff. And the we have the "Show Quality"moniker, but thats a whole separate thread :twisted:
MattL

[Glenda L Heywood]

Here is a reply from the turkey board, R0odney Haefs of Minnesota who is a purebred breeder and may be able to help the 4-H'ers out with this info
[RHT] This person needs heritage turkey poults for 4-HMonday,
From: "Rodney Haefs" <haefsfm@frontiernet.net>
To: RareHeritageTurkey@yahoogroups.com

Go to Meyers Hatchery Website. I've bought Turkey poults from them for freezer birds and they treat you right. Rodney
Glenda L Heywood
http://www.gkpet.com

[goosedragon]

I think "Heritage" moniker has fallen the way of the "Organic" moniker which now means it cost a heck of a lot more than the regular stuff. And the we have the "Show Quality"moniker, but thats a whole separate thread :twisted:
MattL
It is generally agreed (outside the APA at least) that a Heritage Turkey must have 3 qualities: 1) the ability to breed naturally [like heritage fruits must come from saved, not hybrid, seeds], 2) that they be slow growing, not making it to market weight in the 26 weeks or less of comerical turkeys. 3) that they have a long life span, not dying off the first year as commerical birds tend to do because of their super fast growth.
Are APA turkeys considered breeds or varieties since they all have the same basic type? ~gd

[MattL]

Are APA turkeys considered breeds or varieties since they all have the same basic type? ~gd

You are correct GD, Turkeys are one breed with one type and the size(weight) and color variations make the varieties.
MattL

[cmaddalena]

Meyer Hatchery is WONDERFUL to deal with and you can even buy toms OR hens. That is important to us as our market is stictly hens.