When to start raising turkeys for thanksgiving
Grow Your Own Thanksgiving Turkey - 4 Simple Phases
Hey good morning how you guys doing I'll
let you guys out in a minute but first I
want to move you to new grass as a
family we love and cherish having a nice
turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas
for that matter and even sometimes
throughout the year for no good reason
at all except good-tasting me problem
was we couldn't find local healthy
organic free-range on pasture turkeys so
this year we decided to do it ourselves
it's be my first time ever doing this
I'm going to show you how I was
successfully able to do it from all the
way to the beginning to the end I'll
talk about some of the mistakes I made
and what I would do next time to prevent
that and of course I'll talk about the
tools and strategies I used my rookie
season to be success and I'll break down
our story into four phases and finally
I'll talk about the advantages and
disadvantages compared to chickens be
sure to check out the show notes where I
link all the resources I mentioned in
this video all right let's do this
the first phase of our story was to make
a plan we found out that turkeys needed
a special high protein feed so we found
out where to get it
luckily we had an organic type farm
store nearby that we could get it here
in our town we also figured out that we
would need to baby them more than
chickens twice as long up to eight weeks
so we figured out a nice place in our
house where we could actually do that we
also figured out how many birds we would
get we wanted at least two for the
holidays it was our first run so what
deck we bought 14 then we made sure we
had the right supplies to transition
them to grass and for that matter we
came up with a plan to raise them in the
brooder transition them to the grass and
then to be full time on the grass so
then we made sure we had the right
equipment like this electric poultry net
and an extra housing to house them in
for when they were out in the field and
of course made sure that we had their
feeders and waterers and things like
that early in the year I'm talking like
January long before we would get them in
May we found a breeder we went with
someone through the sustainable poultry
Network and so we just went with the
breed that we could get that's closer to
us it's the bronze breasted it's been a
wonderful breed if you can't find
anybody through the sustainable poultry
Network you could try the livestock
Conservancy even Craigslist and then if
you need to hatcheries online they'll
ship anywhere then we made our order of
these Poltz
plan for them to be hatched in about
mount maius so it's nice and warm in the
spring but they're also ready by now
like early November just in time for
Thanksgiving
the second phase of our story is the
brooding face for brooding 14 turkeys we
went to the tractor supply and bought
the metal trough I believe it's the two
foot by 8 foot
it was awesome to serve as the brooder
we placed this in our large hallway at
room temperature then we put down at
least eight inches of pine shavings for
bedding and then everyday we added a
little more to keep it fresh and didn't
have to change it out to the very end we
use a standard heat lamp just attaching
it to the trough with a white light but
notice that the turkeys were picking at
each other until we read up about it and
we learned that we should put a red heat
lamp in there and we kept that going
24/7 not only do they stop picking at
each other as much they still picked on
each other a little bit which is normal
they actually slept and rested a little
bit better during the day to simulate
daylight we kept the hall light on since
we are told that turkeys were so fragile
in the beginning we really upped our
preventive measures we gave them magic
water which is warm water mixed with
apple cider vinegar some crushed garlic
and some honey
and then we fermented their feed I think
up to the first four weeks and guess
what we only lost one out of 14 that's
seven percent part of the key was
keeping their bedding fresh adding
bedding every day but it was also
keeping their water and fear clean to do
that I would put a little cup in there
in the in the bedding so that the water
and the feeder would sit above that and
at some point they began to hop up on
the water and feeder to perch and they
would poop in it and so I got to where I
would tape a plate plate on top of that
and that kind of work I'd have to adjust
that every day but at least it got the
poop out of there maybe next time I
would try to figure out a better way to
do it so I didn't have to adjust that
every day and it was more permanent
after a few weeks some of the turkeys
started jumping out going walking around
in our house I built this frame just to
fit the top of that thing it worked out
great just two by twos one half inch
wire mesh a mount for the heat lamp it
worked great to keep them in of course I
used turkey starter for the first six
weeks of their life
so in addition to the fermenting and the
magic water as I like to call it I would
bring in fresh greens from the yard
I noticed early on that they would be
loud if they were stressed out if
somehow one of the kids turned off the
heat lamp or they were out of water or
feed they would start chirping and be
loud and that was cool because they were
inside and we could hear if they were
stressed out and fixed it really quick
now one thing I should say don't be
alarmed at dead-looking turkeys I don't
know how many times I thought somebody
was dead they just but they're so
relaxed and fragile in the beginning
compared to chickens they're just laying
down there and you will swear they're
dead they're not let them rest I mean I
first like us you're probably going to
want to poke at them a little bit just
to make sure but if one dies like like
it did for us
you just dispose of it correctly but
don't worry about it if one dies it's
part of the process you're trying to
eliminate as much that as possible the
third face my favorite was transitioning
them to grass around six weeks as we
transition from Turkey starter feed to
Turkey grower feed we also started
transitioning them outside we put them
outside during the day transporting them
with a cardboard box we put them outside
in a floorless cage we also put a shade
cloth over it so no aerial predators
would get them and to provide them shade
during the day from the hot Sun to give
them that extra protection give them
that extra care at night we would bring
them back in but not turn on the heat
lamp in the morning before we move them
out we would move the cage to new grass
and was absolutely amazing to put them
out there and to see just how much they
really enjoyed it they would just pick
all day long of course we would bring
their water and feed out there too as a
supplement but I really started to
notice then that the turkeys really
liked the grass and can really eat a lot
from the land
the fourth phase in our story was
maturing them on grass for my pasture
setup I used the premier 1 164 foot
electric fence and this chicken coop
that I wasn't using that's one thing I
do different they didn't like this
chicken coop they don't like the
enclosure like chickens do I found out
they would much rather have something
more open in fact they tried to perch on
top on the open door outside on the
ground so I would make a more Airy coop
definitely a roof and some sort of
protection over the side because we have
an owl problem here so maybe some
poultry net but something so that a lot
of air can go through and they really
feel like they're out in the open I
tried to let them perch on the roof and
outside like they wanted to but an al
got them and then they got a little
older and I thought I'd let them try it
again and then I'll cap get him we lost
three that way so that's definitely my
biggest mistake from then on we herded
them in every night in fact hurting him
in was so easy actually the children did
it probably for the last two months
herded these guys in every night and we
didn't lose one since then I moved these
guys every week or two to fresh grass I
notice they ate so much from the land as
compared to the chickens the first thing
they do when they come out is is get on
the grass especially when you move them
to a new place it's gonna be really
exciting I'm about to move these guys
and you'll see they'll go for the grass
not the feed first and if you can and if
I could have do if I had more time you
can move them more often the more you
move them the fresher the grasses the
more they're going to eat off the land
and less grain inputs you're going to
have to feed them from outside your farm
it's absolutely amazing
all told it took about 15 backs organic
I was paying about thirty four dollars a
bag for those things to raise ten Birds
so that's only fifty dollars a bird and
around here we get $10 a pound so I
estimate about 10 pound bird maybe more
maybe a hair less
we'll see butchering that's double the
money that's not bad and if you raise
one turkey for 50 bucks yourself that's
great if you're buying the heritage
free-range turkeys around here if you
did spring for that it's going to be
like two hundred and fifty bucks so I'm
really excited about that and I know
this story I could tell this story when
we sit down to Thanksgiving would give
me like kids you remember heard these
every night you remember when they would
get out every night and we would chase
them and oh and by the way if they do
get out I forgot to address that problem
just clip their wings they got to where
they would fly over the fence and we got
a little worried about it because too
many we're getting out you just clip
their wings and that solved the problem
for us for the most part okay so this
has a story and this is a special meal
and I believe from my own conviction
this is priceless you just can't buy
this ah let me compare these guys two
chickens real quick well first of all
they aren't crazy impossible like
everybody made me think I didn't lose
half my pulse in the beginning I'm
extremely happy about how well they
Forge and survive on grass compared to
chickens for that matter they have a
different purpose in the sense that now
I do love that a chicken scratches
because that's a tilling machine but
there is a place where you might not
want chilling like mowing grass look
check this up check this out I mean they
didn't get the big stuff but this is
well mowed but not torn up you know what
I'm saying
and it's a little beat-up right now but
it's going to come back so lush because
of that manure plus they add a variety
of flavour to the table
there are many turkey dishes you just
don't want to make with chicken and as a
homestead are trying to grow most your
food you want the biggest variety
possible the easiest way and I think
turkeys are a great transition addition
if you're already doing chickens it's
not that hard to transition into turkeys
or it's not that hard to do turkeys
before you do anything else in many ways
they're easier because there's so much
more gentle and calm and can eat more
from the land okay you guys ready for
this this is the best part
this is
the best part of firemen right here
grass-based Pharma come on out guys
enjoy the new grass see look how calm
quiet they're gonna check out
their new surrounding now they're not
the smartest they do have bird brain
especially this one will not sometimes
will not walk out that door come on man
the doors right here here talking to
each other she will eventually get get
out again I'm puffing I got mostly males
they'll come out here no no puppy look
they eat in the grass yes I love you
guys I'm pretty convinced that if I
committed to moving them every day I
wouldn't even have to feed them grain to
wrap this video up in conclusion I love
this I absolutely love this I would
totally do it again just a few things I
would change but totally excited and
happy about this process on one thing I
thought of is that I said it was $50 a
bird but remember what if I was only
going to keep two or five I would have
five others to sell and if I sold five
at just $100 apiece that's fifty five
hundred dollars that's covering my feed
cost essentially I grew my own
Thanksgiving Christmas and a few other
turkeys throughout the year for no cost
to see and it's not that much harder to
grow ten turkeys than it is to so it's
absolutely amazing system absolutely
love it I couldn't be more happy about
it be sure to check out the notes for
all the resources and I wish you the
best on your own adventures raising your
own Thanksgiving turkey
