GOT TURKEY????

Well, I finally did it! I just ordered my Turkeys!
Scheduled to ship Monday 4-13-09

I'm very excited, although a bit apprehensive as I've read they can be pretty stupid. I also ordered some chicks along with the turkeys as supposedly chicks will help the turkeys find the food and water. OMG!! They can't even find food or water on their own? How have they survived this long? Then I read a suggestion that you put colored marbles in their water to help "draw" them to it. Okay, the "shiny object theory", I can SO understand!! Apparently one of the hens will need to be named Ester!

Speaking of names, it's time to start thinking of some. Okay, so I'm not sure it's wise to name birds that you're going to eat, but oh well. After much debate and research I decided on the Bourbon Reds Turkeys. They are a moderate sized bird, the toms at 33# and the hens at 18#. Trust me, that's moderate! Some get in the high 40# range!! I don't need a bird that out weighs my dogs!! Then I might as well get an Emu. Tried that actually, couldn't get Bill to go for that one.

There's that shiny object!! FOCUS ESTER!!!

Back to names. These turkeys were "created" in Kentucky, so I figure they should have COOL Race Horse Type Names. Not necessarily a famous race horse, just fun names. Such as:

A Little Well Done
Butter Me Up
My Heart Ain't In It
Or how about:
Late for Dinner

Anyway, start thinking. Bill thinks naming the birds is a VERY BAD IDEA!!!

Speaking of Bill. When I "told" him last Fall we were getting turkeys in the spring he was having NONE of it! NO NO NO!! So, I kept dropping "no too suttle" hints along the way and apparently "Back Yard Poultry" magazine was on my side, because when we got our copy in the mail it was all about turkeys!! Was that fate or what? Timing is everything!

Here's the clincher. OMG! Bill is great, he likes to keep me busy reading, which in turn "HE" thinks, keeps me from thinking up projects for him to do. He regularly picks up books for me at the library and yesterday he'd made a trip. Imagine my surprise when I saw a book on "Raising Turkeys" on the kitchen table!!! Now, I did NOT ask for him to find me this book. He did it ALL on his own. He's obviously been worn down to accepting that we will have turkeys. VBG

As I browsed through the book last night I learned a few interesting tidbits. Did you know that commercial turkeys are too large to breed naturally. So people need to artificially inseminate them!! (How would you like THAT JOB!) They have pictures and everything!! I might keep a pair back for breeding. Luckily, I'll be able to use Meme's expertise in this area. (She's a Vet Tech) I'll just have to figure out a way to break this news to her. Oh, wait, I think I just did! Luckily Meme, they are suppose to be able to breed naturally.

I had been waiting for Cackle Hatchery to open up their website for 2009 Orders. It opened a couple weeks ago, so it was time to start thinking seriously about what I wanted. I decided on 10 birds. That sounded like a pretty good number and manageable. They have a minimum order of 15, so I'd get 5 Ameraucana's too (Easter Egg Chickens) as I only have one left that lays green eggs.

So this morning I grabbed Bill's credit card and started to place my order. As I did my final research, weight/feed calculations, I decided 10 might be a few too many. First off, what if they all die? What if we can't butcher them? What if I get stuck with 300#s of turkey that needs to be fed through the winter? Okay, maybe 10 is too many. Lets start off with 6. Yep, 6 is good. That way, if I lose them it's not a huge deal and I know not to try again. Or if we can't butcher them, we know not to try again. So I decreased the turkey and increased the chicks (they are smaller and cheaper to feed).

Hopefully they will be arriving in April. Hopefully it's a warm spring. Hopefully they learn FAST!! Hopefully they don't chase Bill around the yard like the geese did. At least he'd be more willing to have them butchered!!

I wonder if you can clicker train a Turkey?? Gobble - Click- Treat!