50 straight run Jumbo Cornish Cross
10 Hatchery Choice Waterfowl Special
3 Straight Run Bronze-Broad Breasted Turkeys
3 Straight Run Bourbon Red Turkeys
Last year we lost all of our turkeys except one.
Big Red seems to be hangin' around for the long haul. I did see him eyeing up the lovely lady chickens so I told the Farmer it may be time to get him some friends. Hopefully, our straight run includes all females and not all Toms.
I debated on what to order for meat birds. We last we ordered the heavy fryers but in the end, I just wasn't happy. I looked into the freedom meat birds but decided to go with what I've been successful with in the past - Jumbo Cornish Cross. When fed and cared for properly, these can get to be quite the meaty bird. The heavies just took too long to get to butchering size. If I go 4-5 months on the Jumbo Cornish Cross, I can have birds that dress out at 12-15 pounds. The heavies had to go almost 8 months and we were only getting birds dressed out at 4-5 pounds.
I'm also getting 6 geese and 4 ducks. I'm not picky on the breed and the hatchery special is the best price.
This year, the Farmer is also building moveable pens for the jumbo cornish cross. Turkeys, ducks, and geese roam free and usually the chickens also if we aren't having problems with predictors.
I didn't order any new chicks. We're going to collect eggs and hatch out our own. I do have one little hen who's already escaped the chicken coop for the summer so we'll probably be seeing little chicks wandering around in a couple of months.
I'm so excited for spring! And it's really easy to say that because it's supposed to be 74 degrees out today!
Lisa
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