I am really excited! About 6 weeks ago I ordered 5 turkey poults through Farm and Fleet (oh, and dang it somehow 5 Favorelle chicks ended up in there too!). The biggest problem with ordering directly from hatcheries is that most of them have minimum requirements. For chicks it is 25, for turkey poults it is 15. For someone like me that is a lot unless you are just starting out. Especially with chicks. When I am adding to my flock, at this point in time, I usually want only a few replacement chicks... and with the turkeys this will be a brand new venture so until I know how it goes I did not want 15 turkeys running around my property. This is where feed stores can be a huge help. The biggies like Farm and Fleet and Tractor Supply Company have "chick days" every spring. This is when they sell chicks, ducklings, poults and goslings. They usually order the most common and popular breeds but what they will do is allow you to attach your personal order to one of theirs for specific breeds. For Farm and Fleet it is in increments of 5... soooo that's how I got my five turkeys. I am hoping I get at least one tom and one jenny from the five. They are only ordered "straight run" which means they grab 5 poults and you get what ever they grab. Could be 5 toms, 5 jennies, or any combination of the two. I would like to end up with a breeding pair. The remaining three will be Thanksgiving dinner for us and some friends and aquaintances who have asked for them. If this goes well next year we will take orders for fresh, pastured turkeys that will be processed in time for Thanksgiving. The breed I chose is a heritage breed which is endangered. It is THE north American turkey from tradition... until the hybrid "broadbreasted" whites took over the market. These birds, that you buy at the store are altered in such a way that they cannot breed normally so the hens must be artificially inseminated. They also must be slaughtered by a specific age because their breasts are so large that their legs cannot support their weight. I will be raising Narragannsetts. Of course pictures will be posted when they arrive.
