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Breeds, cont.
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Raising turkeys often proves
more profitable than chickens because farmers can charge up
to $3 per pound. Many growers stock fewer turkeys in pens because
of their wide wingspans.
- Photo by Edwin Remsberg |
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Some efforts are underway to make the Cornish Cross a heartier
bird for range poultry production. Hatcheries such as Shady Lane
Poultry Farm, Inc., in Winchester, Ky., provide day-old chicks bred
to succeed on pasture. Farmers like Matt John, owner of Shady Lane,
raise Cornish Cross birds as parent stock, then select offspring
that are better adapted to forage. Those chicks are said to perform
well in outdoor settings. See “Poultry
Genetics for Pastured Production”.
Layers. There is no overwhelmingly favored variety of laying
hen for range poultry production. Several breeds, including Rhode
Island Reds, Leghorns and Plymouth Rocks supply reliably large numbers
of eggs. The Cooperative Extension Service can help beginners determine
the best varieties for the type of operation they envision, and
put them in contact with nearby hatcheries.
Turkeys. The “Cornish Cross” of turkeys
is the Broad Breasted White. Again borrowed from the confinement
industry, the Broad Breasted is a fast-growing bird that takes about
four months to reach market weights of about 18 to 22 pounds. Many
who have raised turkeys say they are more manageable in many ways
than broilers, and that they convert forage to meat much better
than chickens.
Joleen Marquardt, a field pen poultry producer in Pine Bluff, Wyo.,
said she and her children were at first intimidated by the sheer
size of their turkeys at processing time, but found them more docile
than broilers.
“The weight gets to be a little much after a full day, but
it’s not nearly as bad as I anticipated,” she said.
Turkeys are generally more resistant to illness than broilers,
says Chuck Smith, and are better foragers. Moreover, turkeys are
even easier to market. “We’ve never once had a problem
selling every turkey we produce, and most of the time way in advance,”
he noted. “Chickens are gravy, but turkeys are dessert.”
The “Label Rouge” of turkeys are the heritage breeds.
Heritage breeds take longer to grow and develop a flavorful, moist
carcass. Varieties include the Bourbon Red, Spanish Black, the Bronze
and the Royal Palm. More are listed, along with useful information
about turkey production, on the web site of the American Livestock
Breeds Conservancy, in Pittsboro, N.C. (See “Resources,”)
Mortality and Predation
Even more important than the breed of broiler, layer or turkey is
an assurance that you will receive healthy chicks from the hatchery.
Much of that hinges upon delivery times, with more than a day being
undesirable.
Joleen Marquardt has been marketing about 5,000 broilers per season
since she started her business five years ago. Since then, she has
mastered the management skills required and says she knows how to
recognize problems. But the premature mortality rates in her 2001
flocks were the worst she has seen, reaching nearly 20 percent.
(Beginners should expect to lose 10 to 15 percent.)
“The biggest problem was a particular batch that my hatchery
sent early in the season,” Marquardt said. “They didn’t
tell me, but they ran out of Cornish Cross stock and had to get
mine from a hatchery in Michigan. That meant they were in transit
for at least two days, and I think that just took a lot out of them.”
Marquardt came out each morning the first week after the delivery
to find 20 to 30 dead chicks. The whole flock failed to gain market
weight. “I wasn’t even sure they were Cornish Crosses,
they were so scrawny,” she said.
The hatchery eventually replaced most of the flock, but she nonetheless
lost time and money because of the weakened birds.
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