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Turkey Tuesday – Moving Day!

When the turkeys are 6 (5?) weeks old, we move them from the brooder house to the finishers.  The 20,000 are split into two buildings that are 526 ft. x 60 ft.

Moving day(s) were Saturday and Monday.

How do you move 20,000 turkeys 1/4 mile down the road?

Like this:

 

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I only had a few minutes to snap pictures, and when I showed up with the morning snack and my camera, the turkey moves all decided it was break time.  So no pictures of them in action.

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The entire process takes about 6 people and  8-10 hours.   One person drives the truck, one stays at the finishers to move the freshly delivered turkeys to the end of the building, and three or four wave feed sacks at the turkeys to herd them towards the poult trailer.  I think we should train a dog to herd them, instead.

I didn’t help this time because I had a Creative Memories Get Together already scheduled.  We had our regulars, Larry and Beth, Bart’s dad, and two others.  Larry is semi-retired and works a bunch of odd jobs.  He’s been moving turkeys for 40+ years.  Beth is also semi-retired, and has worked on turkey farms for years.  She helps us out part time.  We will often times hire high school boys to help, but because we have to move on a Monday this time, we got two college students that just finished finals instead.

Anyway, the trailer has a conveyor belt, and one person gets to stand next to it and press the button to move the belt as the others “shoo” the turkeys onto the cart.  Moving the belt is my favorite job.

This cart holds about 800 birds.  In the winter, it is covered with a tarp to keep them warm while they are moving.

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The finishers have different feeders and waterers for the bigger birds, and the buildings are a lot bigger, giving the turkeys way more room to grow.

Enjoy your new home, turkeys! 

Would you like to comment?

  1. Thank you for being so transparent with your Turkey Tuesdays! I wish more people knew the big white barns are a good home for the birds!

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  2. This is so neat to get to see how you all operate! You've got such an interesting perspective as a grower and I'm looking forward to reading more about you, your family and your farm!

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  3. Love Turkey Tuesday!!!!! Thank you for being a farmer. Did you know I have an undeclared minor in Poultry Science? I do!!

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