tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post8666928448027737759..comments2024-03-23T04:55:57.478-05:00Comments on Katie Olthoff: The WorstBest Part of Raising TurkeysKatie Olthoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11530237661834412493noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-18851602574696349982014-02-06T15:12:54.825-06:002014-02-06T15:12:54.825-06:00Absolutely stunning photos!! Thanks for the insigh...Absolutely stunning photos!! Thanks for the insight into a turkey farmer's life and I appreciate your term worstbest - totally relate! Harvest is my worstbest time - love the family/food/fellowship that harvest brings and it's my favorite time of the year, but it's the worst because my husband is gone all the time!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-8069118444005305222014-02-06T09:46:21.633-06:002014-02-06T09:46:21.633-06:00Great post Katie! Growing up in a community with ...Great post Katie! Growing up in a community with lots of turkeys I knew some of this but not all of this. Thanks for showing everyone the process!Valhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15680253490735705479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-45472130374149568162014-02-06T07:01:04.633-06:002014-02-06T07:01:04.633-06:00Great question. Because our flocks are rotating, t...Great question. Because our flocks are rotating, there is NEVER a time that we don't have turkeys. That is definitely the hardest part of farming...there is no break on our farm.<br /><br />When we load out, we generally also have a 1 week old flock and a 10 week old flock as well. We have about four weeks to clean out the barns before we move the youngest turkeys in there. Sounds like a lotKatie Olthoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11530237661834412493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-19743041186541300162014-02-05T20:35:37.115-06:002014-02-05T20:35:37.115-06:00Katie - this is such an excellent post. It gives s...Katie - this is such an excellent post. It gives such a good face to your place in the ag industry. How long do you have between shipments to clean barns etc? I hope you get a bit of a break in between. So many of us packed chickens around here in high school (loaded them, whatever) there are so many chicken farms in the area -- some of us girls vaccinated and it was not fun. It was super great Cheyennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216810837548735987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-84630095974464721542014-02-05T15:02:15.891-06:002014-02-05T15:02:15.891-06:00Great question, Carrie! The loading crew are mana...Great question, Carrie! The loading crew are managed by a group of turkey farmers in the area. Kind of a cooperative of sorts. I don't know all the details, but they serve central Iowa and are under the guidance of some of our farmers. In one part of Iowa, it was common for high school boys to serve as the load-out crews...sort of a rite of passage...but now they have a specific loading Katie Olthoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11530237661834412493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-38358933239982711982014-02-05T13:15:43.132-06:002014-02-05T13:15:43.132-06:00My hubs has a question: Are the "loading cre...My hubs has a question: Are the "loading crew" your employees, from the processing plant, or from the trucking company? Cattle don't require their own loading crew ;)<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02167218767825528984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-34995063174307383382014-02-05T13:13:51.439-06:002014-02-05T13:13:51.439-06:00Wow! I thought it was an awesome sight when we ha...Wow! I thought it was an awesome sight when we have 7-8 semis here to ship our beef cattle! 18-20 is A LOT of semis!!! I totally know what you mean about worstbest: whole-heartedly agree about the 1st day of school, and whole-heartedly agree about shipping livestock, I think it's a 'worst' because we have our cattle for 8-9 months, and get our "favorites"--those friendlyAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02167218767825528984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-11121767231231235722014-02-05T12:18:15.891-06:002014-02-05T12:18:15.891-06:0018 - 20 semis...! That's a LOT of turkeys. (...18 - 20 semis...! That's a LOT of turkeys. (not a job for the local backyard...lol)<br />Thank you for sharing. I have never had a chance to see that operation and had always wondered how they did it. ...and love, love Temple Grandin.Barbarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03599739740886087571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2857161791109887176.post-73549855392872897572014-02-05T09:08:16.405-06:002014-02-05T09:08:16.405-06:00I am a big fan of Temple Grandin!
That video was ...I am a big fan of Temple Grandin!<br /><br />That video was a really great way to show people that processing plants aren't full of freaked out birds being tortured. Thanks for sharing!Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16968683314594577902noreply@blogger.com