Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[Kev]

I'm actually butchering a few of my cockerels for the first time this weekend. They're definitely sold as meat birds and I can't wait to find out how they taste.

Are some of them non NN? It would be great to see if there's an opinion on texture/taste difference between NN and the others from a first timer...

 

[Kev]

A local place (Whiting Farms) supposedly brought the original birds in from France but that's the extent I know of them. He has a lot of other project birds (production green egg layers, production blue egg layers, etc) and for the last couple of years haf sold them at the local Murdochs stores. I like the egg layers and I really liked these meat birds too. We butchered eight (6 roosters and 2 pullets) last weekend and they dressed at 3.5 - 4 lbs which is just what we had wanted. I liked them because they act like normal chickens and I didn't have to worry about feed restriction or leg problems - friendly too. I just done know how big they'll get as the grow out and how well they'll tolerate the heat. But it seems like it might be worth a try to see if I can raise a few of my own or cross with my Naked Necks and raise them for a half decent meat chicken. I'll take slower growth to not have to worry about some of the other issues. I'll try to post some pics later.

Do you know if it's the same place famous for fly flishing feathers?

Anyways, how did the birds taste? Looking forward to pictures- am starting to see label rouge birds being sold but not many pictures of live birds yet.

 

[Kev]

Haven't been on here in a while, but I need opinions. So, thru the years, I have noticed that male NNs start getting red around the back of he earlobe/neck area at about 4-5 weeks old. Well, I hatched a NN from an olive egg and was excited about it until I got a good look at it's legs. Huge! Right off the bat. So, I figured a male. But, I decided to hang on to it to see how it grew out. Well, it is now about 7 weeks old. No red behind the ears/neck area, no red/orange colors coming out on its wings and no pointy iridescent saddle feathers on its back......yet! Is it still really early or might I luck out with a female? Opinion please!

Looking pullet-ish to me.. Like the colors.

 

[Kev]

Some of my cute NN hatches.

Okay those are cute babies! I feel so silly, was staring at the last pic and thinking that hen has the freakiest toes ever..... LOL

 

[CliffB]

Well my girl went broody at 9 month. So far i've got 4 out of 10 eggs. The dad is a black showgirl, moms are a black turken, a white showgirl and a smooth white showgirl. No idea who the fuzzy yellow one would have come from.

 

[DesertChic]

Looks like a pullet for that age

X2

 

[Kassaundra]

Cute pics everyone

@Flowerbh looks like a girl so far.

 

[Flowerbh]

Cute pics everyone

@Flowerbh looks like a girl so far.

 

[Sierra987]

Some of the local "Label Rouge".

 

[Sierra987]

Do you know if it's the same place famous for fly flishing feathers?

Anyways, how did the birds taste? Looking forward to pictures- am starting to see label rouge birds being sold but not many pictures of live birds yet.

Yes it is.

I haven't eaten one yet, just a small Cornish X that had to be culled. But they sure look good although not as much breast meat as the Cornish x. I did add a pic of them in the freezer.