Turkeys

[Gary A]

I mentioned to my wife that farangs like to eat turkey on holidays. Now I am in the turkey business. Well, not really but she bought a hen and two chicks from someone in the village here and then bought a tom from another village. She is a bit disappointed because it appears that both chicks are toms, but the hen is now sitting on five eggs. She lets them roam free within our walled two rai and feeds them chicken feed at 12 baht per kilo. Now she tells me that I have to put up another fence to keep them out of her garden. Our property is 40 by 80 meters with the house on the front. She wants about 30 meters from the back of the property fenced off and a small pond for water. She also bought some ducklings and she wants the ducks to be able to play in the water.

[Khonwan]

I mentioned to my wife that farangs like to eat turkey on holidays. Now I am in the turkey business. Well, not really but she bought a hen and two chicks from someone in the village here and then bought a tom from another village. She is a bit disappointed because it appears that both chicks are toms, but the hen is now sitting on five eggs. She lets them roam free within our walled two rai and feeds them chicken feed at 12 baht per kilo. Now she tells me that I have to put up another fence to keep them out of her garden. Our property is 40 by 80 meters with the house on the front. She wants about 30 meters from the back of the property fenced off and a small pond for water. She also bought some ducklings and she wants the ducks to be able to play in the water.

Wife's cousin gave us four some years ago but we returned them after only three or four weeks: what a racket, in perfect unison!

[Maizefarmer]

In my early years in Thailand (sounds like I'm about to tell a bedtime story........) I had about 40.

I purchased them on impulse - and nearly shot them all a week later - what a racket they make. The neighbours kids would come by and just stand and stare (laughing at them!).

But come Xmas time (7 months later), I got my son to put word out at school to his ex-pat buddies. They were all sold within a week - and I could have sold more! By the following year things had moved on quite a bit and I really didn't have the time to worry about another pickup full of gobblers.

Okay - heres what I think about it.

I am certain if you had 500 of the ###### things - come Xmas you'd off-load the lot in a flash to the ex-pat community.

But establish the market before hand, put out the word around October to the ex-pat community you have "organic farm" turkeys ripe for the plucking come Xmas. Go round guest house to guest house, apartment block to apartment block (knock on doors and/or leave leaflets). And the catch here is you want to be in a high concentration ex-pat area - in other words you want your farm/small holding to be say 20 k's from Pattaya, or just across the bridge from Phuket Island - somewhere near to a lot of ex-pats, so come delivery time you are not having to do long journeys. I guess you could do it with respect to Bangkok as well - if you had land within a reasonable distance.

The Embassies would be a good market - and Thanks Giving Day (for the American ex-pats) - all cook turkey on these days, not to mention all the ex-pat bars (theres a huge market - get the orders in and if you can do it with a small deposit when the order is placed - which means you're going to have to foot it from door to door and bar to bar in person, with an order form made up on the trusty home pc - then you'll have some committement from the customers).

So, the market is there - no question about.

Pretty much a seasonal thing.

I haven't a clue how many you'd have to slaughter and deliver (i.e. delivery been all about distance & time) to make it financialy viable, but pretty certain with all the above prep work worked out and planned for it would be successfull.

But be warned -as has already been said - they make a racket, and unles you have the space, it's you the neighbours will slaughter for Xmas!

MF

[Gary A]

In my early years in Thailand (sounds like I'm about to tell a bedtime story........) I had about 40.

I purchased them on impulse - and nearly shot them all a week later - what a racket they make. The neighbours kids would come by and just stand and stare (laughing at them!).

But come Xmas time (7 months later), I got my son to put word out at school to his ex-pat buddies. They were all sold within a week - and I could have sold more! By the following year things had moved on quite a bit and I really didn't have the time to worry about another pickup full of gobblers.

Okay - heres what I think about it.

I am certain if you had 500 of the ###### things - come Xmas you'd off-load the lot in a flash to the ex-pat community.

But establish the market before hand, put out the word around October to the ex-pat community you have "organic farm" turkeys ripe for the plucking come Xmas. Go round guest house to guest house, apartment block to apartment block (knock on doors and/or leave leaflets). And the catch here is you want to be in a high concentration ex-pat area - in other words you want your farm/small holding to be say 20 k's from Pattaya, or just across the bridge from Phuket Island - somewhere near to a lot of ex-pats, so come delivery time you are not having to do long journeys. I guess you could do it with respect to Bangkok as well - if you had land within a reasonable distance.

The Embassies would be a good market - and Thanks Giving Day (for the American ex-pats) - all cook turkey on these days, not to mention all the ex-pat bars (theres a huge market - get the orders in and if you can do it with a small deposit when the order is placed - which means you're going to have to foot it from door to door and bar to bar in person, with an order form made up on the trusty home pc - then you'll have some committement from the customers).

So, the market is there - no question about.

Pretty much a seasonal thing.

I haven't a clue how many you'd have to slaughter and deliver (i.e. delivery been all about distance & time) to make it financialy viable, but pretty certain with all the above prep work worked out and planned for it would be successfull.

But be warned -as has already been said - they make a racket, and unles you have the space, it's you the neighbours will slaughter for Xmas!

MF

The turkeys are just kind of a novelty. If the hen had not decided to sit on her eggs, the eggs would have been eaten. The mating pair were pretty expensive. The hen was 400 baht and the tom was 600 baht. In Ohio where I originally came from, all turkey eggs were hatched in an incubator. None of that for me. If the hen manages to hatch some eggs the flock will grow and maybe we will have a few for the table and some for a few friends. If nature doesn't take its course there will be no flock. The tom gobbles when something gets his attention but when he is not bothered he has been pretty quiet. I have no idea what breed they are. They are not the white ones you see on US farms. They actually resemble wild turkeys.

I am retired and do absolutely nothing VERY well. That's the life for me. As far as my neighbors, none are real close to us and the ones that are insist on cooking that stinking charcoal. The village chief has told them they are not permitted to make charcoal in the village but they pay no attention to him. I would actually enjoy seeing the neighbors get irritated. One good turn deserves another.

[Gary A]

Update on the hen turkey; She was sitting on five eggs and four of them hatched today. She is still sitting on the one remaining egg.

[stevehaigh]

i was thinking about raising some turkeys, just enough for me and family for a turkey sandwich a couple of times a week. how long does it take to grow a turkey to maturity (for eating)?

also, i'm a bit worried about the noise thing, i'd only want a few birds, maybe 5ish, would they be going all day and night or is it just for a couple of hours a day?

thx steve

[Gary A]

i was thinking about raising some turkeys, just enough for me and family for a turkey sandwich a couple of times a week. how long does it take to grow a turkey to maturity (for eating)?

also, i'm a bit worried about the noise thing, i'd only want a few birds, maybe 5ish, would they be going all day and night or is it just for a couple of hours a day?

thx steve

When the big day came to kill and roast a home grown turkey I was excited. After roasting the turkey I was VERY disappointed. That thing was a young bird and it was every bit as tough as a Thai range chicken. At that time we were up to about 25 birds. I had plans to sell to farangs for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I soon decided that I wouldn't do that to any of my friends or even an enemy for that matter.

YES, They are noisy and enjoyed sitting on our front porch and crapping all over it. To make a long story short, the last two were due to be part of the New Years party. The guys managed to catch one and the other one managed to fly away. The Thais don't like the taste and make laap out of them. You can make laap out of any meat and never know what it was. Other than making laap, they are too tough to eat any other way.

There will be NO more turkey experiments.

[stevehaigh]

When the big day came to kill and roast a home grown turkey I was excited. After roasting the turkey I was VERY disappointed. That thing was a young bird and it was every bit as tough as a Thai range chicken. At that time we were up to about 25 birds. I had plans to sell to farangs for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I soon decided that I wouldn't do that to any of my friends or even an enemy for that matter.

YES, They are noisy and enjoyed sitting on our front porch and crapping all over it. To make a long story short, the last two were due to be part of the New Years party. The guys managed to catch one and the other one managed to fly away. The Thais don't like the taste and make laap out of them. You can make laap out of any meat and never know what it was. Other than making laap, they are too tough to eat any other way.

There will be NO more turkey experiments.

so do you think the ones sold frozen in macro etc. are imported? they are pretty expensive so maybe.

[Gary A]

When the big day came to kill and roast a home grown turkey I was excited. After roasting the turkey I was VERY disappointed. That thing was a young bird and it was every bit as tough as a Thai range chicken. At that time we were up to about 25 birds. I had plans to sell to farangs for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I soon decided that I wouldn't do that to any of my friends or even an enemy for that matter.

YES, They are noisy and enjoyed sitting on our front porch and crapping all over it. To make a long story short, the last two were due to be part of the New Years party. The guys managed to catch one and the other one managed to fly away. The Thais don't like the taste and make laap out of them. You can make laap out of any meat and never know what it was. Other than making laap, they are too tough to eat any other way.

There will be NO more turkey experiments.

so do you think the ones sold frozen in macro etc. are imported? they are pretty expensive so maybe.

They are likely imported but it is possible to find a specific breed and raise the birds in a confined space. We allowed our to range free. Ours certainly were NOT Butterball Turkeys.

[Maizefarmer]

If you can get in with the hotels/embassies and ex-pat communities, and offer them as "organic" come Xmas and July 4th - you'll make a killing (I know a man who had the market wrapped in the mid-90's) - but other than for that, and unless you have plenty plenty space - away from neighbours - the noise they make will drive you mad within a week or 2!!!!

Believe me - I had a couple, "just for fun" - what a mistake!!

[Maizefarmer]

i was thinking about raising some turkeys, just enough for me and family for a turkey sandwich a couple of times a week. how long does it take to grow a turkey to maturity (for eating)?

also, i'm a bit worried about the noise thing, i'd only want a few birds, maybe 5ish, would they be going all day and night or is it just for a couple of hours a day?

thx steve

No -its 24/7/365 and a 1/4 - one can start at any time - and the rest will join in. Just like geese - anything disturbs them at night, and off they go like clockwork - no, stay away - if you don't kill them within a few weeks you can be sure one of your neighbours will!!

[teletiger]

Hahaha.....yes...geese. I heard they were wonderful "watchdogs". Bought 10. 2 AM, nothing is stirring, accept a single leaf in the branches above. HONK, HONK, HONK. Being 200 meters from the farm, didn't bother me much. Bleary eyed staff convinced me they had to go. Free range and corn fed at night. Tough as old boots. Couldn't give them away. Sliced thinly and sauted was acceptable.....but thats not the Thai way though, is it?

Regards.

[stevehaigh]

ok, macro or villa market it is for my future turkey cravings then. i probably wouldn't have the heart to kill 'em anyhow!