Customer Reviews

Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys: Breeds, Care, Health

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is probably only helpful to a person who has never raised any kind of poultry because it is so basic. There is not much information specific to raising turkeys and the last half of the book is about killing & eating them. There are not many pictures in this book, and none of the more unusual breeds like Slate or Royal Palm are shown. The internet is probably a better resource for information on caring for turkeys.

After reading Story's chicken and duck book, I felt very much let down by their turkey book. Mercia's attempt to cover the subject was too superficial to be of any real value to someone such as myself wanting to get started with turkeys. Like what are the pros and cons of each breed? How about a little about the breeding of turkeys? Which breeds are best noted for temperment? Cullinary appeal? Which are better for the free range or surviving a winter? How many birds per acre? Holderread's duck book put this one to shame and I felt buying it to be a complete waste of my time and finances. I have found much more useful information on the internet from those that have actual experience raising turkeys in their back yards.

If you want to raise a few dumb broad breasted white turkeys this book will be useful for you. But don't! Instead raise some of the interesting heritage breeds. They are intelligent, fun, and delicious. However, they won't gain weight as fast as the broad breasted white.

The best book on raising turkeys is long out of print. It is "Turkey Management" by Marsden and Martin. Any edition. To learn more about rare heritage turkeys see Christman's "Birds of a Feather: Saving Rare Turkeys from Extinction".

Or join the internet Rare Heritage Turkey list.

I have to agree with three out of the four reviewers prior to mine. This books is focused on broad breasted commercial breeds and industrial or for-profit raising of turkeys. I was looking for a little more info on turkeys and the various breeds, but they are dismissed in the beginning of the book. There are some good ideas on housing and home made feeders, etc. but this information could be found in a more general poultry book. If you need a place to start for turkeys I suppose this is as good as any, but if you are looking for a book about the breeds and why turkeys are different from other poultry, I don't think you'll find what you are looking for with this book. We are not a commercial outfit, we just want to raise our own food in a manner that is humane and takes advantage of the local environment. This year we are starting with Royal Palms, a smaller breed for just the two of us. Next year we'd like to try hatching bourbons. The other books ("Turkey Management" and "Birds of a Feather: Saving Rare Turkeys from Extinction") cited by Gene Hart, above, look more interesting and along the lines of my interests. They did not appear on the usual searches.

I highly recommend this book to farmers and students because the information is practical and useful, and the text is easy to read. Dr. Mercia revised and updated this book with more information on selection, breeding, and birthing techniques which I was particularly interested in. Also updated in this edition is more info on housing and behavior as well as health problems and the remedies for those problems.

There are many photos and illustrations included which also helped me a great deal.

This book is exactly what we were looking for. It came very quickly and was in perfect condition. Will buy again.

Storey's Guide to Raising Turkeys is an invaluable resource for everyone who raises turkeys. It contains the most current information available on selecting the right turkey, breeding and management, processing, feeding and housing, and flock health.

Extensively revised and updated with more than 100 new pages added, Raising Turkeys includes information on selection, housing, space requirements, breeding and birthing techniques, feeding, behavior, and health concerns and remedies for illnesses.

Raising Ducks & Geese: Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin A-18 (Storey Publishing Bulletin)

I was very disappointed in this book. I expected colored pictures to identify the different turkey breeds. The information was too generalized - I found more info available on the internet.

I was very pleased with the book. It was in excelent shape and I received it in less than the time frame.