Porters no longer shipping to Canada

I see on porters website they are no longer accepting Canadian orders. That leaves no one shipping turkeys from the US to Canada?

Oh no, thats not good!

I have been talking with Kevin and he is also feeling the high prices on feed etc and that is one of many issues that brought him to this .There are a few other hatcheries that sell turkeys as well ,Welps I believe sells to Canada ,but I'm not a hundred percent sure about that .Those who have stock from him should realize that what they have might be far and inbetween so watch those turkeys !

There is a god.

Omega Blue Farms wrote:There is a god.

............??..........

Omega Blue Farms wrote:There is a god.

OBF, are you not a Porter's fan?

Schipperkesue wrote:

Omega Blue Farms wrote:There is a god.

OBF, are you not a Porter's fan?

Yes it will be interesting to hear why OBF says that.

I have had great luck with Turkey poults from Porters as I know alot of others have also

My perspective is only relevant to those that honestly care about heritage breed conservation. There is nothing saying that turkey ownership must support conservation. There is nothing to say people can't keep turkeys for the same reasons they keep budgies. The exotic pet owners need not concern themselves with what I write below.

The recent wave of imports coming from Porters is just another example of history repeating itself.

Replacing local stock with stock from one or two hatcheries is damaging our local genepools and shrinking our genetic diversity. The FAO of the United Nations has written about this concept in much detail and the practice is just as destructive whether the imports are factory controlled or deemed "heritage". The overall effect on the genepool is no different than when the majority of caretakers of a breed are all using the same sire, or small group of sires. Something dog breeders in this group have spoken of.

To add salt to the wound, I've seen no evidence that Porter supplies a meat market or even selects for meat traits, the very essence of the turkey breed. We don't eat the feathers. This was extremely evident at a recent turkey workshop where several Porter turkeys were on hand for evaluation. Frank Reese seemed to find it difficult finding anything positive to say about the Porter stock.

It really all boils down to the basic comment from Frank that it takes 200 breeding females to maintain a viable and sustainable genepool. I feel there is some wiggle room here, but agree with the overall concept. I don't know of anyone in Canada that is able to do this on their own. Like it or not, none of us are capable of sustaining a heritage genepool on our own. If we want to maintain our heritage breeds, we have no choice but to work as a community, not individuals.

I invite each individual who is honestly concerned about heritage turkey conservation to look around their region and try and get a rough estimate of the number of breeding females. Divide this number by 200 and this will give an honest estimate of the number of turkey varieties your community can sustainably maintain. I personally feel we would be hardpressed to count 200 on Vancouver Island.

Very interesting! Now my point of view is that I only want to hatch a few turkeys for the freezer. I don't want to maintain a heritage breed but certainly like to see the pretty turkeys free ranging in the yard. So intelligence, summer hardiness and carcass are important to me. Where would you suggest I look for hatching eggs this spring?

My Porter Bred Turkeys that haave beeen butchered have had Good Meat Traits that I liked
They had Good Breast meat Nice Thigh and Leg Meat and weights were good for a real Heritage Turkey without any others bred into it. There are Others that have Processed their turkey from Porters and if I remember reading that the weights were good for Heritage Turkeys maybe they will post again about them.

Alot of People have had alot of Positive Things to say about Porters and alot of people have got their start from Porter Turkeys and People can always breed up and that can only happen by bringing in new and different blood
Just because Frank did not have any thing good to say about him does not mean they are bad
Look with any group of people they do not always agree on different people and what they are breeding.
OBF I really am glad you posted as I always enjoy reading what you post and it always makes a good discussion

Sue I might have eggs for sale next year but I have to tell you alot of my stock is Porters

Joe

I just wanted to add
I went To Frank Reese's Web site and the weights of his Heritage Turkeys are not that impressive
The ones he sells for the holidays range from 8 lbs all the way up to 19.99 lbs
wish I could sell a 8 lb turkey for $124.99
That comes out to 15.00 a pound
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Guess I am in the wrong Buisness

I took the posting as a bit of info for ALL those who have ordered in from there and will miss the oppertunity to get some of the breeds in that we don't have here ? And as a side note ......All of what we have here came here through a supplier of some sort ! might have been a century ago but it still came here and you try telling me that you can prove that these birds didn't come from someone who sold a lot of the same gene pool at that time ? Porters supplied a variety that we have never had here and that includes the bronze breeds ! Turkeys were never a part of this countries wildlife and are all introduced at one point or another and they went from there .Nature I feel takes care of the genetic part of animals so insure that it stays strong and will further itself ...............my thoughts

Not disputing anything said here, but I thought turkeys were native to North America Prairie Dog )?)

Frank Reese doesn't like Porters because Porters are better.
Frank Reese is in this only for the money and not for the heritage breeds.

Porters breeds for meat and also breeds for the feather market.

Susan wrote:Not disputing anything said here, but I thought turkeys were native to North America Prairie Dog )?)

.....I believe that they might have been here ( Canada ) in very small numbers years ago ? but only because they came across the border in the northern states ( again another introduced species from across the border ! ) and most didn't survive due to the cold winters .There re-introduction years ago was an attempt to introduce them here for sportsman after failed attempts with Pheasent ,quail who do survive in some areas but in very low numbers ,these have never been able to build them selves up to a sustainable population .Around here they survived the early years due to all the feed lot's that feed grains to there livestock ,from there they have become less dependent on humans .......but they normally winter close to them ? Maybe in the western provinces there might have been a few flocks that remained wild ,but as a hunter I have never heard of any true wild flocks being located untill after the reintroduction of what we have now .

Appway (Joe) if you have eggs in the Spring could you put me down for a dozen? Thanks.
Nancy

cuckoomama wrote:Appway (Joe) if you have eggs in the Spring could you put me down for a dozen? Thanks.
Nancy

Sure will we will see how it goes

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If we are talking feathers, I find the feathers of my Ridley Bronze extremely valuable. I have a friend who makes beautiful pens from the wing feathers. My daughter and I make jewelry from the softer feathers. They are some of our most popular earring etc and are sold at a high end store here in Saskatoon for a pretty good amount

wild turkeys survived in only the most inaccessible places.

That describes us pretty good up here. Must be why we have a pretty good flock of wild turkeys. They seem to know when it is hunting season, cause they disappear and reappear when it is over. Nice to see them around and hear them out in the fields.

Like I said before, my perspective is only valuable to those that have an honest and serious concern about the conservation of the Heritage turkey breeds. Frank's opinion is based upon a lifetime of experience of maintaining a closed flock while putting turkeys on the dinner table. He is putting 16,000 turkeys onto dinner tables this year. He has more than paid his dues.

We have a 3rd generation heritage turkey farm here on the Island and old man Gunter has similar experience as Reese. Gunter was trained in turkey husbandry by his father. While successful in putting heritage turkeys onto dinner tables, they serve a much smaller and more local market. He too has more than paid his dues.

In comparison, my experience is just a drop in the bucket, only a decade old. My quick and early success is due to recognizing who had valid advice and who was selling smoke and dreams. While supplying the local marketplace with turkey meat, I have become Canada's only APA recognized Grand Master turkey breeder. I suspect I picked the right opinions to follow. I looked for those that actually got the job done. To a much lesser degree, I too have paid my dues.

Recognizing what has actually gotten the job done is a key ingredient to true and honest turkey conservation. It is with such experience that I have concluded that the Porter imports have done nothing but harm Vancouver Island's heritage turkey genepool. Those truely concerned about conservation are not going to be so quick to dismiss such experience.

In Frank's closing remarks to our group, he encouraged the group to quit importing birds and to start learning how to work with what we have. As he stated, we have everything we need right here to build quality turkeys.

I couldn't agree more.

"We do not have the right to speak ill will against other turkey fanciers. "

interesting choice of words, given the context. As a Canadian, I believe I am defending my Canadian freedoms by honestly speaking of the products being supplied to the Canadian marketplace. I believe each and every person who supplies products to Canadians exposes themselves to feedback, whether good or bad. As a Canadian, I have a right to share my experiences with products. It doesn't matter whether it is Maple Leaf bacon or turkey hatching eggs.

Are you suggesting that me excercising such freedoms and rights is inconsistent with Canadian values?

.

Tara Thank you for such a good post I applaud you I really enjoyed reading every single word my hat is off to you

no idea where my turkeys originated from, ( except the Beltsville and Ridleys ) but I sure do have a mess of them... lol
And I have sold alot of eggs all across Canada.
Will miss Porters birds.. I have a few and love them . but I do have a question about his. Arnt most of them color lines? Isnt he into the color genetics? Just asking.