I 1 I Birds pampered from birth By Scott Starnes BfThe Print ■The turkey which sits on the Ling room table this coming thanksgiving is no ordinary Id. Every part of it, from the least to the drumsticks, has |en carefully nurtured from lirth to the dinner table by the |rkey farmer. I Guy Wheatley of Molalla is le only turkey farmer in the Bate who naturally breeds his keys. “As far as I know, I’m ■e only one in the state who Leeds his turkeys this way. I Ind that this is the correct way Braising these birds and ob- aining the best quality bird,” Iheatley said.... ■Wheatley said he receives lie turkey chicks on his farm then they are about 12 weeks Id. “Viewpoint Hatcheries, rated in Salem, incubates the irkey eggs and then sells them |me,” he said. “We have to do it this way because the «rent birds do not know how oproperly raise their young.” lOnce receiving the turkey licks, Wheatley said that the Birds are distinguished for reeding, laying and meat pur- we clip their beaks is that they contact diseases from the ground by pecking.” As the 32 weeks roll around the birds are separated into dif ferent categories, Wheatley said. The breeders denote the ¡Before, we have had problems with the Burkey market plants in that they preferred the big meaty birds over the small bird, which we mostly have.” Poses. “Out of 12,000 chicks lout 5,000 are set aside as Breeders,” Wheatley said. (The birds must be at least 36 leeks old before they are even Bnsidered for commercial Irposes, Wheatley said. [During this pre-commercial |ge, the birds’ beaks are lipped and one of their wings lout off, Wheatley said. “I’ve hn the birds take to running |er being scared by Imething, start flapping their lings and fly right out of the jens. We only cut one wing so I to off-balance them,” Wheatley said. I "The reason why we clip R beaks is that they naturally [nd instinctively peck at each Rr and in so doing draw Rd. I don’t know what Res this but when a bird is Rding the others will kill it. fcy’re sort of like cannibals,” Wheatley said. ■After 24 weeks the birds are ren shots for a variety of Rases. “The birds take a lot Ishots,’’Wheatley said.“They re so susceptible to diseases in fair and from the ground,” fsaid. “This is another reason choite birds and are used solely for this purpose. “For the first six months, 110 percent of all the hens are laying, the next five only 85 percent and then the next four and a half, 70 percent of the hens are laying,” Wheatley said. As the laying percentage slowly decreases, many of the birds are but chered, he said. To increase profits, Wheatley has had to pay careful attention tothebreeding birds so that they cannot brood over their eggs. “We receive money for each egg we ship to Viewpoint Hatcheries. Since the birds don’t know how to take care of their young after being hatched, we are losing money by the inevitability of the chicks’ death,” he said. To contain this problem, Wheatley said that they have had to install 260 one hundred watt lightbulbs around the pens so that the birds will not brood over the eggs. “The birds won’t brood in the daylight so we’ve installed these lights for this purpose. This acts as a shock treatment on the birds and for ces them away from brooding, and outside to where it’s cold. The body temperature of the brooding hens increases as they brood over their eggs and thereby forcing them out of the breeding pens,” Wheatley said. When many of the turkeys become no longer useful as breeders or layers, they are shipped to Norbest Inc., for butchering, Wheatley said. “Many turkeys besides the layers and breeders have been raised solely for meat pur-1 poses,” he added. Wheatley said that the breeder ¡birds are a little tougher eating but are fat, which creates a juicier bird. The birds are on an average of two- and-a-half years old before they are sent away for but chering, he said. “Before, we have had problems with the turkey market plants in that they preferred the big meaty birds over the small birds which we mostly have. But many times the consumer only wants to eat turkey for a couple of days and therefore the small bird becomes more practical,” Wheatley said. Wheatley said that the market for turkeys is currently quite good. “A little while back, when beef prices rose con siderable, the turkey plants felt obligated to increase their prices in comparison to the escallating beef prices. This was really stupid on their part,” Wheatley said. “As soon as beef prices receded, the market for turkey at that high cost shot the bottom right out of our boat. “We could have still sold turkey during this time at the same price per pound, met our expenses and lived comfor tably,” he said. Wheatley said there is more to that turkey on your table than meets the eye, and that it has been' a carefully raised and looked after bird. Tidy tax system needed By Kelly Laughlin Of The Print When the legislature con venes in January, property tax relief is expected to head the lawmakers’ list of concerns. But what any potential tax relief package would mean to the College budget remains in question. Whether great or small tax changes are drafted, the college’s financial status will be affected. Ideally, according to President John Hakanson, “if a system was worked out in February, we might have some indication as to how much money we’ll have to work with for the next year.” “There is no question that the legislature will be ad dressing the tax problem early,” said Edward Linquist, state representative for District 26. “The problem we’ll be faced with is getting an effective system going much earlier than June. “A tidy, or at least more ap pealing, tax relief system is needed,” Lindquist added. “We will be looking at systems from other states and locales to get a program that best suits Oregonians. If we didn’t act on it immediately, the people may put a measure together that’s even more damaging than others previous.” If a tax proposal were drafted just before the College budget time arrived, “It would be dif ficult to finalize a budget,” said Hakanson. “We would just have to get as close as possible to what we think we would recieve in revenue. It’s been done before, but never with a tax issue pending. What are the possibilities, then, of overspending? Not likely, according to Hakanson. “We would simply not spend, or at least reduce any ad ditional spending.” Linquist said, however, it’s very likely, that “we’ll give some lead time, in order for local governments to work out their finances, before the effec tive date occurs. We’re not about to let schools and com munity colleges go. They’re our main responsibility,” he said. Although the property tax issue rests high on the legislative agenda, it appears that putting a measure into ef fect too close to the budgetary process would cause great un certainty, and possibly ad ditional problems could arise as a result. CLACKAMAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE ARCHIVES