Turkey topic, questions welcome

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

here's one for ya...

what the heck!?! one of my BR hens is LAYING. now. this late in the season. what is going on? its too late for me to let her set a nest, isnt it??

beside "turkeys are crazy" - any reason why she's doing this?

Was she a this years hatch? If you hatch early enough in the spring they can lay in the fall but it's a short season. I wouldn't let one sit this time of year. I raised a batch of poults one winter - that was enough for me never to do that again. lol

Steve

 

[meriruka]

How many generations can you interbreed turkeys before you get defects?

I started with 1 tom 1/4 related to 3 hens.
They hatched another tom & 2 hens. I want to keep the younger tom because he's even nicer than his dad, but do I need to get him some unrelated hens or can I use any of the existing hens without worring about defects?

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

Gosh, I hate to throw a third question at you, but I need advice about how to successfully raise the babes....I hear it is hard and want to know the secret to not losing any before I order some. And what would you mail order from where, if you were a turkey beginner?

Do you feel needed yet?

Glad to be able to help! Start with this, we wrote an article for Mother Earth News that will help for starters.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/The-Happy-Homesteader/Raising-Turkey-Poults.aspx

I think alot of the problems people have raising turkeys is from the stress the poults have from the shipping itself. Every spring we get emails from people loosing one after another after another. Plus hatchery stock is just that. A breeder will cull the weaklings and have better stock. Kevin Porter is the only one I would order poults from. I have gotten poults from him in the past and they are good quality and healthy. Another option is a local breeder, we are members of the ALBC and they have a breeder database.

I saw a post on another forum where somebody recommended a beginner get broad breasted turkeys to try them out. For the most part I have always raised heritage birds (there was a time I was going to corner the local Thanksgiving market and make a killing with broad breasted turkeys - I ate ALOT of turkey that year. lol) But anyway alot of feed stores carry them and you can practice on them and see what works best for raising them.

Steve

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

Woo hoo!!!

I got one. I have a breeding trio of Bourbon Reds. My first time every with turkeys. I would like to move them from an enclosed run/house to my orchard area which is also home to my 25 chickens. This are is about 1/2 acre and newly fenced. I wish I could have done this sooner but not the case. They are now almost 22 weeks. I was going to clip their wings. Do you think their gonna freak out? Will the great outdoors scare them? To compound the problem my Tom only has one good eye, I think.

Any opinions???

gina

As long as the fencing is secure they should be ok, I would clip their wings to keep them in. Does your pen now connect to the other fenced area? They will try to go back there to roost. I would turn them out on a day (at least, a couple day would be better) so you can keep an eye on them in case they do "head for the hills"

Steve

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

Here's a simple one, which will prove to you just how little i know about turkeys.

Can they freerange with my chickens and ducks? Cuz hubs and I have been pondering them, but really don't have an enclosed area for them and really don't want to build one.

Yes we raise ours with other poultry, if you look at some of the pics on our website you can see them all together. There is a downside, turkeys can get blackhead from chickens. Key word is "can", people will tell you it's given but the illness has to be present in the soil first.

Barred Buff - When people range them with wilds they often do run off with them and in alot of states it's not legal to free range them.

Steve

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

you called it, Turkey Steve! she is this year's gal -- woulda never thought of that.

THANKS!!

whew what a relieve to get a turkey trivia question solved... and hear from someone who's done the winter hatch before. ok its scrambled turkey eggs for all my pigz!

great work!

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

Here is my question from the other thread. I thought it would be better here.

I got my two turkeys as yearlings two years ago and have not gotten a single poult from the silly things. I'm trying to decide whether to give up or give them more time or what.

She lays eggs, but only made a nest once and in a spot that got full sun during the hottest part of the day when temps were over 100 F every day at the time. I moved her to a nice protected spot under a tree and she abandoned it, but first pooped on all the eggs so I couldn't even consider running out to buy an incubator.

I mostly find her eggs on the ground in the middle of the open area where she happened to be walking.

She sat on 30 chicken eggs last Feb-Mar and almost raised six chicks. Then hubby got amorous and came over the wall and smooshed four of the chicks. I moved the last two and a rat got them....then my dog got the rat. Good times.

So I've fed these two for two years and they've given nothing in return. I am torn between turkey broth and getting a couple more females so there will be more eggs at once and more chances of someone going broody. Or it may then be worthwhile to get/make an incubator....but I really don't want more work, I want the hen to do the work.

I rarely see heritage turkeys available, but once in a while I do, but it would probably be a Narragansett or a Royal Palm, that is what I've seen advertised for a reasonable price.

We are pinching pennies here right now otherwise I'd just buy some more birds. I really would like to have more pasture raised turkeys....two of my original three hens turned out to be toms so we ate 'em! So now I really know what I am missing!!!! Help! tongue

Have you ever cracked the eggs and checked for fertility? Your tom could be a dud, or just where she is laying them. Chickens can hatch turkey eggs as well they just can't cover as many. It's a hard choice to start over or wait and see and feed them all winter. There is no way to tell now if you were getting fertile eggs to begin with.

Steve

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

How many generations can you interbreed turkeys before you get defects?

I started with 1 tom 1/4 related to 3 hens.
They hatched another tom & 2 hens. I want to keep the younger tom because he's even nicer than his dad, but do I need to get him some unrelated hens or can I use any of the existing hens without worring about defects?

An old rule of thumb was not to inbreed more than 7/8s Your offspring right now would be 3/4. Since the younger tom is nicer I would keep him and the nicest hens.( depending on how many you want) And mark them. I would also get an unrelated tom and hen or two then line breed them from there. Doing that you can go many years and keep a closed flock.

Steve

 

[steve_of_sandspoultry]

you called it, Turkey Steve! she is this year's gal -- woulda never thought of that.

THANKS!!

whew what a relieve to get a turkey trivia question solved... and hear from someone who's done the winter hatch before. ok its scrambled turkey eggs for all my pigz!

great work!

Like I didn't learn from the poults one year we sat some Indian Runner duck eggs in the fall to. I can't even describe how bad that was.

Steve

 

[meriruka]

Savingsdog, just wanted to add a few tips (forgive me for butting in, Steve).
It seems my turkey chicks were suicidal....I had one drown itself in the chick waterer so I use a quail base until they get past the stage where they fall asleep on their faces.
Also, make sure you have a secure lid on the brooder - I went outside for 10 minutes and one poult managed to get out, cross two rooms and drown itself in the toilet. It was heartbreaking.
I also had one get its foot stuck between the wire cover and the edge of the brooder, it hung upside down for a bit but I managed to see it in time.
Keep track of the temps, I've had a few that started to fry themselves under the lamp even though there was plenty of room for them to move away from the heat.
I also start them on paper towels until they get they hang of eating - they were eating the shavings (which can't be good for them).