Recent content by Scottingitup

Looks good to me I think you are correct.

I would remove the tom so that he does not have access to the hens. In my past experience they will continue to try and breed crushing eggs and/or injuring the hens.

They went at it for about 30 minutes pretty crazy.

Good ole winter storm leon But it is supposed to be 65 saturday...

Taking free range a little too far - next he'll want a license!

I have to clip the younger birds wings, once they reach a certain size they pretty much give up on flying.

They could be thinking you are the alpha male and letting you breed them. Scratch their back with both hands a little - if they ruffle all their feathers and shake then walk off - that would be a confirmation. Most turkeys don't start laying until the season after they are born though.

Today I bring better news. The snares worked PERFECTLY I caught a nasty old big male coyote who came in last night. He has since been dealt with. No birds injured. I will reset the snare this evening - probably going to keep them up 24/7/365. Also the babies are doing well.

4 replacements hatched on Friday, here they are with Abe and Gary coming to investigate. Also picked up 3 americauna pullets to join them in the brooder and teach them :-)

I did the same a few months back, no issues on the ones left alive. (see me thread about dog... :-( )

Not letting my guard down but no sign of the dog returning. The first batch of replacements is due to hatch on Thursday - only got 5-6 out of those. Put another batch in a week ago - those eggs are more fresh so should see hopefully more than a dozen. This fall it will unfortunately be time...

Alrighty after doing some google searches and youtube viewing I built 3 cable snares (legal where I live yay!) - hopefully this will catch the bugger! Will be awesome since I didn't spend but 3 cents to make them. (Modified pennies make the lock pieces) Probable gate access point: Setup for...

Yes they are in the OMG MUST INVESTIGATE EVERYTHING phase. Once they mature they will most likely become more standoff - mine will approach but stay a few feet back. Don't reward the lap behavior unless you want a 30+ lb tom trying to sit on you.

This time it did not enter the property. There is a ~2 foot space between the rear of the pen fencing and my neighbors privacy fence. So at least I already have a nicely constrained area for a trap / snare.

4 am attack - gone as soon as I stepped out the front door. One hopefully minor injury and evidence of it trying to dig into the pen. I am calling animal control today and seeing if they have a trap big enough - if not I'll call another company. I don't think there is any other way I will get...