A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[kfelton0002]

There is also a third form. That form is also fatal.

We've had birds with dry pox before and they tend to get over that form without much difficulty. I was unaware of the 3rd form. I hope to never encounter it.

 

[kfelton0002]

My parents were good at poor grammar and poor spelling. Thanks to my grade 7 and 8 English teacher I do better. I was a teenager before I knew what Dad called a tuba four was a 2 x 4

I generally have pretty good spelling and grammar, but occasionally my brain misfires. Now my pronunciation and accent is pretty hillbilly. The tuba four thing sounds like how we pronounce it here in Kentucky.

 

[kfelton0002]

Any way you can get big birds or any other livestock to the table, on your own that works for you is a good way

Yeah the big toms can pack a punch with their wings and legs. However we can get it done with minimal flopping and flailing is best, that's why we like the cone for our chickens. I just have to get a turkey sized one.

 

[kfelton0002]

Yes, the cone keeps the blood contained to a bucket and all the flopping and wing beating helps with bruising (on you and the bird).

Exactly, we bleed the birds over a bucket of pine shavings for easier cleanup. I feel like that will be best to prevent getting beaten up by a struggling tom turkey.

I took my aggressive fall fire jake to my friend the other day and just him struggling to get out of my arms, not really fighting, he flapped his wing and swelled up my bottom lip. He was at least 35 pounds at roughly 8.5 months old so he was almost too big for me to handle.

As my luck would have it, the fall fire is a perfect gentleman at his house. Maybe it's because I raised him he considered me an equal instead of the boss. My friend couldn't get over how big and gentle he was. I was like well I had to fight for my life when I fed the goats because of him.

 

[kfelton0002]

Found out some interesting info from a post by @Capricoco . Since the painted gene is likely recessive and does not breed true, a portion of painted poults come solid white. A percentage come white, some painted, and some tuxedo. That may explain my solo white oddball poult. Fascinating.
I have posted some of my poult pics on the Turkey Genetics 101 fb page but my post oddly didn't get approved.

Here is my oddball poult that, until now, had me perplexed as the rest of the poults appear black based or a split black base and all have some degree of a yellow face mask. So this poult is cc maybe? Also, the purple is blue kote. I had a picker in the bunch, but that behavior has stopped.

Presumably chocolate painted

Darker chocolate painted (presumably)

Black painted appearing poult or maybe tuxedo? (presumably)

So the sire was black painted, and apparently split chocolate, and possibly a white carrier. And the hen was rusty black (split painted/grizzled and possibly split white). Pretty interesting stuff.

 

[kfelton0002]

Had an interesting conversation with the breeder the painted birds originated from in Australia, Daryl Deutscher, and he confirmed that my poults are painted but with other genes influencing the painted look of the birds he wasn't familiar with that is likely coming from the rusty black (grizzled cross) hen, as we have genes in the US that aren't in Australia. The painted birds came from a mutation that occurred on his farm 22 years ago and he sent eggs to Kevin Porter in 2015. I am stoked to say the least.

 

[kfelton0002]

I usually don't like to ask about the sex of birds because I know how hard it is to tell from pics, but I wanted to see what you all thought about this bird. Until today, I thought it was a jake. However it doesn't act like a jake and is not looking like a jake at 6 months old. Also it is more than twice the size of the sweetgrass jenny it is penned with. It's snood is small and J shaped and its tail is not as long as a male. If it's a jenny, she is a BIG girl. It has been my "backup sweetgrass jake." But I'm thinking he is actually a she. It has a mohawk and smaller caruncles. The size is what always made me think jake. It isn't from my original 12, I bought it as a singleton on my birthday (6/23) to be company for a single royal palm poult I hatched. Born approx 6/19/23. This pic is a few weeks old. I can take more.

 

[kfelton0002]

Also, the sweetgrass used to strut when it was younger but not so much anymore. But I know that isn't a determining factor really. A lot of my hens strut.

 

[R2elk]

I usually don't like to ask about the sex of birds because I know how hard it is to tell from pics, but I wanted to see what you all thought about this bird. Until today, I thought it was a jake. However it doesn't act like a jake and is not looking like a jake at 6 months old. Also it is more than twice the size of the sweetgrass jenny it is penned with. It's snood is small and J shaped and its tail is not as long as a male. If it's a jenny, she is a BIG girl. It has been my "backup sweetgrass jake." But I'm thinking he is actually a she. It has a mohawk and smaller caruncles. The size is what always made me think jake. It isn't from my original 12, I bought it as a singleton on my birthday (6/23) to be company for a single royal palm poult I hatched. Born approx 6/19/23. This pic is a few weeks old. I can take more.

View attachment 3713374

If that bird is 6 months old it is a hen.

 

[kfelton0002]

If that bird is 6 months old it is a hen.

Ok thank you! That confirms what I was thinking then. She certainly surprised me!! A happy surprise.