Colorado

[uzisuzuki]

I was just checking out McMurray and got all excited to see they have peachicks! And then I saw the price and yeah. I'll hold out hope that I just get another pea to randomly show up in my yard again. Holy. Smokes. I keep forgetting how expensive they are!

 

[KLBCOS]

We purchased are pullets from McMurray. We were very satisfied.

 

[KLBCOS]

Cluckylady812 - Ditto on what Suncatcher said!!  Please let us know.  I'm tired of ordering and getting a bunch of "packing peanuts" that I don't want .

We are interested as well.

 

[KLBCOS]

Here's a bit more of our bus set up. It's definitely a work on progress. Oh, the biggest challenge with 100+ chickens is what to do with all the manure and how to keep the coop clean. We now have a local farmer come and clean out all the bedding once a month and haul the manure away (he has 500 acres just a few miles from us). We are in Peyton, CO. That has been a godsend.
Here is a picture with the roost bars in the up position

Here's a picture of the coop all clean and roost bars down. You can see my heated water bucket. I drill a rectangular hole just big enough for the heater cord then duct tape around the hole... No poop inside.

Yesterday and today's project. Built a gate for the run. We've had a makeshift entry and a section came loose at the base and 90 chickens decided to come out and hang out under the bus last Saturday

. So, the gate is completed. The biggest challenge is I had carpel tunnel surgery 3.5 weeks ago. So my right had is weak and sore sometimes. But this is helping to strengthen it.

 

[suncatcher]

KLB, That looks awesome! Bet they are enjoying all the room!

Uzi, I jus found an ad on CL for pea hens, yep, very pricey!!! You can always hatch eggs from yours, or let them hatch them out.

Just checked with my favorite hatchery of late, Ideal, and you have to buy at least ten turkeys as they come from an outside source, so McMurry looking like a great source for Turkeys for next year!

 

[uzisuzuki]

KLB, That looks awesome! Bet they are enjoying all the room!

Uzi, I jus found an ad on CL for pea hens, yep, very pricey!!! You can always hatch eggs from yours, or let them hatch them out.

Just checked with my favorite hatchery of late, Ideal, and you have to buy at least ten turkeys as they come from an outside source, so McMurry looking like a great source for Turkeys for next year!

If they last that long, I'm hoping they like Damien enough to breed with him and try to hatch some eggs. Since I had a mystery egg this week, I looked up when peas start laying eggs and found out that they don't really start laying until year 2. So, we've got some time!

Maybe by then, I'll have finally built up all the shelters I want for the birds!

I'm so going to need those 2 years.

I have a confession: turkeys are the only animals that freak me out. I don't know why, so I'm super curious what they're like if you raise them from eggs/chicks.

 

[megshenhut]

Uzi,

Turkeys are like any other bird, except for bigger, way bigger. They are very curious, but very freaked out about changes to their pen, more so than chickens. The poults (what baby turkeys are called) are like chicks only bigger and make a way bigger mess. Their temperament varies just like chickens do. Catching a turkey usually means getting beat with wings unless you do it after dark. Think of how bad it hurt when you got hit with the peacock's wings. Yeah, painful.

 

[KLBCOS]

One more coop hack... Coop ventilation
I bought a set of 4 furnace filters for $4 @ home depot. I opened the window and screwed a set of two to each window. Test drove two windows worked great. I did 4 more. 100+ chickens create a lot of moisture in the coop. I use a similar method in our little 4x8 coop as well.

 

[oshun55555]

Quote: They are a lot of fun, I can't Imagine the farm without some turkeys, I love watching them play with magpies, the magpies try to tease them and the turkeys have a ball chasing them, however I have had far more aggressive toms over the years that aggressive Cock Birds.

 

[samsr]

They are a lot of fun, I can't Imagine the farm without some turkeys, I love watching them play with magpies, the magpies try to tease them and the turkeys have a ball chasing them, however I have had far more aggressive toms over the years that aggressive Cock Birds. 

My neighbor had a tunkey that i named damien. He liked to attack me when i would go over to collect eggs and lock up his chickens when he was away. I finally figure out that it was my light blue work shirt that set him off. I would have to grab a stick and point it at him when i walked by. He would follow me clear to the other side of the house when i would get into my car and leave. I guess he thought i was a big tom to come and steel his girls. Mean old guy and never produced a single fertile egg with his hens. He disnt last past the first season. My neighbor raised 21 turkeys this year and all were well behaved. They took care of the onslought of grass hoppers we had this year.
I wish my wife would let me get a few domestic turkeys. Wild ones, i definately have. Last count was 56. Very hungry guys but i do like watching them.