I'm glad you found a good home for a couple of your turkeys. My two I got from you are doing great & are just about as big as the two hens I already had here. You know what's funny though is that Bandaid still isn't gobbling, I can't figure out why. His head is pretty bright red most of the time & his snood is getting bigger, but he just doesn't gobble yet & really hasn't displayed either. I agree about keeping two toms, look what happened to me when I lost my tom. I was just dead in the water with being able to raise any turkeys this year, it was pretty sad.Danz, one thing I've noticed on the feathering is that the Reece BR's feather in REALLY slowly. I have one hatch that consists of both NH and BR's, that all hatched on the same day. They are now a little over a week old and the NH has well developed wing feathers while the BR's have not begun to develop feathers at all yet - they still just have the baby fluff they hatched in.
I just learned I am to "rescue" approximately 7 laying hens this evening. DD works for some people who are going through some hard times right now and she just texted me to say they are out of chicken feed and will I come and get their hens. I decided rather than move them in the heat of the day, if they can hold on for a few more hours, I'd rather transport them in the cool of the evening. I feel bad for them so I will take them some food to eat on their way home, if they aren't too stressed by then to eat. I have no idea what breeds or how old - I don't need any more chickens so I am really just doing this to help out these people.
This, just as I was congratulating myself on reducing my feed bill slightly last night. I sold a pair of turkeys and feel really good about the home they went to. Originally the woman just wanted a tom to go with her two Bourbon Red hens but when she saw mine, she kept exclaiming about how healthy they look and in the end she decided to take a hen as well, because she thought it would help the tom's transition to his new home, to have a companion he knows. I had originally hatched the turkeys to grace our table but at the end of the day, I'd rather see them in a good home.
If anyone is looking for some Royal Palms, send me a PM. I hatched a bunch this year, and while I do plan to keep some as my breeders for next year, any I don't rehome, will have to be dinner since I can't keep this number over the winter. They hatched in Spring so are about 5 months old now and very easy to distinguish the hens from the jakes/toms. The jakes are all displaying and gobbling, and all of them are getting close to their adult size. They are REALLY healthy as in addition to feeding them a quality feed, they free-range most of the day and eat a ton of greens and every grasshopper they find (which is a lot). The result of the natural, high protein diet is beautiful, healthy birds with wonderful feather quality. They are also really friendly as I raised them in the brooder. They come running when I call them, and flock around my feet - very easy to pick up and handle. I need to go out and get some pictures of them. When they display, they are really beautiful as their snoods and flaps turn a very bright shade of red, while their heads turn a bright shade of blue, and those colors against the white/black of their feathers is really stunning.
The woman who bought the pair last night talked me into keeping two toms over the winter. I had originally planned to only keep one as I didn't want to deal with the fighting but she pointed out they probably won't fight until spring, and if I only keep one and something happens to him, I have no way to breed next year. That makes sense. So I've decided to keep two toms, 2 hens and one that I believe to be asexual. If, in the spring, both toms are still healthy, I will probably rehome or eat one of the toms, in order to keep the peace around here.