INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Donna R Raybon]

More room, something to do, only fourteen hours of daylight and thn ten hours of dark to sleep, and cooler temperatures.
They have outgrwn kiddie pool.
A head of cabbage quartered, raw corn on the cob, cucumber/zuchinni, cantalope slice, watermelon rind, get them out on grass, apple halved, baked sweet potato halved and so on.
Make sure they have granite chick sized grit sprinkled on feed for a few days and then in a bowl free choice.

1. 
   

Cut the lights off at night and let them sleep.
Check temperature as most keep birds way too warm. Check out the ceramic heat emitter fixtures. PetSmart carries them, but cheaper on eBay.
Make sure you are feeding good quality high protein starter.
If you have predator proof safe outdoor portable pen so they can get out on grass this is best. I bring mine back in house at night.

 

[Jntnrmn]

Toms aren't typically around to help parent. When thinking of turkey flock dynamics, think more of deer or chickens than geese and swans. The boys can be pretty protective of the gals, a
but don't count on it. They are unlikely to parent. Turkeys do sometimes live in "rafters" (turkey flocks) but much of the time, the hens are isolated and expected to be excellent single mothers. If you'd like to help her, put out food, bird seed, hunting bait and scraps out for her and maybe a dry place to be until her kiddos are old enough to go roost in the trees with her. Mother turkeys can be particularly steadfast and courageous ladies when protecting the poults from hawks, raccoons, etc. 

Wild turkeys will look skinny after you're used to domestic flocks; they're much leggier, smaller and thinner.

Try to keep them around because they're super cool to watch. If you're really lucky, you can watch them play tag and a few other peculiar turkey games. 
Put shiny stuff in with them. Tie a bunch of adult feathers up and toss 'em in. Put in a mirror. give them time outside the pool. Anything to get them distracted. Also, spray afflicted individuals with blu-kote. 

Oh thank you so very very much for clearing this up for me...I had already taken scratch, chicken feed and beet pulp to a few areas for her but I wasn't sure she would eat it. She has already found dry semi-safe shelter at the neighbors at night time and hangs around here during the day. I assumed turkey dynamics were more like geese and ducks. Thank you so much for replying. I was ready to travel the state to find her a husband and father for her kids LOL

 

[MikeTodd]

More room, something to do, only fourteen hours of daylight and thn ten hours of dark to sleep, and cooler temperatures.
They have outgrwn kiddie pool.
A head of cabbage quartered, raw corn on the cob, cucumber/zuchinni, cantalope slice, watermelon rind, get them out on grass, apple halved, baked sweet potato halved and so on.
Make sure they have granite chick sized grit sprinkled on feed for a few days and then in a bowl free choice.

1. 
   

Cut the lights off at night and let them sleep.
Check temperature as most keep birds way too warm. Check out the ceramic heat emitter fixtures. PetSmart carries them, but cheaper on eBay.
Make sure you are feeding good quality high protein starter.
If you have predator proof safe outdoor portable pen so they can get out on grass this is best. I bring mine back in house at night.

Thanks! We are going to start them with more food choices and once the coop is complete and predator proof, they will move out there.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

There is a wild turkey with babies in my yard. I believe her mate was killed a couple days ago as I heard an awful commotion of screaming and crashing around in the woods.
If I were to get an adult male (not wild) would they likely take to one another and would he help her with her young. I don't know anything about turkeys but she seems quite thin and young looking to me. I would sure like to help her if I could

She would probably attack him, as he will likely kill her poults. Its enjoyable to watch them. I am surprised she isn't running off when she sees you. I am wondering if she isn't a tame eastern wild, hatcheries do sell them.

Help!!! My chicks are pecking each other!!!
There are 22 in a kiddie pool and range from 2-3wks old. The youger ones peck at a big one and then big ones peck on other big ones!
They have constant access to food and their water is cleaned 3-5 times a day.
How can I stop this?!?

Switch to a red lamp bulb if you are using a heat lamp it will help too.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Our pasture fence and hog pen are both on electric now. And WOW it hurts, its a 50 mile charger. I already forgot and got zapped. My hogs got a new pasture, and are so happy! My big sow, Double stuff has not got the hang of it yet and was zapped a few times. She is learning tho, the sows settled down a lot this evening. Oreo my boar is visiting my neighbors sows for a few weeks.

I downsized to 2 sows, bartered 2 to him for the fence work and other jobs I needed done. He has a few sows already but not a good boar yet.
Next project is a safe area for free ranging birds! Fencing the back 2 acres will help a lot. And I know my goats and Daisy will keep areal predators out too. We will incorporate the pond, so the geese have 24 hour access, as well as the ducks. DH is happy it will be 2 less acres to mow! Especially glad to be able to let the muscovy free range again. They are very unhappy being locked up. I have started rotation on my breeder chicken coops, letting one group out a day in hopes to keep the breeds separated and pure. Glad to have pastured eggs again, it really does make a difference letting them out to eat natural foods.

 

[Jntnrmn]

She would probably attack him, as he will likely kill her poults. Its enjoyable to watch them. I am surprised she isn't running off when she sees you. I am wondering if she isn't a tame eastern wild, hatcheries do sell them.

Switch to a red lamp bulb if you are using a heat lamp it will help too.

She doesn't stick around when she sees or hears me. I think I'm just out there enough and my chickens are SO LOUD maybe she doesn't realize I'm there. My chickens are so nosey though and when they see her (or anything out of he ordinary) they just walk over and stare, which gets my attention and then I look. That's when she notices me and guides her kids elsewhere. But she never seems to be in a hurry or frantic or anything, she just calmly leads them away. I hope with all my might they stick around but I don't know if she will

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: Interesting! Sounds like she probably was a domesticated turkey. She may have either left another farm, or followed a tom off and got lost. A wild adult hen would never get anywhere near a human unless she was imprinted in some way. I had a lot of experience dealing with wild turkeys during my animal control days and learned a lot from DNR about them.

 

[hbrown322]

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted anything, been really busy. We moved into our new house at the end of May and immediately had to get a full pipe repair. Our front yard is now a giant mud pit. Oh the joys of homeownership.
My first flock fell victim to a raccoon attack, but I've been having a blast raising my second flock.
A small group, because I have a small coop, consisting of a polish, Americuana & speckled Sussex. I have been introducing them to new foods (scraps from my cooking) and recently built them a swing for the brooder box. I'm giving them one more week before I move them outside. They would probably be fine now, but I haven't finished predator proofing the coop.
I tried uploading photos but it wouldn't let me, I think I need to re-download my app.

My question for you guys is if you do anything special for when we get severe weather. I'm not sure what parts of Indy everyone is from, but I'm in the Castleton area and we had 60+ mph winds during the storm last night. I moved to the main level of the house in fear one of our trees in the yard would fall on the house!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hi @hbrown322 !

What kind of coop do you have? Is it small enough that it could blow over in a storm or is it larger?

If I had a really little coop, I'd try to situate it to the side of a building or wind-break somewhere on your property so that it doesn't get the full brunt of the wind.

I have to admit that every time we get those storm winds I'm always nervous for my shed coop. And it is a full 8x12. But it is setting on blocks and no wind breaks nearby.

 

[DancingGoatFarm]

Can anyone give me a rough price they charge for dressed turkey? We did CX chickens for the first time this year. They sold "ok" at $3/lb. but we live in a poorer area and didn't have the interest that I thought we would. I don't want to price myself out of the market on my turkeys.
Thanks