Yes, I'm aware. I'm planning to treat the whole flock and with no withdrawal times for eggs, at least I don't have to toss our breakfast.
A flock in my state was just diagnosed positive for mycoplasmosis. Many locals have had problems with respiratory issues in their chickens. We have had a...
I pretty much have a check on all those things: we don't use lawn pesticides, the coop is well maintained and ventilated. They have free access to the outdoors where they spend their time during waking ours unless they come in to lay an egg - even in winter (I live in VT). I provide feed and...
I have one hen who has been having the "sniffles" for a couple months now. I noticed that she has been breathing through her mouth and I hear her sneezing occasionally. I have noticed no nasal discharge and no change in behavior. She is the only bird out of my flock showing any symptoms. I would...
My turkey hen Trudy is raising her first poults. The young ones are about 9 weeks old and yesterday we discovered a secret nest of hers in the tall grass with 4 eggs! My husband saw her mating with the tom the other day and I have a feeling she might be gearing up to go broody for a second time...
The pecking you mentioned appears to be normal behavior. I have noticed this on birds I raised and poults raised naturally by their mother. I think it is plain instinctual behavior. If they were pecking each others toes, eyes and feathers you would have a problem (lack of proper nutrition and...
I only have limited experience with this. I have a pair of one year old bourbon reds. The female grew up being a real "people person". Even now, while raising her first brood she still crawls into my lap. The tom never was this tame and shies away from my hand (which I'm glad about). Being so...
I tought Storey's Turkey Guide was a good basic reference, but it disappoints when you are not interested in the broad breasted types. At the feed store I picked up "Turkeys - Popular Farming Series". Looks like a special edition magazine from the publishers of Hobby Farms. This one focuses...
Same here! My tom began acting a tad aggressive towards his broody partner and flushed her off the nest a couple times. I decided to relocate him to the chickens and let the broody have the turkey coop to herself. Mama bird and her poults still live separated from the tom and chickens, but they...
A while back I with posted with questions about my broody hen and her eggs. About 5 weeks ago she hatched 5 healthy poults. She turned out to be a super first time mommy. She was hand raised by me and has a pretty strong bond with me allowing me (and only me to approach the brood). Feeding...
Only if you plan on keeping them in an overcrowded monotonous environment in which there is nothing to do but pick on the next bored and frustrated bird... like they do in conventional meat turkey production facilities.
Seabreeze: I have two clutches under my hen. Her own eggs were incubated for 9 days (I think!). Those are one ones I took the photos of. I have 8 other eggs that I snug under her a few days later. Those had been incubated for 6 days. I could not see any veins but a dark spot that I assume is the...
Darling Trudy went broody week before last! She sits on her own and adopted turkey eggs. I candled the eggs yesterday (what an awesome experience and steep learning curve!). Among a few questionable ones and one confirmed expired embryo I found a bunch that looked like this - with veins and...