I do not like the new site for the following reasons: much slower, cannot see pictures a work due to restrictions ( the old system came thru with no problems), too much going on visually, not as intuitive IMHO. You have effectively cut my time down by 10 to 15 hrs a week that i was learning and...
sorry about the loss. i have never had issues with my turkeys other than the hens chasing my roosters but no actual damage but i do not pen them up either.
Farm report 7/9/11:
Hot damn hot! There is no cool air at the farm. The fowl are all hiding in the shade and walking thru the pools and pans that we regularly fill with water as a way to beat the heat. The chickens have stopped laying in protest to the heat and Huey the duck has taken to chasing...
If they are 10 months and jumping up more than a few feet then you can rest assured that they are not broad breasted birds. Most likely just regular bronze. This is a good thing, take care of them you will have them a long while.
you can domesticate any animal if you raise it. It is illegal in many areas to take wild turkeys and raise them, make sure to check with local fish and game.
Its normal behavior for toms to assert dominance. Once they work out who is boss they will be fine. If you keep them confined they get bored and the fights will be worse,longer and more frequent. turkeys need space and if you have a hen in the mix it is best to cut back to only one or two toms...
i'd haveno problems with it. In fact i had 3 out of 5 turkeys for Thanksgiving that were starting to have issues about 2 weeks before processing day. I did not treat and they all turned out great.
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I personally see no reason to try to scare people with a disease that may not even be an issue in their area. Blackhead if an issue can be treated and is not as much of a problem as people seem to make it out to be. IMHO
my toms never mess with my roosters, but the turkey hens like to take chase after the roosters in the spring for some reason. The only time I have seen my toms go after a rooster is if the rooster my turkey hen was chasing turns around to defend himself. Then the toms will get in the middle...
you can rest the meat in clean ice and water with heavy apple cider vinegar to help clean. You can also us a mild bleach solution about 250 to one ratio while resting then just rinse off before cooking. it wil kill anything and does not traint the flavor. That is what they do at butcher shops...
TWO OR THREE HENS TO ONE TOM IS GOOD BUT A MATURE TOM CAN COVER OVER A DOZEN HENS WITHOUT A PROBLEM. You should keep an second tom if you want to breed them. Unless you really don't want the second tom in the mix you can leave them in a group and the dominant tom will keep the secondary in line...