My turkey decided the safest nesting place was inside our house (we had her inside at nights due to a recent injury to keep her warm...she lost most of her feathers --and then some--in a "friendly" dog attack- the dogs thought she was a great play toy. ) So, used to the indoor nest we had for...
Will be a challenging place to raise the poults. Can you move it to the front of the roof one day, then down to the hood for a day or two, then down to the floor, then keep moving until its in a good spot to raise poults? She'd like it to be off the floor a little- like 18 inches in a dark...
We loved our favorelle, who sadly fell prey to a coyote. I called her the introvert. She never hung with the gang, but always back a bit. We also love our Dominique, b/w bars, who knocks on our back door each morning to be let in, hops up on the counter and lays us an egg in the box there...
Our turkey just suffered a dog attack and lost some skin. Vet said use Manuka honey $32/pound!) to keep the wound moist. (Manuka honey- expensive- but does have extra antibiotic properties. Regular honey is better than nothing. She said not to cover the wounds with any dressing, just the...
From what I've read: keep the nest area off the ground and with a narrow entrance to make it inaccessible to the tom. Toms will try to mate hens on the nest and break eggs.She needs a safe rimmed 18x18 + platform nest area.
We have to carry or harrass our turkeys to get them into their shed, whereas the chickens and ducks just go in at night. Turkey poo is BIG, but so are turkeys! Our heritage girl doesn't tend to fly UNLESS she's going to roost at night. Otherwise our 3' fence keeps her in. At night we have...
Our 8 month olds were hand raised and imprinted on humans and are still more like dogs than any other birds I've known. Come running to see us. Maybe, however, I"ll be in for an unpleasant surprise once they become adults. But so far, no issues. They're our favorite birds. Oh, ok, the girl...
I live in town, but we see coyotes occasionally. The word here is hazing, since we aren't allowed to shoot in town (nor could I) so shaking cans of rocks aor throwing stones near them but not at them are two or ghe recommended techniques. Noise and disturbance and hassle so they seek easier...
We had 2 chickens, a bantam rooster, and 4 ducks. In March got 5 more chicks and two turkey poults for pets. Unfortunately one turned out to be a BBB, so, a meat bird. At 8 months he's 30 lbs and has feet like a dinosaur. He has never been a problem with the birds he grew up with, but when...
Go Foggy! My 7month old turkey today started picking on my newest (chick)hen- pinning her down as if to mate. Unfortunately he's a 30 lb BBB so really heavy. He has a "sister" turkey whom he grew up with so he's not at a loss for a mate...he was just asserting his dominance against the...
Thanks so much to TheAlrightyGina for this very informative post. I was thinking the same thing about putting sound insulation in the walls of the coop. As with buildings, anything rough and not smooth helps. Open Egg cartons would be great sound baffles too! But you'd probably want it...
I"m in a similar situation, so have little useful information, but a posting anyway- for solidarity? :) I have a hen I've had inside, in a dog crate for a month now. (OK, she gets to walk around the room for a few hours each day until I get tired of cleaning up poop.) She first had...
" **Just because you had the tape measure/hammer/screw driver/nail gun/etc in your hand ten seconds ago doesn't mean you will be able to figure out where you put it."
Love it.
I'm thinking having two 5 gallon buckets to keep your large and small tools in will make life easier, safer, and less...
Thanks for your explanations. Interesting perspective, trying to choose those who survive. I did the same thing with plants when I moved to Texas. I bought 10 small plants of different species, and after a year I went back and bought more of those 4 that had survived my care and still looked...
DE can be effective at controlling external parasites, but for leg mites I don't think it works. coat their feet in vaseline daily 9at bedtime) to kill the mites. Huffle is right, you NEED to be quaranting new birds- e.g. in your bathtub/indoor dog crate (sometimes people discard ones when...
Sneezing? she shouldn't sneeze unless she just got dust up her nose. No discharge and clear eyes, from what you show. Have you tried putting her in a box for an evening (and sit her near you) to make sure she's not gurgling, which could suggest respiratory disease, such as bronchitis or...
Hi, Norcalnewbie,
While you think about it, take time to read up on coop designs (I second the droppings board idea) predator protection, and also read up on the emergiencies and problems thread. You will no doubt encounter at least one of these at some point, and it's good to know that you...
Using Corid and Vitamin B complex is counterproductive, since the way Corid works is by blocking vitamin B1 (aka thiamin) uptake. B vitamins should wait till treatment is cocmpleted, or you should choose a different type of treatment (Or just give your bird plain Niacin to address the wry neck...