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When do you harvest your heritage turkeys?
Usually 6–12 months with 7 months my average. -
Can chicks eat turkey starter?
yes! I have raised chickens and turkeys together for years and all get turkey starter. The fact is the chicks grow better on it. Poults must have turkey starter. -
Opinions on Blackhead?
I raise turkeys and chickens together. I also have blackhead on the property. I keep young turkeys on oregano oil with piperine in their water until they are 10-12 weeks old. It works great as a blackhead preventative. I learned the trick from Peter Brown years ago aka the Chicken Doctor. I... -
Best Books About Raising Turkeys?
Storey’s Guide is one yes, written by my close friend, Don Schrider and I recommend an older book, “Turkey Management” by Stanley Marsden. Also, two great manuals published by the Livestock Conservancy, “Selecting Your Best Turkeys for Breeding” and “How to Raise Heritage Turkeys on Pasture,” I... -
Coping with Blackhead
You took them to a lab and had that confirmed? What lab? Show me the report. You know what kills most poults in first four weeks? It is not blackhead and not coccidiosis. Blackhead in the first month is quite rare. -
Coping with Blackhead
Corid is a thiamine (vitamin B1) blocker and is used only to prevent or treat coccidiosis. It does nothing for worms, and it does nothing for blackhead. Should you use Corid in case of what exactly? -
Coping with Blackhead
They can actually have worms out of the egg, 1 day old, but it is roundworms that are on eggshell itself. Chicks, poults and everything on wire in brooders in my basement I use wazine at 4 weeks old but worm JUST ONCE at the early age. I should have been more specific and said the worm (cecal... -
Coping with Blackhead
Poults hatched on May 5 should not be on Safeguard, nor any wormer. It could kill them. They also should not have blackhead already. The medication, Metronidazole, will kill poults that age. Corid does not prevent blackhead and it is not a wormer. It is a thiamine blocker that acts to starve... -
Black Spanish turkeys?
Yes I exhibit Black Turkeys so I know what the APA calls them. In fact, I won the Turkey Extravaganza this past November with one of my Blacks and the third year in a row I won champion turkey at Ohio National with a Black cock. I maintain three separate Black lines. The exact variety is also... -
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Breeding (mostly) self-sufficient chickens
Everything wants to eat a chicken. I use three Great Pyrenees dogs as livestock guardians. I live in a national forest and would get wiped out if I did not have the dogs and it wouldn't matter what kind of chickens I kept. The Pyrenees make what I have possible.- cgmccary
- Post #30
- Forum: Exhibition, Genetics, & Breeding to the SOP
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What to feed my new 3 yr old Tom ?
Oh I have other toms with 10-15 hens. I keep three lines of Blacks and my breeding pens can vary from a specific pairing to one tom with 15 hens. I decide what I am breeding to what each year. This is not a difference of opinion but a difference in what we are trying to accomplish in breeding. I... -
What to feed my new 3 yr old Tom ?
Couple of hens will do. Some of my breeding pens are pairs when I am aiming for a particular trait and the one hen is just fine. My turkeys do not bother my chickens, but I hear of that happening. I have successfully advised people who have a tom that attacks their chickens to keep at least two... -
What to feed my new 3 yr old Tom ?
Grown turkeys do NOT need a high protein feed, only about 16-17% max. I recommend a good game bird whole seed mix as half his rations and then any pellet or feed in that protein range. I like a gamebird/ game rooster pellet but not to exceed 20% protein in the pellet. The grain mix will be lower... -
Black Spanish turkeys?
I know this is from three years ago but this response is wrong. The turkeys in the photo are pure Black Turkeys which are also known as Spanish Blacks and Norfolk Black. All are names for the same variety. It is very difficult to totally eliminate the barring in the wings; however, many times... -
Coping with Blackhead
I keep my chickens and turkeys wormed. That is the first blackhead preventative. Also, I use oregano oil with piperine in their water which I buy from First State Vet. It will prevent blackhead. I use it religiously in the water of poults and young turkeys. Older turkeys past one year of age... -
4 week poults dying
Turkeys aren’t like chickens. If you make mistakes, they are very unforgiving. Poults hatch out with no natural immunities. The most common killer of poults is stress related from a lot of different things, examples are too much cold, too much heat, too much moisture, bacteria, crowding, etc...