A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[holm25]

Do you still want two cats Ralphie?

 

[duluthralphie]

Do you still want two cats Ralphie?

I am still looking for barn cats.

I checked and I have 3 hens I need to get rid of with the red or bronze feathers on them. Ethel Jr is 2 or and the other two are this years.

 

[Hardemans]

Ralph, The young ones were around the older birds from roughly 4 weeks on. Separated by a fence. Later on i let them join ranks so to speak. They made instant friends and then began to roost together on top of the chicken coop and run.

About 3 weeks ago some fowl pox hit and it affected the lighter colored birds. The darker birds (Narraganset and a Black Spanish) were not affected. Then a few started dropping wet yellow poop and were lethargic. I treated for cocci and gave then penicillin shots. Most recovered well. A couple remained lethargic. Those were the ones the toms killed.

Anyway, my goal is to get down to a couple of trios of Narragansets and one trio of Sweetgrass and breed to standard from there. Also as a source of meat. Had the broad breasted and while they are better than store bought I prefer the heritage.

 

[holm25]

I got a very "rare" picture today! Mr. T was not strutting! And there was a camera out! He never quits strutting when I have the camera!

 

[holm25]

I am still looking for barn cats.

I checked and I have 3 hens I need to get rid of with the red or bronze feathers on them. Ethel Jr is 2 or and the other two are this years.

If you want to get rid of all 3 let me know!










I fear I am going to be a turkey hoarder....

 

[feistychick]

It was a week of mixed feelings - put the last of the bulldogs down. We really did have a geriatric ward going here. Must learn to get animals in a staggered fashion from here on out. Said goodbye to my 20 year old cat this summer, and two bulldogs today. Going to start getting animals every two or three years so that we don't have to lose them all at once - yikes.

On the upside, it was really sunny today so the birds got to run freeeeeee today

I have a broody buff orpington again, and one of my new layers (cuckoo marans) has decided that she's broody..... do they know that it's November????? I think the turkey hens may have stopped laying finally, Coco hasn't laid anything for a few days now. Big Bird hasn't laid anything since she molted a month ago.

Holm - you should totally get Ralph's extra hens....you'd make a great turkey hoarder

 

[memphis]

Holm...I too could easily be a turkey hoarder! I was out of town since Thursday. Got home, open the back door and yelled "Where are my girls"? They were in beack with the chickens. And boy did they come running! Flew over the gate & ran up the back steps. All kinds of barking & trilling. Turkeys are just too much fun!!

Holm...Mr. T is just so handsome!!

 

[Turkey parents]

So our daughter's school had asked us for the second year to bring our turkeys to school, in preparation for it we were doing a lot of research and found out more about the Spanish Blacks. We've learned so much more about these birds and their lineage. We took our black, BBB Tom and our Rio Grande Wild Hen this year I kind of wanted to take my RGW Tom but he's really a cull and didn't want kids to see that even if we don't cull him I still don't want them to see his watery eye, and crooked leg.

Fast forward two weeks and an old high school tormentor who has changed his ways saw my posts on Facebook and sent me a inquiry into when was the best time to harvest a turkey for thanksgiving he sent me pictures as soon as I told him that not all turkeys were the same and not all were good eating, the guy wanted to eat a Narragansett Tom, prettiest bird I had ever seen next to our Spanish Black. Long story short we might be getting another tom, kind of hope so but I won't be too upset if we don't. That'll make 5 toms and one hen, but two of our toms probably won't be around much longer.

We also ran into a breeder who has absolutely no idea what he's raising so in the long run we may be doing some education for a breeder and making new friends

 

[duluthralphie]

So our daughter's school had asked us for the second year to bring our turkeys to school, in preparation for it we were doing a lot of research and found out more about the Spanish Blacks. We've learned so much more about these birds and their lineage. We took our black, BBB Tom and our Rio Grande Wild Hen this year I kind of wanted to take my RGW Tom but he's really a cull and didn't want kids to see that even if we don't cull him I still don't want them to see his watery eye, and crooked leg.

Fast forward two weeks and an old high school tormentor who has changed his ways saw my posts on Facebook and sent me a inquiry into when was the best time to harvest a turkey for thanksgiving he sent me pictures as soon as I told him that not all turkeys were the same and not all were good eating, the guy wanted to eat a Narragansett Tom, prettiest bird I had ever seen next to our Spanish Black. Long story short we might be getting another tom, kind of hope so but I won't be too upset if we don't. That'll make 5 toms and one hen, but two of our toms probably won't be around much longer.

We also ran into a breeder who has absolutely no idea what he's raising so in the long run we may be doing some education for a breeder and making new friends

You do know there is no such thing as Spanish Black? They are just blacks for some reason they were called that years ago and it stuck.

There are several combinations that can get you a black turkey. The SOP simply lists black turkeys. I suppose if the turkey gobbles with a Spanish or Latin American accent you could call it a Spanish black. I would want to check it's passport also. Some of them claim to be Spanish to get better chances at a job.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The color black in turkeys was originally developed in Spain from turkeys taken from America. They were called Spanish blacks, and in England, they were called Norfolk blacks. After about 2 centuries they were brought back to America and mixed with the wild type. The name Spanish black has stuck and is still used today by many people.