A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[AnneInTheBurbs]

One on my lap and the dog still wants a head scratch...

 

[sfgwife]

Welp... she didnt come down last night... and we cant catch her... so she probly wont get clipped. Lol. We dont want to do the net cause we would really like her to warm up to us one day. So eh. She gets out of the enclosure some though.. that is what bother us most. The tree thing while a pita last night isnt top on the list of clipin her wings. If she gets out amd we aren’t here that is the problem. Or if they dogs are out and we dont hear them. We have one that is a high prey lady and must chase to kill all the things. :/. The others chase to hold down is all. So really the clippin would be more for her safety from the stinkin dog than afraid at night. We have never seen or heard a coyote durin the day here... yet. So it is kind of a damned if we do damned if we dont thing really. Last time we only did one wing. That kept her from bein able get out of the pen as often but still up in low branched trees then she could get higher and she also has inside the coop a roost bout seven ft up. So i dunno what the right answer is. Ty for your wisdom though!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

When I was feeding the turkeys this morning, I swear that the girls were dropping like canon balls out of the rafters. Especially Cuddles since she took out about 3 other girls on her landing. I'm not sure how any of them are even getting up there since they don't have any feathers left! Eve molted early and Mary is molting slowly but Pebbles, Cuddles, Sweet Pea, and Princess are all a on feathered mess!

 

[karenerwin]

My beans have put out an other flush of blossoms. I imagine they would keep going for an other 3 months, if the frost didn't take them. My secret is to keep them watered, and give them an occasional shot of Miracle gro. Also, if you can keep them picked so the plants don't set any FILLED pods, that will keep them producing. The plants goal is to produce seed. So, if you keep them picked, the plant will keep working. That MG seems to really keep those blossoms coming.

As for BTE, I believe the recommendation is 6". I try to have a minimum of 3 - 4", and when I have to skimp on chip depth, I put down a nice base layer of cardboard. I have found that when I dig under a new chip application THE FOLLOWING SPRING, there will still be some live grass and other weedy growth that would gladly push up through the chips. By occluding all light with that cardboard, it helps to eventually kill those waiting weeds.

The injury may not be his foot. A hard landing can cause a hip injury which will manifest itself as a limp. Give him time, he is definitely the better looking Bourbon Red.

I agree, he's definitely the nicer looking boy and he's more friendly. I'm just afraid to take the chance and keep him and then him not be able to mate. I need to get out there and block off the rafters so they stop getting up there at night. It's entirely possible that he hurt himself jumping down from them.

Wow! It's amazing how grass and weeds can "Grab" a shelter. I have a 10X12 that I haven't used this year that will be tonight's bus for the RB. Went to move it, grabbed the chain and literally pulled with all my might and nothing. It took DS and I all our strength to free it from the grass. It's now in position so tomorrow its a short trip from the bus to the cones. Tomorrow morning, we'll light the scalder, clean the stations, go get ice, clean the stations again and start the journey to camp. I'm hoping to save some tail feathers, etc—but haven't figured out how yet.

We did this today. 35 chickens and our three whitie turkeys. It sure was hard doin the turkeys. . We will miss those silly birds. They were 18, 21 and 25 pounds dressed.

I'm actually doing the RBs a week early as they are conflicting with the bees and they have been leading the charge to knock down the fence and leave the pasture. They are also my most affectionate birds, so yes it will be hard. I hate processing—but I'm glad its me and I'm doing the best I can to make it as pain free as possible.

So, how/what is the best method (in each of your opinions) for putting down your turkey for freezer camp? I have a couple I am going to do for Thanksgiving. I've butchered plenty of chickens, but this will be the first time with turkeys for me. Any advice about putting them down the fastest, most humane way along with any butchering tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Also, I had one of my broad breasted White turkeys turn up dead. The night before he was sitting on the ground outside the coop and didn't get up to come in for food. I picked him up and brought him in. He didn't like that much and walked around a it in the coop, but did not go over to eat. Very unusual. The next morning he didn't get up to eat or go out of the coop, but otherwise was alive and seemed fine. When I got home from work that evening, he was dead. When I opened him up he had a lot of blood clots inside and his lungs looked greenish gray. There was also what looked like a puncture on an organ, maybe one of the lungs. Man, I must be getting old. I can't believe that I have already forgotten where I saw the puncture at. But, I do know that there were no exterior wounds at all. I looked very thoroughly. Everything else looked normal. There were no external wounds. I am wondering if he may have landed super hard on a rock or something. Any ideas? I know that isn't much to go on. Dressed out he weighed about 19 pounds. I didn't keep him though, since I didn't know how long he had been dead before I found him or what he had died from. Thanks for any insight/guesses you may have.

 

[duluthralphie]

So, how/what is the best method (in each of your opinions) for putting down your turkey for freezer camp? I have a couple I am going to do for Thanksgiving. I've butchered plenty of chickens, but this will be the first time with turkeys for me. Any advice about putting them down the fastest, most humane way along with any butchering tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Also, I had one of my broad breasted White turkeys turn up dead. The night before he was sitting on the ground outside the coop and didn't get up to come in for food. I picked him up and brought him in. He didn't like that much and walked around a it in the coop, but did not go over to eat. Very unusual. The next morning he didn't get up to eat or go out of the coop, but otherwise was alive and seemed fine. When I got home from work that evening, he was dead. When I opened him up he had a lot of blood clots inside and his lungs looked greenish gray. There was also what looked like a puncture on an organ, maybe one of the lungs. Man, I must be getting old. I can't believe that I have already forgotten where I saw the puncture at. But, I do know that there were no exterior wounds at all. I looked very thoroughly. Everything else looked normal. There were no external wounds. I am wondering if he may have landed super hard on a rock or something. Any ideas? I know that isn't much to go on. Dressed out he weighed about 19 pounds. I didn't keep him though, since I didn't know how long he had been dead before I found him or what he had died from. Thanks for any insight/guesses you may have.

How old was he and how much did he weigh? Before he went down did you notice any problem walking or getting up?

 

[rjohns39]

I use a kill cone and single cut to the carotid artery. Turkey's are a little more challenging than chickens as their carotid and jugular run along side the trachea.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Reposting this here in case anyone can help. Thanks!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/medical-professionals-curette-sizes-for-bumblefoot.1203580/

 

[sfgwife]

We did ours the same way as chickens. But hold on for dear life if you ise an axe. Ours bout beat the crap out of hubby and 21 yo son. Son’s face was priceless as he held on to the first bird. He just told his dad hold on tight and laughed. I think next time we will do a cone or bag then do the artery like rjohns does.

 

[sfgwife]

Happy as a lark up in the tree our road runner was again last night. Methinks she is makin habit.

 

[R2elk]

We did ours the same way as chickens. But hold on for dear life if you use an axe. Ours bout beat the crap out of hubby and 21 yo son. Son’s face was priceless as he held on to the first bird. He just told his dad hold on tight and laughed. I think next time we will do a cone or bag then do the artery like rjohns does.

Years ago when I was raising BBWs, I would use electrical tape to go around the body and wings to prevent the flapping. A cone would accomplish the same thing.

You can do a search in the Meat Birds ETC forum to find information about how to do the brain piercing method which if done correctly allows the feathers to be just brushed off. It creates the same type of response that occurs when a turkey is trying to escape capture and the feathers just come off in your hands.

I found out that I was using the improper method and piercing the wrong part of the brain so it didn't work for me.

Nowadays I just shoot the turkeys in the back of the head with a .22, wait for the body to relax and then chop off its head. They often do go through the stage where the feathers are easily removed if I hit just the right part of the brain.

Good luck.