A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[memphis]

Feedman & Cindy....you two have gone to the dark side! LOL!

I admire all of you dealing with so many birds. I'm hapless. It's all I can do to keep up with my two hens!

 

[memphis]

Feedman...didn't realize you had Brahmas. Cool.

 

[ketojenn]

I’m having Christmas here. DH is concerned. I did tell him about all these birds, but I guess he never added them together? I dunno... Anyway, here are my very first four turkeys. They’re BBW. I got them from Runnings because after doing math (something I usually avoid), I realized the 15 heritage turkeys I ordered for next month won’t be ready for the holidays—or at least not for Thanksgiving.

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And here are two of my four Buff geese (the other two are under the mama hen thing), which I got from Runnings the day before to warn the chickens about meanies in the sky.

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And here are the 26 meaties I got in the mail the day before that... or at least the ones that didn’t run and hide from the scary camera.

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And finally, here are the eggs I ordered to test out my new incubator.

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I’m having so much FUN!!!

You are not alone. I just got a batch of chicks yesterday, I have quail hatching monday, then I'm going to set silkie eggs and some turkey eggs. The laying flock is up to giving us two dozen eggs/day and Dolly wants to set some of their eggs just to see what hatches. My husband is just shaking his head and mumbling under his breath about feed costs. But he is looking forward to turkey dinner this fall. lol

 

[Molpet]

well turkey eggs are not selling so i put a dz in the incubator yesterday, rather than wait until they are too old to set... hopefully I will have a broody show up and take over the work... all 7 hens laid yesterday, may start selling as eating eggs instead

 

[memphis]

Trying to get a few things done outside before the storms arrive. Yet again we have severe storm warnings. Girls are helping, as usual. Ran out of the gate & down the drive. Girls noticed at the last minute. They came running & flapping & screaming down the drive after me. Neighbors walking had to stop & point. They were laughing hysterically. Said they never have seen them running before & it was the funniest thing they've seen in awhile. Poor girls...they loose all dignaty when they run. Especially while screaming like...well...like girls!

 

[memphis]

Sounds like every one has their incubators fired up!! Mind you....you all have to post pics!!

 

[rjohns39]

Well @R2elk I was going to move the black out to pasture and the nari in with the girls but that didn't happen (lots of crazy reasons) but I'm now getting fertile turkey eggs. What do I get with a black Tom over BR, RP, and Nari hen? Black over a black will give me a black. I'm not going to incubate until I get a good turkey starter. Still trying to work out best cost solutions. Shipping is $200 for 10 or 50 bags. So trying to work out a deal with my current feed provider. He's frustrated that he can't get a non-gmo turkey or game bird mix, so there might be a synergy there. Apparently I'm not the only one asking for it... And maybe I can get him to invest in the 50 bag skid put a little markup on it and sell it to all of us. I've been doing the political dance with him for the last month. Price point is higher than he likes but I'm kind of working on him with marketing strategies. He sells chick starter, which is just not sufficient for turkeys at 12.50 a bag. From a good source the turkey starter is 16.50 a bag and it's good for ducks/geese, but that's before the $200 shipping cost.

 

[ketojenn]

@memphis

 

[R2elk]

Well @R2elk I was going to move the black out to pasture and the nari in with the girls but that didn't happen (lots of crazy reasons) but I'm now getting fertile turkey eggs. What do I get with a black Tom over BR, RP, and Nari hen? Black over a black will give me a black. I'm not going to incubate until I get a good turkey starter. Still trying to work out best cost solutions. Shipping is $200 for 10 or 50 bags. So trying to work out a deal with my current feed provider. He's frustrated that he can't get a non-gmo turkey or game bird mix, so there might be a synergy there. Apparently I'm not the only one asking for it... And maybe I can get him to invest in the 50 bag skid put a little markup on it and sell it to all of us. I've been doing the political dance with him for the last month. Price point is higher than he likes but I'm kind of working on him with marketing strategies. He sells chick starter, which is just not sufficient for turkeys at 12.50 a bag. From a good source the turkey starter is 16.50 a bag and it's good for ducks/geese, but that's before the $200 shipping cost.

Black tom + Bourbon Red hen = Rusty Black

Black tom + Royal Palm hen = Tri-Color Mottled Black

Black tom + Narragansett hen = Barred Black

Around here a quality chick starter 23% protein is around $20/50 lb. sack. A quality turkey or gamebird starter 28% protein goes for $23/50 lb. sack. If you throw in non-GMO it would be much higher cost and from what little I have seen, no one makes a quality non-GMO turkey or gamebird starter. I can't remember but it seems they leave out some essentials.

 

[memphis]

I cant believe this! Just had a knock at my door. Cable guy. I don't have cable. Next door neighbors cable was out & they fixed it only one problem. My turkeys wouldn't let the repair guy get down from the pole. In the far corner of my yard there is a telephone pole. Its actually right over the 6 foot fence in my neighbors yard.. BOTH birds were perched on the fence watching him. Annie was barking, Daisy was just curious. They were actually sitting down enjoying themselves. Guy on the pole started yelling at me to "Get those birds! I can't get down. They will attack me!" His two companions were hysterical. Girls came when I called. The perils of having city birds.