A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[Finnie]

is DD's 16th birthday so DH is taking a vacation day and immediately after swim, he's taking her to get her driver's permit.

16! Already! My how time flies! This thread is going to be 8 years old this spring. That’s half her life!

 

[Finnie]

In related news, I have found two Bourbon Red hens from a breeder about an hour and a half away that I plan to go get tomorrow. If road conditions allow it.

Soooo, I don’t think my two new “hens” are female. The bigger one (Eat-it) I’m quite sure is male, and I figured that when I bought him. The breeder I got it from is not inexperienced, but I think he had wishful thinking when he showed me the “Mohawk” and explained that when the feathers go up the back of the neck it means female. Well, I know that, but I also know that males will have that too until they shed that Mohawk. And this male already seemed to have a bald, blocky head, and I could see signs that the Mohawk has come about half way out. This one is 6 months old.

I didn’t really mind, because I was really just looking for one, maybe 2 hens, and if I got 1 of each, then I would just sell the male later.

Then he showed me the smaller one (Cake) and from where I stood it did look female. That one is 5 months old. So in my experience, you can’t always tell at 5 months and sometimes they change and you see at 6 months that you were wrong. As I’ve been looking at these two over the past few days, Cake’s head seems kind of bald and blocky, and her Mohawk looks kind of sparse in some spots. Not thick and reaching to the snood like I like to see.

So time will tell. It’s just that I finally got past this uncertain stage with the poults I raised myself this year, and now I’ve set myself up to go through it again.

Well anyway, I decided I still need another Bourbon Red hen so I did a little browsing on Craigslist, and I found a 2 year old hen that has hatched and raised poults. That’s what I’m talking about! No 5-6 month old guessing games! They wanted a little more than I wanted to spend, but it was less than half hour away so the savings in gas money evens things out. This one came with the name Lady Genevieve which I like, so that name she will keep.


Look at that beard on her!


(This is the ad photo. There is a chicken behind her, and it makes her look like she has 4 legs! )

 

[R2elk]

Soooo, I don’t think my two new “hens” are female. The bigger one (Eat-it) I’m quite sure is male, and I figured that when I bought him. The breeder I got it from is not inexperienced, but I think he had wishful thinking when he showed me the “Mohawk” and explained that when the feathers go up the back of the neck it means female. Well, I know that, but I also know that males will have that too until they shed that Mohawk. And this male already seemed to have a bald, blocky head, and I could see signs that the Mohawk has come about half way out. This one is 6 months old.

Once Bourbon Reds have their adult breast feathers, the breast feathers on a hen will have a light colored lower edge. The breast feathers of a Bourbon Red tom will have a dark or black lower edge. Unfortunately this only works on their adult breast feathers. The breast feathers of immature Bourbon Reds all have a light colored edge.

 

[Finnie]

Once Bourbon Reds have their adult breast feathers, the breast feathers on a hen will have a light colored lower edge. The breast feathers of a Bourbon Red tom will have a dark or black lower edge. Unfortunately this only works on their adult breast feathers. The breast feathers of immature Bourbon Reds all have a light colored edge.

I have heard you mention before about the light and dark feather edges, and on my most recent batch (with Soup) I tried to look for that. You are right about it being unfortunate because I could not tell whether they were going to be light or dark until I already had a good idea from the toms’ blue heads and starting to strut.

But I will check Cake and Eat-it to see what theirs look like.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

16! Already! My how time flies! This thread is going to be 8 years old this spring. That’s half her life!

It's crazy isn't it! She's 16 today and DS is 17.5. He graduates from high school this year. It's unreal how rediculously fast the time has gone. Here they are on Christmas day (at my parents house, holding my parent's fur kids lol)

 

[Finnie]

Time goes by so fast. My youngest just graduated from college. Before long we will be empty nesters.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I got my first turkey egg of the season yesterday! I have seen breeding going on but still didn't expect it so soon. I'm not positive who laid it but it looks like my incubator will be getting fired up here soon!

 

[I Like Turkeys]

I got my first turkey egg of the season yesterday! I have seen breeding going on but still didn't expect it so soon. I'm not positive who laid it but it looks like my incubator will be getting fired up here soon!

Congrats! I’ve already got 6 chocolate eggs on the incubator and a couple more being stored for incubation, it’s exciting. Only have one female laying at the moment though.

 

[Molpet]

So far nothing is laying, chickens quit at the solstice.
I have never gotten a turkey egg before st Patrick's day, but people who have my jennies they hatched have.

 

[R2elk]

I have never gotten a turkey egg before st Patrick's day, but people who have my jennies they hatched have.

Supplemental light is the key. I do not provide supplemental light. The earliest that my turkeys will lay is the middle of March.