A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[duluthralphie]

I would never take of file down any of the spurs, but I have never had a hen chewed up by spurs either. I think they need them to do their jobs. Not that Toms are very good at their job, compared to roosters.

 

[R2elk]

I would never take of file down any of the spurs, but I have never had a hen chewed up by spurs either. I think they need them to do their jobs. Not that Toms are very good at their job, compared to roosters.

I don't file or remove spurs from any of my poultry. I have had hens injured and killed by toms. I put turkey saddles on the hens last year because the tom was being a complete jerk and hurting them. Prior to that I learned the hard way that it is not a good idea to let a tom have access to nesting hens. I have had hens killed by toms when they take the fact that the hen is sitting on a nest as an invitation to breed. The hens struggles to resist caused the tom to rip open their sides right in front of their leg when they would fall off because of the hen's struggles.

This is also one of the reasons that I try to keep 4 - 5 hens for a tom so that he isn't trying to mate with nesting hens. It would be unusual for all of the hens to go broody at the same time.

I even had one Bourbon Red tom who would chase the hens off of their nests and then stomp and smash all of the eggs just to get the hens back into the breeding mode.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Speaking of eggs and nesting, I figured out what's happening to Pebbles' eggs. She's down to 3 today. I think the order hens, squeezing in to nest in her box with her are causing them to get stepped on and crushed then they eat them. I found evidence today of the latest one :/

 

[memphis]

Aurora, the other turkey hens are laying in her nest too?

R2elk, I've been debating about getting a tom. I'm never going to gave enough hens to make one happy. At least right now I wont. I'd have a heart attack if a Tom hurt one of my girls. I think right now I'll stick with my two hens. Well, at least that's the way I feel today.....

 

[R2elk]

Aurora, the other turkey hens are laying in her nest too?

R2elk, I've been debating about getting a tom. I'm never going to gave enough hens to make one happy. At least right now I wont. I'd have a heart attack if a Tom hurt one of my girls. I think right now I'll stick with my two hens. Well, at least that's the way I feel today.....

A jake would likely not hurt your hens but you would get attached to him and that could lead to problems. If you have someone nearby that you could borrow a tom from for a couple of weeks to get the girls bred and then send him home would probably the best method for you. If you got a tom of your own, you would have to get used to the idea that there are times when you need to separate him from your hens.

Another problem that I foresee with you is learning that you can't keep all the poults.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Aurora, the other turkey hens are laying in her nest too?

R2elk, I've been debating about getting a tom. I'm never going to gave enough hens to make one happy. At least right now I wont. I'd have a heart attack if a Tom hurt one of my girls. I think right now I'll stick with my two hens. Well, at least that's the way I feel today.....

Yes unfortunately. Wherever Pebbles is sitting, they lay. Before she switched nests, they did the same thing in the other one.

 

[memphis]

R2elk....you've got my number! I'd be up to my eyebrows in poults! My family would have to do an intervention. For now I'm sticking with my girls. Heck, I'm still learning. Not one to jump without looking!

Well Aurora, at least you've solved the mystery of the missing eggs!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

True :/ I have some chicken eggs in the bator now. They still have about 2 1/2 weeks til hatch but I might give her another chance with a couple chicks and see if she snaps out of sit mode.

 

[R2elk]

True

I have some chicken eggs in the bator now. They still have about 2 1/2 weeks til hatch but I might give her another chance with a couple chicks and see if she snaps out of sit mode.

If you want her to have a chance raising chicks, you need to separate her from the other turkeys when you give them to her. There are just too many things that can go wrong with newly hatched chicks, poults, etc. when they are in the general population.

I take all newly hatched chicks, keets and poults from their mothers as soon as I find them. One reason is that I try to sell them as day olds and the other main reason is that there are just too many things that can go wrong. I have had chicken and turkey hens kill youngsters that were not their own. I have had them stepped on accidentally ( they really are fragile). Toms that appear to be doting fathers have been known to reverse course and kill poults without any prior indication.

When I want a hen to have poults to raise, I choose a hen that has recently had her poults taken from her and allow her the opportunity to take possession of at least one week old but preferably two week old poults. At two weeks of age the poults have done really well when given to a hen to raise.

Good luck.

 

[memphis]

Aurora, Pebbles needs her own bedroom!