A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[holm25]

Ralph u got that all right. The roo is doing better. He is walking better and is being a sweet heart! This roo is staying here forever. I will get pics after his bath.

 

[memphis]

Holm is doing the right thing about Mr. T. I'm bummed only because I was looking forward to seeing what he'd produce at Ralphs. Oh well...best layer plans...

Holm, hope your roo gets better quickly. He sounds sweet. Post pictures!

 

[holm25]

He is doing alot better than he was yesterday! He is walking more and not stumbling and falling. His tail is really thinned out. Well at least for a cochin. He has more feathers in his tail now than my Australorp cross.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

What do you guys think about this one lol

First thing this morning, i checked on Pebbles and her babies. I took the one away because it was stumbling around a lot. It looks like someone grabbed it by the toe and maybe broke is little toe :/ so, a while later, she was outside free ranging with her other baby and doing a wonderful job. But her baby want doing too good with following her around. It would follow Adam, then follow a chicken, the follow Sweet Pea who picked her up and tossed her. So, i watched a while and when Pebbles would lay down to let baby crawl under and get warm, Adam took that as an initiation. He never got to it as she'd move as soon as he tried, but baby wasn't getting warmed up so i took the other baby. A while later, i set up this brooder in the screen porch since i have more babies hatching and need the bedroom brooder for them. Pebbles started paving and crying outside the screen porch for them so i let her in. She paved the cage until i let her get in with them. She's now contentedly mothering 14 poults and 5 chicks lol.

I'm not sure how long I'll actualy let her stay in here. Maybe a day. Maybe I'll put her back on the roost in the coop tonight. We'll see but for now, she's SO happy

 

[duluthralphie]

You might have to fight her to get her away from those babies. She looks like a determined Mama bird now. Turkey hens are such klutzes, it is amazing any turkey lives to adulthood.

I bet she knows Adam is not good for her babies and just wants to be away from them.



I have a question, I forget if I asked it or not. I am kind of looking toward R2elk to answer this one, I am sure he will know.


Why do turkey hens sit on eggs at night when they are not broody? I have had a lot that do this. Chicken hens never sit until they are broody.

It does not appear the eggs start to incubate when they sit on them at night. They are still laying eggs everyday.... I am just curious, or is it only my hens that do this.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I had to argue with her a little but I did pull her out. The only baby that was under her was the one that she had outside. I looked in there and two poults had been flipped over and a few of them were hiding in the corner away from the heat because they were afraid of her. I figure it's better to remove her before any of them get hurt. She was ok coming out, didn't than around at all (I think she was worried about hurting them) but was very vocal once she was out and really wanted back in. I pulled her specific baby out for a few minutes to consol her and calm her down before I put her back outside. The babies really aren't making noise in the screen porch anymore so she's not concerned and pacing anymore. She's FINALLY out of that next box and outside now. Let's hope she's snapped out of it now and puts some weight back on.

 

[R2elk]

You might have to fight her to get her away from those babies. She looks like a determined Mama bird now. Turkey hens are such klutzes, it is amazing any turkey lives to adulthood.

I bet she knows Adam is not good for her babies and just wants to be away from them.



I have a question, I forget if I asked it or not. I am kind of looking toward R2elk to answer this one, I am sure he will know.


Why do turkey hens sit on eggs at night when they are not broody? I have had a lot that do this. Chicken hens never sit until they are broody.

It does not appear the eggs start to incubate when they sit on them at night. They are still laying eggs everyday.... I am just curious, or is it only my hens that do this.

Temperature. When it is freezing at night, they sit on the eggs but I suspect that they elevate themselves to keep the eggs from freezing. I have only had hens do this when the nighttime temperatures are cold. I have not had them do this when nighttime temperatures are nice and warm.

It does appear that they know what they are doing and when they get ready to set full time, the eggs hatch approximately 28 days later.

 

[duluthralphie]

Temperature. When it is freezing at night, they sit on the eggs but I suspect that they elevate themselves to keep the eggs from freezing. I have only had hens do this when the nighttime temperatures are cold. I have not had them do this when nighttime temperatures are nice and warm.

It does appear that they know what they are doing and when they get ready to set full time, the eggs hatch approximately 28 days later.

It is below freezing here at night so that makes sense. They must be smarter than me. Of course, the only egg I let them have is a ceramic one. I hear they have a very long incubation period.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

The new shed in the chicken run is put together! YAY!! Will have to get pictures soon. This shed will be for my turkeys that I'm raising for Thanksgiving. I got a Keter 4' x 6' and we made a turkey door in the side for them to be able to go in and out.

I also put my brooder together for my turkey poults once they hatch this week. I have it set up with multiple boxes lined up end on end so it is about 3 by 9 as of right now. I plan to add one more box to the mix to make sure it is plenty large enough if all 14 eggs hatch. I may even put in a couple meat chickens in with them. The great thing about this set up is if I need more space I just add more boxes until they are ready to join the girls over in the run. Now just have to make sure my heat lamp still works and get some shavings for the floor and I'll be ready for when they start hatching next week. I'm going to move my silkie in and have her sitting on two eggs starting tomorrow to hopefully mother a couple poults.

 

[R2elk]

The new shed in the chicken run is put together! YAY!! Will have to get pictures soon. This shed will be for my turkeys that I'm raising for Thanksgiving. I got a Keter 4' x 6' and we made a turkey door in the side for them to be able to go in and out.

I also put my brooder together for my turkey poults once they hatch this week. I have it set up with multiple boxes lined up end on end so it is about 3 by 9 as of right now. I plan to add one more box to the mix to make sure it is plenty large enough if all 14 eggs hatch. I may even put in a couple meat chickens in with them. The great thing about this set up is if I need more space I just add more boxes until they are ready to join the girls over in the run. Now just have to make sure my heat lamp still works and get some shavings for the floor and I'll be ready for when they start hatching next week. I'm going to move my silkie in and have her sitting on two eggs starting tomorrow to hopefully mother a couple poults.

It is best not to put newly hatched poults on shavings. They like keets can eat the shavings and since they have no grit they cannot digest them. I use sand for my bedding which if they eat any of the sand it is a very fine grit and can help in their digestive system. If I recall correctly, Porter starts his poults on newspaper. Link to Porter's poult starting tips.

http://www.porterturkeys.com/poultstartingtips.htm