A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[PolarBerry]

Was 97 today... put out pans of cool water and a fan in the coop blowing on the broody mommas. Found one crushed bit of eggshells stuck on a feather so hope it was from the pile up and don’t have an egg eater since haven’t gotten any new eggs from the 4th hen in a week... could be the heat AND looks like she’s molting (as is the Tom)... I’m thinking of getting some turkey starter food and mixing it into their all flock food to give an extra protein bump... I’ll add some electrolytes to the water this week If I remember. Poor birdies, so much stress to be under with the heat and their first full molt. They’re just now 11 months old so is that normal?

 

[memphis]

Turkey Times...the neighborhood kids think its perfectly natural that the turkeys are so interactive....its the parents that are bowled over when their kid can walk up & hug a turkey. Funny how the turkeys love to play in water & my chickens quietly wander off in the other direction. Turkeys just wanna have fun!!

 

[memphis]

PolarBerry....I think they'll be fine. You've got the fan on them and that will help. I haven't seen any signs of molting here yet. But with this heat it wouldn't surprise me if they started plucking their feathers out just to stay cooler! This heat is probably harder on me than it is on them.

 

[memphis]

Sfgwife...anytime I have company in my yard in the evening , my turkeys will not go to roost! Too social. They will fall asleep roosting on a lap or chair, but they have to be in the middle of any social event. The chickens won't come near strangers and put themselves to bed religiously.

 

[sfgwife]

POOF leetle man turks. The smaller one just decided to be a basketball today. He is jis too cute! And he is so pretty with hos pencilling. I kinda really wish he was a hen. We seem to have better luck with the ladies not bein dolts. The bigger one is most likely gonna be thanksgivin if he doesnt stop bein the bully. But i also guess he feels like since he IS twice the size of most of the poults he can be.... but that ain’t gonna go over well here if he tries bully us. :/.

 

[aliciaplus3]

So my girl darling has been trying to be broody for about a week now she was trying to "share" this nesting box with the other bronze hen, that is very wild and took off before I could get her pic, I did manage to get them moved to a better location with eggs intact.... of course my phone died so no pics but still I am hoping for success!

 

[memphis]

Blah!! 106 heat index today. Sure wish we'd get a break. Wading pools are popular. Sort of funny to look out of the house & see the whole flock standing around in their little pools in front of a fan.

 

[Finnie]

nd their first full molt. They’re just now 11 months old so is that normal?

I seem to remember that last summer a bunch of us had turkeys molting right in the middle of summer. I don't think it has as much to do with age though, as it does with time of year. Fall is most normal, but apparently it's not uncommon to go early.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

My broody bunch girls are all covered in pin feathers right now and Cuddles has very few feathers left, she needs some pin feathers!

Speaking of the broody bunch, Pebbles went all Mom tonight in full strut, hissing and yelling. Not at me, but at the spray bottle that assaulted her babies! I found some lice on a few younger chickens that I added to the flock about a month ago. I dipped the rest of the flock 5-6 weeks ago so, even though I didn't see any on anyone else, I dipped the entire flock again (2oz permethrin 10% liquid to 5 gallons of water and a few drops of peppermint essential oil (optional) just in case anyone is curious). For the turkeys, I don't dip. What a mess that would be! Instead, I spray them down and get under their feathers with the spray bottle. I did the babies first. Mary and Princess were concerned with herding them and keeping them safely away once I was done with them while Pebbles chased every turkey that's less dominant than her and the spray bottle that was assaulting her flock lol. I'm sure they'll all forgive me by morning but for now, they can be grumpy and mad. At least I know I won't have to deal with lice again for the next 6-ish weeks!

 

[memphis]

Oh that's funny Aurora! Pebbles is one tough moma bird! They can be so dramatic!!

Finnie...your right about last years molt. Mine molted earlier than normal by almost two months. Chickens too. Then we had one of the coldest winters recorded down here. The year before they didn't molt till December & we barely had any cold weather. I remember keeping tabs on others folks bird's molts just out of curiosity . So now I'm convinced our birds should be long range forecasters for the Weather Channel. Our birds are more accurate than that rodent who gets all that press for predicting the weather.