A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[R2elk]

Ok R2elk....no poults allowed. And I can understand that Daisy & Annie, the city girls, might have a detramental influence on your country girls. LOL! My two can probably learn from your flock!!
I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that all those eggs hatch!

Your two probably wouldn't want to leave without Mr. Picky.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Thank you all and I'm sorry for those of you who have also lost pets. They truly become members the family. Now, all we have is an almost 12 year old cat and a 4 year old rabbit. DH is not a dog person so it will be quite a while until another puppy enters our life. He may not be a dog person but he was heartbroken too.

 

[CindyinSD]

So sad about your dear doggie, Aurora. They do not live long enough. DH always wants to know, do dogs go to heaven? I tell him yes, because of course they do. How could they not?

 

[Farmerwife1]

I have 10, 1 year old hens and 32, 2 1/2 week old chicks. They are NOT free ranging. I LOVE them all. I am breeding for different colored eggs (this is a hobby, not a business). I enjoy taking the eggs as hostess gift to friends and relatives and they love receiving them.

My husband has been talking about turkeys for a couple of years now. He does not want to eat them, he just wants them walking around the farm. I decided I would look into this new adventure.

Everything I have read, tells me they will NOT rip up the yard and garden like a chicken will. Is this true? I want heritage turkeys.

Is there a breed that is more winter hardy than the others? What breed is calm and friendly (I would like real friendly birds, to humans, if they are walking around free)? What I have read they seem pretty much the same, so it would just be a color preference. There does not seem to be as much information on turkeys and chickens.

I am reading that Heritage birds can fly up into trees, like wild turkeys, so this should hopefully help them from getting eaten by coyotes. Do Owls or hawks pose a problem to full grown turkeys?

I notice people show pictures of nesting boxes on the ground. Is this the way they like them?

 

[duluthralphie]

I have 10, 1 year old hens and 32, 2 1/2 week old chicks. They are NOT free ranging. I LOVE them all. I am breeding for different colored eggs (this is a hobby, not a business). I enjoy taking the eggs as hostess gift to friends and relatives and they love receiving them.

My husband has been talking about turkeys for a couple of years now. He does not want to eat them, he just wants them walking around the farm. I decided I would look into this new adventure.

Everything I have read, tells me they will NOT rip up the yard and garden like a chicken will. Is this true? I want heritage turkeys.

Is there a breed that is more winter hardy than the others? What breed is calm and friendly (I would like real friendly birds, to humans, if they are walking around free)? What I have read they seem pretty much the same, so it would just be a color preference. There does not seem to be as much information on turkeys and chickens.

I am reading that Heritage birds can fly up into trees, like wild turkeys, so this should hopefully help them from getting eaten by coyotes. Do Owls or hawks pose a problem to full grown turkeys?

I notice people show pictures of nesting boxes on the ground. Is this the way they like them?

It will depend on how you raise your turkeys how friendly they will become..

They will dig holes for sand baths.. one turkey bathtub holds about 6 large chickens...

It really depends on what you want your turkey to look like.

They are fun. Even my larger flock of bellybuttons follow me around the yard.

I think all turkeys are pretty winter hardy.

 

[CindyinSD]

You should totally read this thread from the beginning. I did... it’s fun-you feel a bit voyeuristic, but you’ll learn so much! I only just got four little meat turkey chicks (poults). They seem so much more friendly than chicken chicks. Not good. I got BBWs and wasn’t worried I’d fall in love, but they’re sweet. They’re meat birds and not really equipped for a long life so they’ll definitely be on the holiday table even if I’m in tears processing them.

There are lots of experienced folks here and really helpful and nice. I think the prettiest turkeys are the Sweetgrass and some of the other fancy crosses on Porter’s website. If you’re up for the minimum order, that’s the way to go for quality birds, unless you live near some of the breeders on this thread.

 

[Feathyr]

Thank you for the comments on the saddle - I had to cover up my hen's ears so she wouldn't let the comments go to her head....

What happened to her tail?

The cage she sleeps in is way too small - whenever she turns, she catches her tail feathers on the opposite side. The larger cages are being used as dog / goose kennels right now, and between illness + crummy weather I haven't had a chance to juggle things around.

(She free ranges all day though, in case anyone was wondering. I don't keep anyone in solitary confinement lol.)

Edit: Just skimmed the last few pages of the thread. I'm sorry for your loss, Auroradream26.

 

[R2elk]

I have 10, 1 year old hens and 32, 2 1/2 week old chicks. They are NOT free ranging. I LOVE them all. I am breeding for different colored eggs (this is a hobby, not a business). I enjoy taking the eggs as hostess gift to friends and relatives and they love receiving them.

My husband has been talking about turkeys for a couple of years now. He does not want to eat them, he just wants them walking around the farm. I decided I would look into this new adventure.

Everything I have read, tells me they will NOT rip up the yard and garden like a chicken will. Is this true? I want heritage turkeys.

Is there a breed that is more winter hardy than the others? What breed is calm and friendly (I would like real friendly birds, to humans, if they are walking around free)? What I have read they seem pretty much the same, so it would just be a color preference. There does not seem to be as much information on turkeys and chickens.

I am reading that Heritage birds can fly up into trees, like wild turkeys, so this should hopefully help them from getting eaten by coyotes. Do Owls or hawks pose a problem to full grown turkeys?

I notice people show pictures of nesting boxes on the ground. Is this the way they like them?

There is only one breed and it is Turkey.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/turkeys-as-pets-best-breed.332898/page-3#post-21201992

There is lots of information on chickens and turkeys. All you have to do is use the search function and search for chickens and turkeys. If Blackhead is a problem where you live, keeping turkeys and chickens together can be a death sentence to turkeys. If turkeys get crammed in together with chickens in too small an area, turkeys can be hazardous to the health of chickens.

Young turkeys are vulnerable to any kind of predators. Adult turkeys can be taken by a Great Horned owl but are usually safe from them.

Read the threads in the Turkeys - Sticky Topics Index.

 

[karenerwin]

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days. I just haven't really felt like talking much. Our dog, Sparkles, unexpectedly passed away on us on Thursday. She was fine 2 days before, playing with me and arguing with me for "her" chair in the living room, then Wednesday evening she started throwing up here and there. She had a lot of issues so for her to have an episode like that didn't raise any red flags. Thursday afternoon, she laid down to take a nap, like she always did and just never woke up. She was only 7 years old but an English bulldog mix. I know that their average lifespan is only 8 years old and that they're prone to just drop like that but we were not prepared.

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We were able to bury her along with the ashes of our other two dogs that she spent her life with. Dreamy passed about 2 years ago from cancer. Rocky started going downhill afterwards so we held on to Dreamy's ashes to bury them together. We had to put Rocky down around November. He was almost 15 and old age caught up to him. At that point the ground was frozen. I guess Sparkles wanted to make sure that they were all together. This house feels so empty now. We haven't been without a dog in about 16 years.

Dreamy and Sparkles

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Rocky

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So sorry to hear about your loss. It is always really hard to lose a beloved pet.

 

[R2elk]

no poults allowed.

In approximately 4 weeks there will be poults here.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that all those eggs hatch!

If they all hatch, I am going to be in a lot of trouble trying to get rid of them. Even a 50% hatch will be too many.