A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[R2elk]

I know a million factors can impact things, but as we move towards raising 100% of the poultry we eat between chickens and heritage turkeys, I was wondering on what my expectations might be around free ranging hens safely hatching and raising healthy poults? If we're aiming to keep a breeding flock (1:10? 1:5?), and planning to process 10-20 birds/year, how many toms and hens do people recommend if the goal is to avoid incubation? How do you protect the babies from the toms? How do you keep outdoor poults healthy from coccidiosis? How often do you rotate breeding stock?

We'll be providing shelter and year round food and water. We're in WI, so snow is a factor. We have 13.5 acres, and are actively working on culling problem racoons. Coyotes, foxes, and possibly raptors will be the other primary challenge.

There seems to be so much less information on homesteading for turkeys than chickens.

A flock of one tom and 4 to 5 hens will easily produce more than the amount you want. I have easily produced more than 100 poults from a flock of 5 h3ns and one tom. Most of the time I limit what gets hatched to prevent getting stuck with too many.

My hens are relatively safe inside the 2 acre compound because I actively work on predator control. I have lost a few to predators over the years with the last loss being an 11 year old hen that was taken off of her hidden nest.

My two acre area is enclosed with a 6' tall 2"x4" welded wire fence that does not have a top bar or rail.

 

[Beccatrix]

A flock of one tom and 4 to 5 hens will easily produce more than the amount you want. I have easily produced more than 100 poults from a flock of 5 h3ns and one tom. Most of the time I limit what gets hatched to prevent getting stuck with too many.

My hens are relatively safe inside the 2 acre compound because I actively work on predator control. I have lost a few to predators over the years with the last loss being an 11 year old hen that was taken off of her hidden nest.

My two acre area is enclosed with a 6' tall 2"x4" welded wire fence that does not have a top bar or rail.

My goal next year is to completely fence off our orchard area, and move the turkey part of the operation if we run into too many problems. I'm glad my husband is a motivated hunter (sadly, it'll be a long time before I can join him due to health).

Is it common practice to keep a backup tom? Out of 8, I'm thinking we might only have 3 females (not sure what age they become jakes and jennies), but it's early yet. I know I need patience to expand and meet our goals over time. It just makes me that much more nervous about the small amount of birds we have now.

 

[Molpet]

I know a million factors can impact things, but as we move towards raising 100% of the poultry we eat between chickens and heritage turkeys, I was wondering on what my expectations might be around free ranging hens safely hatching and raising healthy poults? If we're aiming to keep a breeding flock (1:10? 1:5?), and planning to process 10-20 birds/year, how many toms and hens do people recommend if the goal is to avoid incubation? How do you protect the babies from the toms? How do you keep outdoor poults healthy from coccidiosis? How often do you rotate breeding stock?

We'll be providing shelter and year round food and water. We're in WI, so snow is a factor. We have 13.5 acres, and are actively working on culling problem racoons. Coyotes, foxes, and possibly raptors will be the other primary challenge.

There seems to be so much less information on homesteading for turkeys than chickens.

Some years I have a good survival rate free ranging and some years not so much.
Year before last raccoons got most of the poults. So far I have gotten 74 racoons and a bunch of opossum.
Last year I kept over 3dz spring poults, I let the hens hatch and raise them. I lost a third to cold rainy weather and half a dz to coccidiosis. Then they decided to sleep in the trees and the owls got all but 6 One was raised by a chicken and stayed in the coop and survived. One in the trees stayed under mom's wing and survived. 4 I put in a tractor that wasn't big enough and they survived to go to the freezer.
I keep a backup tom until easter.

 

[R2elk]

My goal next year is to completely fence off our orchard area, and move the turkey part of the operation if we run into too many problems. I'm glad my husband is a motivated hunter (sadly, it'll be a long time before I can join him due to health).

Is it common practice to keep a backup tom? Out of 8, I'm thinking we might only have 3 females (not sure what age they become jakes and jennies), but it's early yet. I know I need patience to expand and meet our goals over time. It just makes me that much more nervous about the small amount of birds we have now.

I tend to keep a spare tom through the winter just in case. It is usually easy to sell the extra tom right before breeding season as it is not uncommon for someone to have unexpected losses through the winter.

I started with a single pair of one Blue Slate tom and one Blue Slate hen when I first got into them. I started with a single Sweetgrass tom and a Sweetgrass hen when I got into them. The Sweetgrass hen never laid an egg. I expanded my Sweetgrass by bringing in 3 Royal Palm hens. By breeding them to the Sweetgrass tom I was able to bring in new blood and produce pure Sweetgrass hens. I sold or processed all of their male offspring.

The only difference between a Sweetgrass and a Royal Palm in the color genetics is the Narragansett gene that the Royal Palms have.

The Narragansett gene is a sex linked gene that is linked to the male chromosome. Males need 2 Narragansett genes for the trait to be displayed. Hens can only have one Narragansett gene which will be displayed if they have it. The hens cannot pass their Narragansett gene on to their female offspring.

When breeding a Sweetgrass tom to a Royal Palm hen, all of the offspring will be phenotypically Sweetgrass. The hens will all be pure Sweetgrass and the toms will all look like Sweetgrass but will carry a hidden recessive Narragansett gene.

 

[R2elk]

Some years I have a good survival rate free ranging and some years not so much.
Year before last raccoons got most of the poults. So far I have gotten 74 racoons and a bunch of opossum.
Last year I kept over 3dz spring poults, I let the hens hatch and raise them. I lost a third to cold rainy weather and half a dz to coccidiosis. Then they decided to sleep in the trees and the owls got all but 6 One was raised by a chicken and stayed in the coop and survived. One in the trees stayed under mom's wing and survived. 4 I put in a tractor that wasn't big enough and they survived to go to the freezer.
I keep a backup tom until easter.

I hatch the first batch of eggs in the incubator. Early eggs here have a good chance of getting frozen if not collected daily. Once I have the incubator going I let the hens have their nests.

I normally grab any poults and put them in the brooder whenever the hens hatch them. Doing this greatly reduces the risk of losing poults to a myriad of issues including predators. It also is much easier to show and sell poults that are in a brooder than those that are hiding under a hen.

 

[Beccatrix]

I normally grab any poults and put them in the brooder whenever the hens hatch them. Doing this greatly reduces the risk of losing poults to a myriad of issues including predators. It also is much easier to show and sell poults that are in a brooder than those that are hiding under a hen.

I'm thinking this is why I might go with a larger amount of hens if they hatch next year. I own a newer business that I run full time on top of working in it (mental health therapist with a full caseload), have 10+ employees, and multiple students to supervise/year. I haven't minded the extra work this spring/summer in start up across all breeds, and brooding next year is an option as I'll be expanding our chicken flocks, but for the next 5 years or so, I have to rely heavily on my husband doing a lot of the work while he also works full time. Hopefully keeping more adult birds while focusing on health will even things out?

 

[R2elk]

I'm thinking this is why I might go with a larger amount of hens if they hatch next year. I own a newer business that I run full time on top of working in it (mental health therapist with a full caseload), have 10+ employees, and multiple students to supervise/year. I haven't minded the extra work this spring/summer in start up across all breeds, and brooding next year is an option as I'll be expanding our chicken flocks, but for the next 5 years or so, I have to rely heavily on my husband doing a lot of the work while he also works full time. Hopefully keeping more adult birds while focusing on health will even things out?

I have raised turkeys here for 30+ years alone while working jobs that took a lot more than 40 hours a week of my time. It can be done and you have help.

 

[Beccatrix]

I have raised turkeys here for 30+ years alone while working jobs that took a lot more than 40 hours a week of my time. It can be done and you have help.

Thankfully, worst case scenario, my husband grew up on a pheasant farm and has experience with incubation.

 

[Beccatrix]

Some years I have a good survival rate free ranging and some years not so much.
Year before last raccoons got most of the poults. So far I have gotten 74 racoons and a bunch of opossum.
Last year I kept over 3dz spring poults, I let the hens hatch and raise them. I lost a third to cold rainy weather and half a dz to coccidiosis. Then they decided to sleep in the trees and the owls got all but 6 One was raised by a chicken and stayed in the coop and survived. One in the trees stayed under mom's wing and survived. 4 I put in a tractor that wasn't big enough and they survived to go to the freezer.
I keep a backup tom until easter.

It feels like coccidiosis is going to be a major problem. I've heard some people treat their flocks twice a year regardless?

 

[R2elk]

It feels like coccidiosis is going to be a major problem. I've heard some people treat their flocks twice a year regardless?

I have never treated any of my flocks for coccidiosis.