A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[KF0002]

My adult turkey have been roosting in the trees, because I didn't have many predator problems for years... and its had too change their ways. Good dog died 2021 and The last couple years GH owls have been picking them off . Took my largest tom late last fall.

I am really sorry to hear about all that. Losing good dogs is a hard blow. I recently lost my big female Pyrenees and that was truly a hard hit. She was one in a million. We got her when she was a year old from a friend who couldn't keep her home. She was a "goat dog" but never would stay with the goats long enough to protect them. We brought her home and she never once offered to kill a chicken the first time. We didn't have to train her, she was just an all around good LGD.

Now that I'm hearing that you all lose such large birds to varmints, I am hesitant to put my favorite Sweetgrass jake and jennies in the coop/run. I may have to just turn them out in the goat lot when my husband gets their shelter built and watch them like a hawk. My dog will take care of them, but they aren't out of the woods with blackhead. That is the monster I'm dealing with right now.

We have big owls here too. When they don't take a bird, they tear them all to pieces trying to take them and it's a mess.

 

[Molpet]

When they don't take a bird, they tear them all to pieces trying to take them and it's a mess.

I have found the ones that get tore apart may be secondary predation. Example :The neck is gone or mainly eated and it's dragged to under cover with the guts eaten out, opossum poop nearby and I catch a opossum soon after. I'm thinking owl killed and opossum helped himself..... which stinks because a cold weather raptor kill leaves me salvageable meat. The nasty opossum ruins more than it eats.

 

[Bantambird]

I never thought about a raptor kill on Miss Pretty Girl, but it could be a possibility. The dogs messed up any tracking at the kill site chasing off whatever came and muddling all the tracks. Zeus is young for a guardian.

 

[R2elk]

Ya got me

Tell me, which color gene or genes is causing the white mottling?

 

[R2elk]

Can you please elaborate on this? I am still learning and really wish to understand all of the genetics in turkeys.

There are only a couple people that might be able to explain it in detail. I know there is more going on than you can learn from Porter's Color Calculator.

@austria89 said there is more covered in his book that is available on Amazon.

 

[SarahGfa]

That is not applicable to your situation. You have to look through the game & fish laws for your state. The fastest way to find out the regulations is to call your local game & fish warden or DNR agent.

ok. they will probably need to see it What's the best way to catch a poult? thinking about trapping it with a box propped up on a stick. does that work in real life, or only in cartoons?

 

[KF0002]

I have found the ones that get tore apart may be secondary predation. Example :The neck is gone or mainly eated and it's dragged to under cover with the guts eaten out, opossum poop nearby and I catch a opossum soon after. I'm thinking owl killed and opossum helped himself..... which stinks because a cold weather raptor kill leaves me salvageable meat. The nasty opossum ruins more than it eats.

We've had big a rooster that roosted on top of structures without the cover of heavy branches or shelter that an owl tried to take but couldn't fly off with the bird I'm assuming so it just tore the bird's back up really bad. The wounds were clear talon marks and a possum or racoon wouldn't have left the bird alive. I'm assuming the big rooster put up a good fight so that was the only reason he didn't get killed but can only speculate. His wounds were terrible and he was so bruised. However, the bird survived with antibiotics and supportive care.

Recently I found an F2 Olive Egger hen literally partially eaten but still alive. I came home from work and she was walking around very slowly and sorely in the yard. Her back and rear end were skinned and her tail where her preen gland is was completely gone. I couldn't even tell where her vent was. There was one large claw mark in the flesh on her back. I can't bring myself to kill my birds, so my husband dispatches them for me. It was horrible. A night or two after that another F2 Olive Egger hen was found in pieces. My husband has kept a trap set every night since then and has caught a possum and a coon. I have a lot of chickens, so losing them here and there doesn't hurt me too bad as I always raise more than we need. But I really don't want to lose my turkeys to predators.

 

[KF0002]

ok. they will probably need to see it What's the best way to catch a poult? thinking about trapping it with a box propped up on a stick. does that work in real life, or only in cartoons?

They easiest way would be to watch the hen late in the evening and see where she takes them to bed down for the night, then get it from under her. I go into full stalk mode when trying to find where a hen is taking chicks or where she has hidden a nest. Catching the hen wouldn't be hard, but the poults will scatter all over and hide.

 

[KF0002]

There are only a couple people that might be able to explain it in detail. I know there is more going on than you can learn from Porter's Color Calculator.

@austria89 said there is more covered in his book that is available on Amazon.

I may break down and make the purchase if I can't figure it out otherwise. Thank you.

 

[Molpet]

We've had big a rooster that roosted on top of structures without the cover of heavy branches or shelter that an owl tried to take but couldn't fly off with the bird I'm assuming so it just tore the bird's back up really bad. The wounds were clear talon marks and a possum or racoon wouldn't have left the bird alive. I'm assuming the big rooster put up a good fight so that was the only reason he didn't get killed but can only speculate. His wounds were terrible and he was so bruised. However, the bird survived with antibiotics and supportive care.

Agree that sounds like an owl.
With the turkeys usually I don't find any talon wounds or maybe a few if they tried to get away. I think owls grab the turkey by the neck. I had one hen that had wounds in her neck was was still alive eating and drinking... until a death rattle started in her lungs. I should have harvested her right away but I thought she was going to make it. Wasted meat.
A couple cockerels had wounds in the back