A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[TesoroSena]

I just sold 3 so I think I have around 14 hens. I haven't harvested all the extra boys yet. So there's 4 jakes and 5 toms, one is lame and stays in the coop. He can only breed on flat ground. The older hens prefer him lol

Wow a lot of turkeys! I want more but my current breeding parent accept any new turkeys. They just beat them up and I feel so bad, but my Chip is so lonely because my Tom is kinda overridden with male hormones. She also had a traumatic past.. maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[R2elk]

 

[Huntmaster]

turkey love is in the air.

Must be a westward wind.

View attachment 3761641

 

[Molpet]

She is such a tease. He is trying to knock down the fence to get to her.....if h walked 50 ft he could go through the gate

 

[R2elk]

She is such a tease. He is trying to knock down the fence to get to her.....if h walked 50 ft he could go through the gate

That's a bird thing. I've even seen robins do it. Run back and forth along the fence instead of walking around it or flying over it.

 

[KF0002]

She is such a tease. He is trying to knock down the fence to get to her.....if h walked 50 ft he could go through the gate
View attachment 3761725

The hen I have healing from injuries is in a pen in the goat lot. I don't want her to mingle with the males until she is fully healed but she likes to still be able to see the others. She teases them through the wire and lays down asking to be bred. They are all frustrated to say the least.

I guess now would be a bad time to add my spare sweetgrass tom to the bachelor group? The red sweetgrass can be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[KF0002]

Caught the white jake strutting today. His broken wing healed nicely. If I raise enough males out of the painted/grizzled poults to maturity, this bird will be processed. I hung onto him thinking the whites out of the painted/grizzled were carriers of the mottling gene (cm), but I learned from reading Kevin's book on them that they dont. They are just cc with no cm. It's hard, because he is like a big feather puppy. Whites are still useful in breeding painted because a tuxedo x a white produces all painted offspring. A white to a painted produces half white and half painted offspring. But if I end up with a few painted or grizzled males, I won't hang onto the white.

His tail is dirty from sleeping on the floor of the pen. He still doesn't realize his wing is better and doesn't try to roost with the others. We have had a ton of rain and even with straw, the pens get messy.

 

[R2elk]

He still doesn't realize his wing is better and doesn't try to roost with the others.

This is why wing clipping can work long term even if done only once on adults. By the time the flight feathers grow back they have forgotten they can fly.

 

[I Like Turkeys]

This is why wing clipping can work long termeven if done only once on adults. By the time the flight feathers grow back they have forgotten they can fly.

Yeah… I’ve had this happen with birds. I’ve never clipped the wings on a turkey, but I’ve purchased ones who had clipped wings. They haven’t started flying again even after their flight feathers grew back, and it’s just pitiful to see.

 

[R2elk]

Yeah… I’ve had this happen with birds. I’ve never clipped the wings on a turkey, but I’ve purchased ones who had clipped wings. They haven’t started flying again even after their flight feathers grew back, and it’s just pitiful to see.

They can still fly if they need to. Had a coon raid a nest one night. I found the hen inside the pen the next morning. The only way she could have gotten in was by flying in. She had not flown at all during the previous 3 years.