Give me the dirt on turkeys

[MandyH]

WE have raised blue slates for a couple of years now. Right now I have culled myself down to only 2 gobblers, but one of them is a sneaky old thing. He always chases my 3 year old, and in the Spring they ALL do. This one tom will tip toe up behind you and as soon as you turn around, so does he. Acting like, "hey, I'm not after you, what are you looking at me for?". Yeah, he's sneaky LOL! He goes after my ankles, never has pecked me or anything, just always is looking at my feet. You would never know the 14 hens were on the place. They are so sweet and quiet. I actually just got rid of 95% of my chickens to focus more on turkeys. They are THE best.

 

[belibutn]

Quote:
If you order from Welp they have a minimum order of 15 per breed. If you order less than the min, then they only add a $1.50 surcharge to the order. So, it is a preferred minimum order, but you could order just 1 if you wanted to.

 

[SandraMort]

Oh, this is torture. How can I justify turkeys AND quail AND ducks AND meat chickens AND egg chickens?

I suppose I have all winter to come up with an excuse!

 

[ametauss]

What if you band your Turkeys... Can a hunter then still kill them??

Mine from time to time will wander over into my neighbor's yard and I'm worried that sometime they may wander further....

I was thinking of buying a bander so I could tag each bird... Turkey, Duck, and Chicken so I could identify them should something happen to them....

I'm getting a tagger for my new pygmy goats and thought I should do all my animals....

Also, at what age should my turkey hens start laying and is it only seasonal??

 

[MandyH]

Turkeys start laying the Spring after they are hatched. And yes they are seasonal layers, March to September. Eventhough I have one hen still laying now!

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
If you order from Welp they have a minimum order of 15 per breed. If you order less than the min, then they only add a $1.50 surcharge to the order. So, it is a preferred minimum order, but you could order just 1 if you wanted to.

Unless they have changed none of the hatcheries will let you combine chicks and turkeys. The turkeys are all drop shipped from Texas and Arizona.

Steve in NC

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
Turkey hens will start laying about 8 to 9 months old, we have some that were hatched in early spring and are just starting to lay now. They lay best in the spring and have a short season in the fall. Older hens will pretty much only lay in the spring. The weather in your area is factor as well. Ours Beltsville's started laying last Christmas and a few are still laying with good fertility.

Steve in NC

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
You could always get the dual purpose chickens, that would cut down some!! I have right now 3 types of quail, 3 breeds of duck, chickens, and next month turkeys, next spring bobwhites and chukars, and possibly peafowl and geese as well!! So it can be done! I'm not addicted to chickens, I'm addicted to birds!!!

 

[BeakSanctuary]

Things, I notice, are changing in my turkey world and I hope it doesn't turn wacko! What I mean is that the new generation of 5 Black Spanish, 5 Chocolate, 3 Holland White is a bigger, more active flock at 3 or 4 months, than any of my other turkeys were, who mostly just lolled about the chicken yard or walked around with the geese.

These youngsters are running the slopes of my yard into the narrow band of woods between me and the neighbor's pasture/yard like a bunch of hooligans, or cowboys and Indians. They're bigger than chickens now, mostly, seem to be growing overnight, and I can hardly imagine what it'll be like when they're huge and doing the same thing. It's all been very low-key so far and they all free-range during the day for the most part. I'm thinking I might have a handful with them pretty soon.

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
Most of my layers are dual purpose with the intention of processing excess males, but for stocking up the freezer, I want freedom rangers.

I have right now 3 types of quail, 3 breeds of duck, chickens, and next month turkeys, next spring bobwhites and chukars, and possibly peafowl and geese as well!! So it can be done! I'm not addicted to chickens, I'm addicted to birds!!!

My current wish list has two kinds of quail, one kind of duck, two or three kinds of turkeys, maybe guinea fowl and someday maybe geese. Plus my chickens, which are mostly dual purpose of a few types, plus some leghorns for fun.​