How to Grow a Blueberry Bush

[gjensen]

Arielle and gjensen it sounds like you are going to be busy and having a wonderful time in your gardens this fall. I love reading about all you have going on in your gardens.

gjensen you and Arielle are downsizing your flocks. On the other hand my birds are just now getting old enough to start laying so I may be raising chicks all winter. I kind of hate the idea of brooders again this year but I will need alot of pullets in the spring.

I have a hen that hatched my 4 Sweetgrass turkey poults I bought from Arielle and she acts like a momma all day but at night she sleeps on a roost instead of keeping the poults warm! This is upsetting because they are only two weeks old and still need warmth and it is going down into the 60's at night. I tried to take the momma away from the poults to put them in a brooder but they were all so upset they just kept crying. I don't know what to do! Can someone please advise?

I am considering a fall hatch. There is a mating or two that I would like to try, but we will see how well the birds cooperate. I intentionally hatched late this year, but maybe just a little late for a fall hatch. The hens will be molting soon.

 

[vehve]

I have a rice sock on my chest now. I have chronic chest pain (coronary vasospasms). I think they will be too hot initially, and not last long enough to accomplish what you are trying to accomplish.

The handwarmer gelpacks would probably be better as they give off the heat more slowly because it's a chemical process. But the rice will help keep at least a bit of heat in there, can't do any harm.

 

[gjensen]

The handwarmer gelpacks would probably be better as they give off the heat more slowly because it's a chemical process. But the rice will help keep at least a bit of heat in there, can't do any harm.

It was not to be critical, it is just that I know all to well how temporary they are. Unfortunately. It is not the early evening that will see the coolest temperatures, but the pre dawn morning. I suspect that they will need little to none, early.

I do not have any better suggestions than what has been offered. I do not have enough experience with Turkey poults to know how fragile they might be. If these were chicks, I would gamble that they would be ok.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: That is kind of where I am torn, the poults have likely been doing the same thing ever since they hatched huddling together in the middle of the pen with momma on the roost. The poults are thriving and do not show any signs it is bothering them. I know large scale breeders leave the poults in the wild with the moms to tend to. Like my stock from Mr. Frank Reese. Mr. Reese's farms do not bring the poults in to brood. So I think I am just going to wait and see how they do.

 

[vehve]

Quote: Criticizing and questioning other people's ideas is always good, it forces you to rethink them. I'm just trying to throw some ideas out there, but my experiences with turkey are pretty limited, so I'm happy that you're here to shoot down any bad ideas I might have.

*Edit* By pretty limited I mean I've eaten turkey a few times. So nonexistent might be a better word.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Goeroge as to fragile-- I often think that what a poult or chick can tolerate depends on a number of factors. How feathered out they are; how cold the temps are; how many can huddle together; how adapted they are to the current conditions. Some one takes away heat very early on their chicks, I am remembering 3 weeks-- maybe you remember who said they did this? BUt to get the light/ heat of at the end of 3 weeks, they decreased the temps right along in prep for the shut off. No moommy hen either.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've never raised turkeys, but Sunbeam makes a nice heating pad that can be set at a very low temp and can be set to stay on indefinitely. It can be thrown in the washer, though if using it on poultry, i'd cover it with a towel.

 

[gjensen]

Generally speaking they are tougher than we give them credit for. If they have not been receiving supplemental heat at night, then I suspect they will be fine. I do not want to influence your decision though.

 

[gjensen]

Goeroge as to fragile-- I often think that what a poult or chick can tolerate depends on a number of factors. How feathered out they are; how cold the temps are; how many can huddle together; how adapted they are to the current conditions. Some one takes away heat very early on their chicks, I am remembering 3 weeks-- maybe you remember who said they did this? BUt to get the light/ heat of at the end of 3 weeks, they decreased the temps right along in prep for the shut off. No moommy hen either.

I think that you can certainly get them off heat as soon as three weeks, providing there is no extremes to contend with. I would not do that in the winter. Later into the spring, I do not see a problem. An observation that I have made is the chicks provided access to a heat source later (especially at night) have better early growth rates. They are not devoting as much energy into staying warm. I try to find an ideal, rather than a can do. I do not want to check their growth early. It is easy to see when you raise them side by side. They tell you when they are ready, because you will quit catching the using the heat source. My brooders have "sun porches". They can go outside as they please. Once they are feathered out, I put them in the grower houses.

The reason for waiting until they go out into the grower house is a resistance to cocci, and the incidence level of losses due to piling on the cooler evenings. When there is any qty. and a cool evening, you will lose some.

 

[gjensen]

Criticizing and questioning other people's ideas is always good, it forces you to rethink them. I'm just trying to throw some ideas out there, but my experiences with turkey are pretty limited, so I'm happy that you're here to shoot down any bad ideas I might have.

*Edit* By pretty limited I mean I've eaten turkey a few times. So nonexistent might be a better word.

Just do not take it as a criticism. I could not resist commenting when I had a rice sock on my chest, LOL. I use them every day, but hope not to forever. I am literally scarring my chest from using them. I use them for migraines, tooth aches, and sore muscles to. They are certainly useful.

I do not have any experience with turkeys other than helping a friend with his. I helped him get a couple flocks started, and that is it. He raises the Blue Slates, and Royal Palms. I do enjoy them, but I do not see adding them.