Illinois...

[BReeder!]

@Molpet and @Faraday40 where do you get turkey pullets or eggs from? I would love to get one or two female turkeys if I could keep them with my 7 chickens. Male turkeys would be too loud where I am. Sure would be nice to have a two females named Christmas and Thanksgiving.

 

[Faraday40]

Having one of those days....
Besides the mystery egg in the main coop, the useless bantam coop has been a cacophony of noise. The bantam hen trio has been singing the egg song (but no eggs), Teddy's been crowing to accompany them, and the OEG has been going through her unusual noise repertoire. (She sounds nothing like a chicken.)

The puppy got a hold of DS's sleeping bag & ripped a big hole in it. DS was pretty upset since it's his favorite, so DD decided to fix it...... with the stapler. LOL (That's MY girl! I can do many artistic & domestic tasks with ease - except sewing. I found duct tape & glue can fix many things.)

My chicks are now 5 weeks. They still mostly look like females. I saw what looked like blood in the poop, so I've been treating with Corid in the water for the past 2 days. No other physical or behavioral symptoms. This morning I saw bright red blood in the shavings & quickly ordered a fresh package of Corid. I figured my batch was old & may not be working as well as it should. Has anyone ever had chicks with cocci & actually saw blood? If so, how long until it cleared up? In the past, I gave Corid anytime I had suspicion of Cocci but really only noticed diarrhea - never actual blood.

The silkie broody (Xansie) is molting & looking icky. Her nails were in need of a pedicure, so she had some spa time this afternoon. While soaking her feet, I pulled off a bit of clumped feathers & later realized that there was a blood feather. In hindsight, the bright red blood from this morning (& possibly the last 2 days) may have come from that toe feather. Time will tell.

Here are some pics of the 5 wk old chicks:


Blue orp
It's a very large birds with thick legs, but I still think female. She's going to be HUGE.


White serama (now more beige... kind of reminds me of a Porcelain Mille Fleur) I think female.


Chipmunk serama
*** Please take a close look at this one. Mostly looks female (especially since seramas mature quickly) but those wattles still make me nervous! Much also depends on the camera angle.

 

[BReeder!]

Looks like you are jumping in with both feet.
I call it MAINLINING
I think you will be VERY HAPPY with your new setup.

I think I'll take photos along the way and write an article on BYC finally. I've been meaning to create a coop page. No point on doing it for the one I'm about to tear down, but perfect opportunity while I'm building out a new one.
Should be interesting since I'm using almost all repurposed materials. I just hope I have enough 8ft boards. The quail cages alone will use TWELVE 8ft boards to build, and then I need at least two more 8ft boards for walling off the chicken section, plus several 6ft boards. I have plenty of cut-offs for smaller pieces I'll need along the way... Might have to get creative and join two boars together in some places. We'll see...

 

[BReeder!]

Blue orp
It's a very large birds with thick legs, but I still think female. She's going to be HUGE.

The Orps I got from you had thick legs too. We call them "the little girls" because they are the youngest, but they are ironically two of the biggest in our flock, only surpassed by our Light Brahmas, who a have tree trunks for legs.

 

[Faraday40]

@Molpet and @Faraday40 where do you get turkey pullets or eggs from? I would love to get one or two female turkeys if I could keep them with my 7 chickens. Male turkeys would be too loud where I am. Sure would be nice to have a two females named Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Your future coop project looks awesome!!!! I'm so jealous!

@Molpet let me hatch some of her turkey eggs. So that's where I got them. (Remember how I said hatching is addictive? Well, it's a slippery slope from chickens to quail to turkeys. LOL)

Our poult named "Christmas" turned out to be a beautiful male, & he went to live with @chickendreams24 since she needed a male turkey. The plan was to eat "Thanksgiving" & "Back up" but one excuse after another & both are still here. It's just easier to keep them in the coop with the chickens than to attempt to stuff them in our already over-packed freezer. I don't plan on keeping them permanently.... just until we're ready for a turkey dinner or two. I think they eat more than chickens & always worry about them flying away to live with a neighbor. Since the flock has been cooped up due to hawks, I don't have to worry about them escaping.

 

[BReeder!]

Your future coop project looks awesome!!!! I'm so jealous!

@Molpet let me hatch some of her turkey eggs. So that's where I got them. (Remember how I said hatching is addictive? Well, it's a slippery slope from chickens to quail to turkeys. LOL)

Our poult named "Christmas" turned out to be a beautiful male, & he went to live with @chickendreams24 since she needed a male turkey. The plan was to eat "Thanksgiving" & "Back up" but one excuse after another & both are still here. It's just easier to keep them in the coop with the chickens than to attempt to stuff them in our already over-packed freezer. I don't plan on keeping them permanently.... just until we're ready for a turkey dinner or two. I think they eat more than chickens & always worry about them flying away to live with a neighbor. Since the flock has been cooped up due to hawks, I don't have to worry about them escaping.

@Molpet Are you still producing fertile turkey eggs? I'll have an empty incubator in 2 weeks! I'd be willing to even incubate extras to give back to you as payment for the 2 I keep. Make a deal?

@Faraday40 incubating was exciting when I ordered the incubator and eggs, and again when the eggs arrived, but then it got boring for several days and I was thinking, "What's all the fuss about?" Then I candled... NOW I'M ADDICTED! Unfortunately, I'll mostly be incubating just quail in the future to try avoid breaking the law. Who would notice 2 turkey hens mixed into the chicken flock though?

As for flying away, the new run will definitely be covered with bird netting. I bought it to hang over the old run and never put it up because I couldn't figure out how to keep it high enough without several posts down the center of the run. Now I can just run to the top of the shed roof and down to the fence on an angle. It will catch some leaves from a tree in my neighbors yard, but I'll just hang it with small hooks so I can unhook it form the fence and dump the leaves off.

 

[cavemanrich]

My run area is covered overhead with 4 light tarps. Tarps are secured to house structure on one end. Other end is attached to fence with rubber straps. The flex prevents the tarps from ripping during wind, and also snow buildup. Tarps have the advantage of keeping the run dry underneath. Also provide summer shade. Wind blows off leaves since the tarps are on a slant.
I have to replace tarps about every 2 or 3 years due to UV deterioration. They are reasonably priced, VS the heavier vinyl type. Those would last well over 10 years.

 

[BReeder!]

My run area is covered overhead with 4 light tarps. Tarps are secured to house structure on one end. Other end is attached to fence with rubber straps. The flex prevents the tarps from ripping during wind, and also snow buildup. Tarps have the advantage of keeping the run dry underneath. Also provide summer shade. Wind blows off leaves since the tarps are on a slant.
I have to replace tarps about every 2 or 3 years due to UV deterioration. They are reasonably priced, VS the heavier vinyl type. Those would last well over 10 years.

I actually took this tip before form you. I used bungee cords to attach a tarp over a portion of the current run. I had nails through the grommet holes previously and heavy rain would cause enough water to collect on the tarp that the nails would get pulled out of the fence. The bungee worked great because it would flex and it kept the slope straighter form the tension so more water would run off rather than collect in a low spot.

 

[Molpet]

Has anyone ever had chicks with cocci & actually saw blood?

nope, I think that might be what my poults died from, corid didn't seem to help. But I was giving them wet feed and they didn't drink as much as if it was dry.. so if it happens next year I am going to give them dry feed and see if that helps.
Chicks never got sick.


no eggs from the turkeys since the hen went broody early summer... but when i get some I will be more than happy to share.. I have 7 hens and will have a ton of extra eggs. the poults are fragile until they are 8 weeks or so.. I set 25 eggs or so under broody hens, 18 hatched and lived more than 3 days... 8 died from what might of been cocci, not sure what it was... any extras I put in the freezer at six months old.

@Molpet Are you still producing fertile turkey eggs? I'll have an empty incubator in 2 weeks! I'd be willing to even incubate extras to give back to you as payment for the 2 I keep. Make a deal?

 

[BReeder!]

nope, I think that might be what my poults died from, corid didn't seem to help. But I was giving them wet feed and they didn't drink as much as if it was dry.. so if it happens next year I am going to give them dry feed and see if that helps.
Chicks never got sick.


no eggs from the turkeys since the hen went broody early summer... but when i get some I will be more than happy to share.. I have 7 hens and will have a ton of extra eggs. the poults are fragile until they are 8 weeks or so.. I set 25 eggs or so under broody hens, 18 hatched and lived more than 3 days... 8 died from what might of been cocci, not sure what it was... any extras I put in the freezer at six months old.

Keep me in mind, please. Sure would love to have turkeys around one day.