Do you grow them out and process? We’ve done the broad breasted variety before. I’m wondering when I’d need to get heritage turkey poults to be ready for Thanksgiving (14# or so). The one year I tried growing the heritage types (from Porter’s) a fox wiped them all out about May. So I never really figured out a growth timeline.Thanks
So sorry to hear about this; it must have been awful for all of you. The aggressive hen's behaviour was not predictable, and such hens are the exception not the rule (thankfully). Chicks grow amazingly fast, so if this one can mend it will do so quickly. Good luck.Sorry for the long post, but this is certainly not how I wanted my first hatch to go. this morning I woke up to a little wet yellow chickOne more to go. This is my broody’s first hatch, and mine, so I observed for about 30 minutes and decided broody and chick looked to be getting along just fine. Nothing else in the coop or surrounding environment seemed out of place. Broody and chick were in the nesting box where my broody had her clutch and refused to move from, and she has been vehemently defending her spot from the other hens. No one has been laying in her box since she went broody.
I came back to the coop about 2 hours later and found broody and chick on the floor of the coop huddled in a corner. Another non-broody hen, who has a history of being aggressive to other hens in the past, was in their nesting box pecking around eating eggshell/remnants from the hatch. It appears this hen attacked the broody and her chick and the two ended up on the floor. My heart sank, but I could still hear the chick peeping. I immediately began beating myself up, and still am, for only watching how broody and chick got along and not paying better attention to how the other chickens would react. Lesson learned the hard way.
Edited to include: I moved broody and chick in my house, as it is roughly 500 degrees in southeast Texas right now. So now they are getting some AC, and chickie is getting its beak dipped in water + save-a-chick powder which it is drinking down.
~10 hours later, chick is moving around more but cannot stand on its own or walk properly. It is wiggling around using its good leg and its right wing as a sort of crutch. The chick is opening its right eye which it looks like it still works, and has minimal injury! Chickie is also very vocal and lively. Small victories.
It will take a long, long time for me to forgive myself for leaving broody and chick vulnerable to attack - so please limit criticism here. I thought through my setup for them for weeks and believed it would be safe but apparently it was not. This is my first hatch and I knew any errors I made could mean life and death and that may well be the case here. But now that I have the two safely tucked away for some R&R in the AC, does anyone have any additional suggestions to assist in helping my chick work out that injured leg?
It should be noted that I did NOT see the chick walking or moving when I first observed it after hatching this morning. This makes it difficult to tell if its walking difficulties are from hatching fatigue/deformity/vitamin deficiency, or from the attack by the other hen. I don’t think it’s splayed leg since the other leg seems to be alright and the legs aren’t bowing out, but I am open to all suggestions of course.
I would also like to publicly applaud my broody for being an absolute hero. This is her first hatch and she has been nothing but exemplary, and she quite literally put her life on the line to save her chick during the attack from the other hen. My hat off to you, CleopatraView attachment 3152828
Note: chickie’s funky right foot. The leg was pecked visibly just above the ankle joint. The toes do flex out when I assist the chick in putting pressure on it.
ps, Cleo is still sitting on her other egg. I am unfortunately having a staggered hatch (out of my control, long story, but another lesson learned and I will never stagger hatch again) so I felt comfortable moving this egg since it’s not quite as close to hatching. If Cleo decides she doesn’t want to wait for that egg, I have another broody who will finish the hatch. *exhales deeply, sips wine*
Sorry, but I've not eaten any of my own yet, though I usually do have either pasture-raised heritage turkey or roasted duck on Thanksgiving, but grown and dressed out by someone else. To date I've just hatched and grown the Narragansetts and sold them live, with most going for breeding, and unfortunately I don't have a record of when they are usually ready for table. These that I just hatched out were exhibition stock eggs that I'd purchased and had shipped to me, so I'll be growing them out and keeping the best for exhibition (fingers crossed!) and to build up my breeding program. I've a friend that wants to buy any I'm not keeping so he can start raising some as well.
Definitely not for Thanksgiving dinner then! Best of luck with these special little poults. I think I spot some future prize winners in there for you.
You had no way of knowing the other hen would attack them. My broody was raising her chicks with the flock & no one dared mess with her. It’s different with every hen though. If one of my lower girls went broody it may be different. Bringing them inside was probably a good thing with this heatSorry for the long post, but this is certainly not how I wanted my first hatch to go. this morning I woke up to a little wet yellow chick
I came back to the coop about 2 hours later and found broody and chick on the floor of the coop huddled in a corner. Another non-broody hen, who has a history of being aggressive to other hens in the past, was in their nesting box pecking around eating eggshell/remnants from the hatch. It appears this hen attacked the broody and her chick and the two ended up on the floor. My heart sank, but I could still hear the chick peeping. I immediately began beating myself up, and still am, for only watching how broody and chick got along and not paying better attention to how the other chickens would react. Lesson learned the hard way.
Edited to include: I moved broody and chick in my house, as it is roughly 500 degrees in southeast Texas right now. So now they are getting some AC, and chickie is getting its beak dipped in water + save-a-chick powder which it is drinking down.
~10 hours later, chick is moving around more but cannot stand on its own or walk properly. It is wiggling around using its good leg and its right wing as a sort of crutch. The chick is opening its right eye which it looks like it still works, and has minimal injury! Chickie is also very vocal and lively. Small victories.
It will take a long, long time for me to forgive myself for leaving broody and chick vulnerable to attack - so please limit criticism here. I thought through my setup for them for weeks and believed it would be safe but apparently it was not. This is my first hatch and I knew any errors I made could mean life and death and that may well be the case here. But now that I have the two safely tucked away for some R&R in the AC, does anyone have any additional suggestions to assist in helping my chick work out that injured leg?
It should be noted that I did NOT see the chick walking or moving when I first observed it after hatching this morning. This makes it difficult to tell if its walking difficulties are from hatching fatigue/deformity/vitamin deficiency, or from the attack by the other hen. I don’t think it’s splayed leg since the other leg seems to be alright and the legs aren’t bowing out, but I am open to all suggestions of course.
I would also like to publicly applaud my broody for being an absolute hero. This is her first hatch and she has been nothing but exemplary, and she quite literally put her life on the line to save her chick during the attack from the other hen. My hat off to you, Cleopatra
Note: chickie’s funky right foot. The leg was pecked visibly just above the ankle joint. The toes do flex out when I assist the chick in putting pressure on it.
ps, Cleo is still sitting on her other egg. I am unfortunately having a staggered hatch (out of my control, long story, but another lesson learned and I will never stagger hatch again) so I felt comfortable moving this egg since it’s not quite as close to hatching. If Cleo decides she doesn’t want to wait for that egg, I have another broody who will finish the hatch. *exhales deeply, sips wine*
From what I’ve been reading I think it’s roughly 24 weeks for a heritage turkey to be table ready. We just got 2 Spanish blacks & a heritage bronze a couple weeks ago
This is my experience too with ones genetic/hatch leg issues too. Injuries on the other hand often heal with no problems!
