Minnesota!

[ejb3810]

Ralphie I don't think it is allowed on this site to make a reference to another web site. So I won't do that. If you have difficulty finding a knowledgeable turkey person that can verify what they are or are not, then call me or send me a private message. I may be able to point you in a direction that will help.

 

[duluthralphie]

Fishzole (Flagyl) would be the treatment for Blackhead. I thought when you mentioned the nest next to the swamp you may be worried about that and thus the need to lock 'em up.

I think I may have just misinterpretted your post.

No, I was not clear, the swamp here is not heavy ground. It is sand right up to the edge of a floating tamarack bog. No worms there either. I worry about fur bearing critters. skunks, weasels, fox etc.

 

[Rhetts]

Welcome to the Minnesota thread!!

Ralphie- I hope you are able to determine what breed you have on hand. Regardless if they are rare, I agree with everyone else, your turkeys are mighty pretty!

@Cyrus83 How are things coming along at your new place with your new birds?

We have exciting news! Our ducklings are beginning to hatch! Wednesday was supposed to be hatch day but they decided to start today. No action yet on the goslings. The kids are super excited.

 

[Cearbhael]

I got them from some people in New Brighton, They were advertised as "slate blues".  When I got them you could not really tell what they were, they were forced to live under a deck in about 18-24 inches of rotting wet manure.  Most of the feathers were broken or missing.

I got three but one hen died within a few weeks. When the feathers started growing out and I had some blues from a reputable breeder I could tell then were not the same birds. I called them slate reds thinking that's what they were. When I posted pictures on BYC (last year) people would say things like " I have no idea what they are"  "They are not blues"  " they could be reds but they look funny" and stuff like that. SO I just kept calling them red slates.

I went to porters turkey site and saw the lilacs and saw they looked like them but they said they were rare and Porters was not currently selling them. So I figured they were mutts and they still could be,  then I was told yesterday they were rare turkeys and lilacs.

I guess there is a lilac look sorta like, but even that is not common.  Read the last couple days in the turkey talk 2000=2100 to see what was said. I really do not know anything about turkeys or chicken breeds at all, I just know I like having them around.


I went out in the brambles, got all scratched up and got Ethel's eggs. She had 11 which is convenient as I have 12 empty holes in the incubators until the 12th when I get more holes open. I will try to hatch these and give her a chance to practice hiding the eggs better. It is still early so she has time.

Ralphie, sometimes rare colours that were used to develop other colours just seem to pop out of the woodwork. Lavender genes are rare in all animals! I ended up with a "lilac" Siamese that was 1 of 3 "weird coloured" females born out 2 blue Siamese. They should have all been blue but the 3 females had pink not slate noses, and their points were a "warm" grey not a cold blue grey (I called it rose grey) As she grew I asked and researched, and it seems "both parents were carrying chocolate genes. In cats you need chocolate AND blue genes from BOTH parents. really hard I guess. So point is you do probably have lavender birds. Try to learn more about lavender genes in Turkey's!! So now you have "Diamond Encrusted" Turkey's to go with your chickens!!!

 

[lalaland]

Ralphie, whatever the heck they are, they sure are gorgeous turkeys!

Funny you mention new brighton - two springs ago I got some chicks hatched to order, course the order was all messed up and I had a mixed jumble of chicks, out of 18 I think I maybe got 3 or 4 that were a breed I ordered. Had the hardest time figuring out what I got,....found out I got three sulmtalers - a breed I had never heard of - roosters going for a couple hundred. I got all pullets....gave up on the idea of finding a rooster finally and now mine are just chickens.

Sulmtalers are big birds with a poofy crest:

 

[jbenson]

This is true.

I am thinking they are just turkeys that resemble fancy rare turkeys. BUT just in case I am going to go steal Ethels eggs today and put them in the incubator.  I might move them into the Guinea Gulag and kick the blues out.  The person on the turkey talk 2000-2100 made a good argument for them not being just mutts.

I am wondering through how the people I got them from got their hands on them if they are not mutts. Jbensen knows the people I think she would agree, it is hard to believe they would have a rare or even quality bird.

actually, the people you got jj and Ethel from have a number of sought after birds or have over the years. It is an up side of city flocks that you often have good access to rare things if you want them and you are likely to have the funds for them as well. I know currently they have frizzle seramas and black Cayuga ducks. Not sure what else right now.

I have made plenty of flock expansion purchases myself this year. I have some bantam white face black Spanish in the brooder house that I can't hardly wait to breed next year, along with a couple variety of polish both bantam and standard, a couple partridge chanteclers, bantam barred cochin, bantam dark cornish and a also a handful of d'uccles, booted bantams and bantam ee's from my own hatchings. Takes me 15 min every morning to make sure they all have food and water before I go to work.

 

[Rhetts]

@jbenson sounds like you have a brooder full! How fun!

Does anyone or can anyone tell me about the brown leghorn breed? DH 'thinks' he might like them. I want to know which direction I should approach this. I am all for more chickens but I want good reason to try out new breeds. Since we are raising hatchery chicks I tried checking out what Mcmurray had to say. They have 2, single comb and rose comb. Does that mean all other qualities are the same? DH main reason is egg laying. Would the different comb breed make a difference? For Minnesota winters the rose comb is best for frost bite issues. That is all I know. What else can you tell me?

As of now, we have 5 ducklings! They are so very cute! I might be able to get some pics in a day or two.......maybe.

I ordered (paid for) a Bakers Creek seed catalog. Thank you for suggesting their company @AmericanKraut . The catalog has already been read by at least 3 of my inlaws. I am going to hold it for ransom so I can go through it in detail for myself. Great things in there thanks!

 

[Dandelioness]

Hi Rhetts

I really like my light brown leghorns. They are very wiley free-range birds. We handled the roos daily with the kids, and they are good protectors of the flock but not people-aggressive. The roos came marked with green ink on the brow and we banded them to be sure we could ID them as their feathers came in.

Mine had trouble with frostbitten combs, though, even the females had a tidge at one point and it did have an effect on laying. They are the single-combed variety. I am thinking of replacing them with rose-combed counterparts.

I want to get the roof of the winter house insulated and try another winter before getting rid of all my single-combed birds though. I will not heat my coop, so I need to either get rid of the condensation issue or stick to rose- and pea-combed poultry.

Hope this mini review helps! They are good-looking, productive birds.

 

[duluthralphie]

I have no idea on leghorns. can't help a bit..

But I can cheer up the day with fuzzy butts pictures. day 3-5 on these guys and all (knock on wood) are doing good.

Forgive the poop, tomorrow is paper changing day.



I find it amazing out of eggs that are the same size one bird can be so much smaller.. The little diamond encrusted creamette on the far left is so small and dainty, but seems healthy. She was the one I thought might have splayed legs but I see no sign of it now.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I was told on another thread JJ and Ethel are rare turkeys.

Does anyone here know anything about them?

I called them red slate or slate reds and I was told they were not and they are Lilacs... Then I read this on a Lilac thread.

Here is the link to the Lilac page for the premier turkey outfit in the country for rare varieties:
http://www.porterturkeys.com/lilac.htm

Now, going back and reading more, which maybe I should have done before commenting, I see you have been to Porter's pages. Lilac isn't a recognized variety by the APA, so there isn't a standard to follow.

If this is what you have, they must have gilded eggs! Wow! Gilded eggs and diamond crusted eggs all in the same flock! Who knew?