Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

Wisdom? Thats what owls have right?

That's about right...LOL.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Coffee 1st what brands of birds did you get there? That Black one looks gorgeous and looking forward to some pictures of her outside strutting her stuff in Momma's big run. The other a White Rock?

 

[Cyrus83]

On a chicken note, I can now say with confidence that I got 5 pullets out of the 6 eggs I let my little silkie hatch out. Score!

 

[lvie]

That "Wisdom" was acquired not in the prettiest of ways. Ack. I shudder to remember sometimes. Lessons learned...that's for sure.

Yes, that I am learning. Yuck! I am a naive, innocent (?) new chickener. This is a current issue for me that I am growing weary of. Of the original six chicks I acquired last March I have two left.They are ISA's and are laying. Someone told me one of them was a roo but that is not true. That made me happy. Instead of the five eggs a day I was getting I am now down to two. About two months ago I acquired two RIR pullets. They are now four months old. I will raise birds from chicks from now on because these RIR are quite 'stuffy.' The ISA's and the RIR refuse to get along. How long does it take to establish that pecking order? One of the RIR gets picked on more by the ISA's. I keep separating them but it is getting old. Of course they will roost at night in the same coop. No problem there. I would love to get a couple more pullets but hesitate because 'my' chicks are friendly. The pullets are not. I am of the mind that starting over this next spring with new chicks is the best way to go. Is that a good mind to be of?

 

[Minniechickmama]

To anyone growing BBB or BBW turkeys... How high will they jump/fly? DW and I are considering growing a small batch to butcher next year and are considering housing. Would a electric netting fence keep them in if they had everything they wanted/needed inside?

The area where we would want to keep them (which is far from the chickens) is unlevel ground with small walnut trees growing around. We are thinking a large area inside the electric netting that we could move around would be better than a tractor type setup both in ease of care and in terms of turkey life quality.

Well, funny thing about those BBWs, they are not smart. I put mine out in the pasture at about 7-8 weeks. I wait that long because I want them big enough so no raptor can pick them up and fly off with them. The fence is 5' high and I have never had one go over it. However, I used a 4x8 sheet of cedar lattice for the gate for two years and no problem. This year, they all wanted to roost on it and broke it. So, now I have a 3' wire fence pulled across (it IS definitely redneck, ask my husband), but they haven't gotten out. I think if they see a board they think it is a roost, so just wire tricks them.

Funny story from last year...
I went to load my turkeys up to take for processing in my truck. I have a Dakota with a topper on it. I left the gate up and that hatch open and I would get one in and turn for the next and the first one would jump out. Being that I was doing this alone at 7am when the grass was wet and it was a bit nippy, I wasn't happy about that, and no way could I close both, grab a 25-pound turkey, lift the gate and load and keep the previously loaded birds in all at once. SO, I dropped the gate and closed the hatch. Guess what? They are not smart enough to look down and duck under the hatch! I had them loaded in no time once I figured that out!
Ever wonder where the term bird brain comes from?

I brood in the brooder house for a month, then put them in an enclosed outdoor pen for the next month before putting them outside. I get my poults the first week of June, I process the second week of October and I have 15-20 pound birds. I start on Gamebird feed for 2 months, then switch to a 20% duck goose ration for the remainder. I feed once a day, only as much as they require so as to not get them growing too fast for their bones to keep up. Being on pasture too, they get to forage, and they do! Once they are in their pasture, I no longer have to mow it. I even cut down big weeds like lambs quarter than has gone to seed and they strip them down to just stems. I love raising them, but now that it is getting close to processing day, they are making a mess and really getting annoying when I go in to feed them and have to keep my hands and the feed bucket raised to chest level or I get my fingers pecked.

 

[scandiafowl]

...

If wisdom was required to post, I would not be able to post,
[/quote

*trying to keep myself from making a ******** comment*

 

[Minniechickmama]

Yes, that I am learning. Yuck! I am a naive, innocent (?) new chickener. This is a current issue for me that I am growing weary of. Of the original six chicks I acquired last March I have two left.They are ISA's and are laying. Someone told me one of them was a roo but that is not true. That made me happy. Instead of the five eggs a day I was getting I am now down to two. About two months ago I acquired two RIR pullets. They are now four months old. I will raise birds from chicks from now on because these RIR are quite 'stuffy.' The ISA's and the RIR refuse to get along. How long does it take to establish that pecking order? One of the RIR gets picked on more by the ISA's. I keep separating them but it is getting old. Of course they will roost at night in the same coop. No problem there. I would love to get a couple more pullets but hesitate because 'my' chicks are friendly. The pullets are not. I am of the mind that starting over this next spring with new chicks is the best way to go. Is that a good mind to be of?

Do you know the old saying "birds of a feather flock together"? Well, that is part of the deal you have, also is difference in age, also your ISAs had their territory already and you brought in new, younger birds. Unless you see some serious beating up and drawing blood, I don't think you have to worry too much. Give the RIRs time to catch up in size and see how it goes.
The drop in eggs? It is fall, days are getting shorter and we are now past the Equinox. In case you weren't aware, laying is based on the number of hours of light they get, so if you want the older pullets to keep laying, give them the extra light they need. That might also get the RIRs laying sooner too, because you may not see any eggs from those until February otherwise.

As long as the older birds are not keeping the younger ones from eating and drinking, and aren't drawing blood, I would keep up with these and see where it goes.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Quote:
I hope that was the smart*** comment and not the dumb*** one?

 

[Minniechickmama]

Thanks! I have yet to meet a kid who is into that stuff either. I think I get this stuff from my great grandpa. He loved farming and animals and my grandpa does to.

I just read this on Facebook and now that I know you are an admirer of Polyface.... It brought a tear to my eye, being raised on a dairy farm and loving cows growing up with them.
https://www.facebook.com/Polyfacefarm/posts/10153009084151105

 

[KlopKlop]

Well, funny thing about those BBWs, they are not smart.  I put mine out in the pasture at about 7-8 weeks.  I wait that long because I want them big enough so no raptor can pick them up and fly off with them.  The fence is 5' high and I have never had one go over it.  However, I used a 4x8 sheet of cedar lattice for the gate for two years and no problem.  This year, they all wanted to roost on it and broke it.  So, now I have a 3' wire fence pulled across (it IS definitely redneck, ask my husband), but they haven't gotten out.  I think if they see a board they think it is a roost, so just wire tricks them.  

 
Funny story from last year...
I went to load my turkeys up to take for processing in my truck.  I have a Dakota with a topper on it.  I left the gate up and that hatch open and I would get one in and turn for the next and the first one would jump out.  Being that I was doing this alone at 7am when the grass was wet and it was a bit nippy, I wasn't happy about that, and no way could I close both, grab a 25-pound turkey, lift the gate and load and keep the previously loaded birds in all at once.  SO, I dropped the gate and closed the hatch.  Guess what?  They are not smart enough to look down and duck under the hatch!  I had them loaded in no time once I figured that out!
Ever wonder where the term bird brain comes from?

I brood in the brooder house for a month, then put them in an enclosed outdoor pen for the next month before putting them outside.  I get my poults the first week of June, I process the second week of October and I have 15-20 pound birds.  I start on Gamebird feed for 2 months, then switch to a 20% duck goose ration for the remainder.  I feed once a day, only as much as they require so as to not get them growing too fast for their bones to keep up.  Being on pasture too, they get to forage, and they do!  Once they are in their pasture, I no longer have to mow it.  I even cut down big weeds like lambs quarter than has gone to seed and they strip them down to just stems.  I love raising them, but now that it is getting close to processing day, they are making a mess and really getting annoying when I go in to feed them and have to keep my hands and the feed bucket raised to chest level or I get my fingers pecked.  

I figured we would put them in a tractor until they were bigger than raptor bait like you said too. The electric netting is only 4 feet high but without it having a top bar I was thinking they wouldn't try to fly up on it. I would build a mobile roost I could drag around with them.

How big is your pasture? One roll of fencing will make a circle roughly 55 feet in diameter or roughly 2200 sq feet.