Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[Kassaundra]

Houdans are an old french breed, large fowl were dual purpose back in the day, black and white mottled, 5 toes, top knot. They are pretty rare now, and good meaty non polish types are even rarer still. Here in the U.S. the comb should be very small the smaller the better and "v" shaped, but in europe they favor the older leaf or butterfly shape. I had two chicks and just as they were really starting to look cool they were killed by a preditor (either hawk or domestic cat) I regrouped after my losses and made a special area just for babies and broody moms that will protect them from both in the future.

 

[pgpoultry]

Cynthia12....they crow with great gusto. I have / have had 7 NN roosters and they have all been very vocal. Their voices don't have the thunderous quality and sheer decibels of my Brahmas, but my NN X Brahma has a very loud crow, and being alpha of his little group, it is often heard.

I'm a latter-day country bumpkin, so my roosters crow loud and long and nobody cares /is too far away to notice. BUT my neighbour's cows and his and our sheep are also very vocal.

I truly sympathise with city dwellers and am an ex-city liver myself. Neighbours can complain about your rooster so you have to get rid of him, whilst they argue ferociously at all hours of the day/night, rev engines, toot hooters and party 'til dawn, and are obsessed with mowing lawns long after my bed time. I now consider myself SO lucky to have the noise of roosters, cows, sheep, tractors etc. which can make a heck or a racket, but are never seen as reason to complain.

 

[Chicken Frenzie]

Teddy the EE/Silkie/Turken is looking so pretty! On the back of her neck, she has this EE feather that looks like it had diamonds on it.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Ok, fact or fiction ~ Do Turken Roosters crow?  I was told that they are city friendly for the reason being they don't crow, unless....they have another rooster around to get them going?  I am hatching some turkens, oh, I would love to be able to keep a rooster..if only it didn't crow.  I just can't imagine a rooster not crowing.  !  

My little bantam NN crows non stop. Mornings especially, one right after the other. I wonder when he has time to eat or mate?! He's louder than my LF Swedish Flower Hen roo and he's farther away from the house. I think he'd crow just as much without the other rooster around.

 

[LarissaSlates98]

Every rooster crows, bottom line.

 

[Kassaundra]

I've heard there is some surgery that can be done, it is very dangerous many die from it and it is very difficult to find an avian vet that knows how to do it.

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

My mom has two big roosters in the city where it's illegal. She puts them in sound proofed dog kennels in the garage at night and doesn't let them out in the morning until they've gotten their crows out. I do't think they crow much in the day time and she's never gotten a complaint. Of course, she's always needing to leave early because she's got to get the roosters in! I enjoy them, but I don't think I'd go that far. Yes, I've also heard that it's a risky surgery. Kinda cruel too. They try and try yet don't make any noise? I think that would be unkind.

 

[Cynthia12]

Cynthia12....they crow with great gusto. I have / have had 7 NN roosters and they have all been very vocal. Their voices don't have the thunderous quality and sheer decibels of my Brahmas, but my NN X Brahma has a very loud crow, and being alpha of his little group, it is often heard.

I'm a latter-day country bumpkin, so my roosters crow loud and long and nobody cares /is too far away to notice. BUT my neighbour's cows and his and our sheep are also very vocal.

I truly sympathise with city dwellers and am an ex-city liver myself. Neighbours can complain about your rooster so you have to get rid of him, whilst they argue ferociously at all hours of the day/night, rev engines, toot hooters and party 'til dawn, and are obsessed with mowing lawns long after my bed time. I now consider myself SO lucky to have the noise of roosters, cows, sheep, tractors etc. which can make a heck or a racket, but are never seen as reason to complain.

I hear ya!

And yes, I thought so, all roosters crow. I think we are now in our forever home now. Moved here 5 years ago, found out the neighbors had chickens..so I was all for that! Love my memories of my grandmother's place...and loved gathering eggs. Loved the broody mama hens, and those cute little chicks. So here I am, at my age..finally having chickens. At least I can have them, and gather my eggs..just like a little kid, wondering who laid today.
Other question about NN's. Are they winter hardy? I do use a heat lamp. I know a lot of people don't believe in them, but I baby my girls. Some don't believe it's babying them, but I use it when it starts getting close to, or below freezing here.

 

[LarissaSlates98]

My NNs do well in the cold, as long as they are shelterd from getting snow on them. We also do use a heat lamp occasionally

 

[pgpoultry]

My NNs do very well in the cold....they are first out of the coop on cold and frosty mornings. Last two winters we had day time temperatures below freezing and nights nearing 0 degrees. At night they crowded together in the coop and kept warm by body heat. I feed them well through the winter and make warm porridge for them daily.

I have been very pleasantly surprised. A few weeks back I lost my lovely NN hen, Jezebel, to a fox when she went broody (unbeknownst to me) under a hedge. Two days later i found a big Brahma hen brooding behind a large tuft of grass very close to my big coop.(I hadn't realised as she made her entrance daily when I went down to the coop to feed them, and I thought she had appeared from inside the coop and not from nearby).The eggs she was sitting on all looked like her own. She refused to set in a safe place and has since rejoined the flock. As the eggs showed embryos, I placed them in the incubator. 5 have hatched so far, the first two had fully feathered necks and looked Brahma-ish.

However, overnight 3 have hatched....and they must be progeny of Gordon. All these three are Naked Neck (doesn't show from this angle in the one on the right).