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so, as it turns out I DO have a Bantam buff brahma too! I am SO excited!!! Will have eggs/babies in the spring!

My oldest turns 9 in Feb and then he can join 4H. We are in the process of trying to decide which breed he is going to work with. He (like his mama) loves them all! He was sold on the brahma, but we lost his favorite roo over the summer and now he doesn't seem to want to mess with them much :(
 
mama2my4 said:
Oh how cute!! are these from RoPo?
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No, but distantly related.
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RoPo is kind enough to gather up some of her eggs so I can do the NYD hatch tho!!
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I hope they keep laying!

No eggs today (I'm happy about that honestly! I want them to finish their molts) other than the bantam white birds. And of course, another Langshan bantam broody.
 
I am glad the good hatching vibes are going around. Tomorrow I have 7 Mottled Bantam Cochins to hatch. They are all wiggling and I could hear some peeping. They were shipped to me before the hurricane. I had to put them in as soon as possible. I wanted them to have a good start. The power was out for 22 hours. They all made it! Thank goodness. There was 14 in the beginning. One was smashed upon arrival. 5 were clear at day 4. One died around day 7. So that leaves me with 7. I am hoping to get a mix of black, blue, and splash mottled!
 
beaglady said:
Whether or not the turkeys will be able to be cooped with your chickens depends on the size of the coop. Turkeys are BIG, even compared to big chickens. I've kept my 'table' birds on pasture, with no ill effect from them being allowed to walk around. They enjoy eating bugs and green plants, so it's a good thing to allow them access to pasture. Heritage birds can fly, and enjoy doing it, so it's difficult to keep them from exploring beyond the area you want them in. They enjoy roosting in high places, like tree branches and the top of your coop. I've had less success long term in keeping heritage birds on pasture, because they tend to be lured away by the local wild turkeys. If there are no tempting wild turkeys nearby, you shouldn't have that problem, but might find they'd rather sleep in a tree than in the security of a coop.

Generally, turkeys and chickens eat the same things. Turkey feed is higher in protein, which is less of an issue if you're not trying to build muscle quickly. As long as the turkeys have the higher protein food when they're young and building bone, you should be able to switch them to lower protein layer feed as adults.

There is a disease called blackhead that turkeys can catch from chickens, though it is transferred by a soil borne worm that spends part of its life in the chickens intestines. This is a big problem in some areas of the country, but is less so here in PA.

Diane W
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I just wanted to jump in on this one... I work in healthcare and I was told by our infections control doctor (who has some specialized training in birds too... lol) that you can not keep chickens and turkeys together. Basically, in laymans terms the turkeys will pick at the ground where there is chicken poop, which has a worm as mentioned above, it is very contagious to the turkeys and causes horrific diarrhea, eventually death. He recommends if you want to do both that they be kept separately and ultimately the turkeys would not be able to free range... He overheard me talking to one of my co-workers one day about "my girls" and now every time he sees me he asks about my chickens and talks poultry with me!
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Michele
 
heatherscooby77 said:
I am glad the good hatching vibes are going around. Tomorrow I have 7 Mottled Bantam Cochins to hatch. They are all wiggling and I could hear some peeping. They were shipped to me before the hurricane. I had to put them in as soon as possible. I wanted them to have a good start. The power was out for 22 hours. They all made it! Thank goodness. There was 14 in the beginning. One was smashed upon arrival. 5 were clear at day 4. One died around day 7. So that leaves me with 7. I am hoping to get a mix of black, blue, and splash mottled!
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Wishing you a great hatch!!
 
msladyhawke said:
Hmmm Coatesville is [COLOR=0000CD]Blarney[/COLOR] and my territory, wonder who/where they are? And from SQ parents too, hmmm. Any ideas [COLOR=0000CD]Blarney[/COLOR]??
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That's funny, I was thinking maybe they could be from a woman I met last year off of Mortonville rd (kind of in between us). She raises miniature silkied goats and also had some SQ Silkies....hmmmm. That's my guess anyway. She usually sells them for $5/each, so 6 for 20 is good -just not this time of year.

I am up to 7 peeps in my hatch, got one in the bator that my Broody left behind still peeping in the shell. She's not looking too good. Maybe when I get home tonight she'll be all better.
 
Lilbrownie said:
Mama I have some hens who have very large combs n waddles and I'm about 100% sure they are hens!!! Well I guess they are actually pullets since I still don't have any eggs!! Yes that is right they were hatched the beginning of march nd not one stinking egg!!! Ahhhh all I want is one to lay an egg, just one!
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Come to my house LOL. The remaining birds all got scared eggless and are now laying more than they did before when I had twice as many layers.
 
MsLadyHawke, those peeps are SOOOO sweet! I just loves them blues! I keep looking at my black chicks thinking....maybe blue? Just wishful thinking on my part.

On the chicken-turkey thing... I spoke to Dr. Ben Martin (Lancaster Poultry, AND coming to our classes for CPT that Chad was cool enough to arrange). I wanted to add turkeys and had heard that running turkeys and chickens together could minimize Mareks disease in the chickens. Dr. Martin said, yes, there was some truth to the turkeys helping minimize Mareks, but did not recommend running them together as diseases could be spread more easily. He said a good practice is to keep your species separate (water fowl as well). Then he added, 'do people run their ducks, turkeys and chicken all together without huge issues?, Yes. But it's better for them, if you can, to keep them separate.

 

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