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So apparently I have to butcher my first bird tomorrow. Somehow we ended up with a meat turkey when I got the babies that were all supposed to be heritage mixes. Ive been having issues with my young roos getting scalped and killed. I thought it was a younger turkey but I caught Fred red beaked today. He has something against Brahma roosters and polish anything. Pretty bummed about it.
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I've ordered5 Brahma roosters in the last 4 months and non of them have survived past 2 months. Giving up this year on them. Hoping the butchering isn't too rough.
 
Set 18 eggs tonight, 8 bantam lavender Ameraucanas, the rest are the Fly Tie and hybrids I'm making with them.
I pulled a saddle feather from my roo the other day. He attacked me and I was humiliating him in front of his ladies to teach him to respect me, and I pulled a feather to see how long it was. Slightly over 1 ft !!
I can't wait to see how his sons turn out. I have 4 out in a hoop house on grass already. They are very "gamey" type birds, sleek and good flyers. I'm glad I bought that trio. They are poor layers, which is why I am working on hybridizing them with a good layer (Legbars, of course).
I have chicks in the incubator that need to come out tomorrow morning.
 
Auroradream26 said:
Thank You! Romeo is the turkey lol. We do not have a pond yet but our ducks and geese seem happy all the same. We're working on digging out a pond for them right now, but they're happy with a 5 gallon bucket to dunk their heads in and we use a small tub full of water for them to splash around in.
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Awesome. I have three chicks out tonight and one more is halfway zipped. My broody girls will be so happy, and thankfully, they will each only get 4 chicks.


yoopergirl1211 said:
So apparently I have to butcher my first bird tomorrow. Somehow we ended up with a meat turkey when I got the babies that were all supposed to be heritage mixes. Ive been having issues with my young roos getting scalped and killed. I thought it was a younger turkey but I caught Fred red beaked today. He has something against Brahma roosters and polish anything. Pretty bummed about it.View attachment 1110874I've ordered5 Brahma roosters in the last 4 months and non of them have survived past 2 months. Giving up this year on them. Hoping the butchering isn't too rough.
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Sorry to hear this. I'm glad you found the problem. Hope you have someone to help, he looks like a pretty big dude.

dheltzel said:
Set 18 eggs tonight, 8 bantam lavender Ameraucanas, the rest are the Fly Tie and hybrids I'm making with them.
I pulled a saddle feather from my roo the other day. He attacked me and I was humiliating him in front of his ladies to teach him to respect me, and I pulled a feather to see how long it was. Slightly over 1 ft !!
I can't wait to see how his sons turn out. I have 4 out in a hoop house on grass already. They are very "gamey" type birds, sleek and good flyers. I'm glad I bought that trio. They are poor layers, which is why I am working on hybridizing them with a good layer (Legbars, of course).
I have chicks in the incubator that need to come out tomorrow morning.
Click to expand...

That sounds pretty exciting about they fly tie birds. I'll be waiting to hear your progress with them. Do you have any pics of them? I bet they're beautiful.
 
We were finally able to get Romeo's spurs trimmed the other day. Catching him was the hardest part! He had softened quite a bit for me after I nursed him back to health after that raccoon attack a while back, but he has been back to his vigilant self for a bit now. He is just too aware to let anyone get close enough to grab him. Once I had a hold of him he settled down and didn't give me any problems though. I opted for the dremel cutoff tool so the ends would be nice and blunt, it worked great!
 
emorems0 said:
We were finally able to get Romeo's spurs trimmed the other day. Catching him was the hardest part! He had softened quite a bit for me after I nursed him back to health after that raccoon attack a while back, but he has been back to his vigilant self for a bit now. He is just too aware to let anyone get close enough to grab him. Once I had a hold of him he settled down and didn't give me any problems though. I opted for the dremel cutoff tool so the ends would be nice and blunt, it worked great!
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While we were doing checks on everyone I realized my little frizzled Bantam roo Zappa has a pretty nasty set. Wasn't fun dusting him. Do you always cut the point off or only if there's a problem? I'm not sure if I should mess with them or leave them be. No girls have been hurt yet and he's never been aggressive with us. More like a small yappy dog.
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Awesome. I have three chicks out tonight and one more is halfway zipped. My broody girls will be so happy, and thankfully, they will each only get 4 chicks.




Sorry to hear this. I'm glad you found the problem. Hope you have someone to help, he looks like a pretty big dude.



That sounds pretty exciting about they fly tie birds. I'll be waiting to hear your progress with them. Do you have any pics of them? I bet they're beautiful.
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Thanks. I'm still kinda mad they sold them as heritage. I have a female I think is a meat turkey too. I'm trying not to get attached to her. Of course he was our favorite. The little guy I'm having issues with still has a slightly puffed face. I flushed his eyes and did the vet rx to him too.
 
I moved the littles into the big coop for sleeping. I wanted to wait a little bit yet but I want to eat the rooster...so This will give him a week to make sure the combination of littles and those big mean Red stars goes ok. Next week he is dinner!!

Now I have to decide which of my two cockerels to keep. The big beautiful CL cross by my rooster or his smaller twin the Icelandic? I wish one was ugly but they are literally twins!!
 
gonehencrazy said:
I moved the littles into the big coop for sleeping. I wanted to wait a little bit yet but I want to eat the rooster...so This will give him a week to make sure the combination of littles and those big mean Red stars goes ok. Next week he is dinner!!

Now I have to decide which of my two cockerels to keep. The big beautiful CL cross by my rooster or his smaller twin the Icelandic? I wish one was ugly but they are literally twins!!
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If their appearance isn't a consideration then go with temperament and then size (if butchering for meat is something you are aiming for) or egg heritage (if you want to keep a particular higher level of egg laying genetics and one has them) or simply flock protection
(which one is constantly on alert and communicating with the hens?)
It isn't just about which one you like more, it is about which one will do more for your flock goals. It isn't an easy decision most of the time, but responsible flock management now will make you much happier later.
 

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