The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[flgardengirl]

Awww all you guys babies are so cute!
I didn't know you all had turkeys! We used to have some Broad Breasted Bronze turkey hens. They followed us around the yard like puppies lol.

So has anyone used the Brinsea ecoglow50 for turkey poults?
I have 13 heritage poults coming in May. I am making a brooder thats close to the house so I can keep an eye on them. It will be near a plug so I could plug in the ecoglow. There is a roof overhang so no danger of getting wet.

 

[Faraday40]

Awww all you guys babies are so cute!
I didn't know you all had turkeys! We used to have some Broad Breasted Bronze turkey hens. They followed us around the yard like puppies lol.

So has anyone used the Brinsea ecoglow50 for turkey poults?
I have 13 heritage poults coming in May. I am making a brooder thats close to the house so I can keep an eye on them. It will be near a plug so I could plug in the ecoglow. There is a roof overhang so no danger of getting wet.

I don't have one, but I've heard they're great. I use a "mama heating pad" which is a DIY version using he same idea. I think it will be fine for heat.

I hatched & raised my poults with chicks and didn't have any problems. They got along and the chicks taught the poults. I think raising them together made it easier, and I just fed the chickens the meatbird feed. I never had a mature male but my turkey hen did squat often for our roosters. LOL

There's a running joke that turkeys keep trying to find strange new ways to kill themselves. I never had one die on me but one got stuck a couple times in a feeder and another was lost for a while then found inside the composter.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

So has anyone used the Brinsea ecoglow50 for turkey poults

I use this broader for all my chicks. It's adjustable. I used it for poults as well.

 

[Faraday40]

Here are my youngest orp chicks with their serama mama.
It already looks like a male & female to me. Age 3 weeks.

 

[Faraday40]

Got some new orp pics today.

Finally some nice pics of Smudge. Well the background is not so great, but I just love her shiny black feathers.

Some rooster hugs:
Awesome is so relaxed about everything. He got carried out to the tractor for some hen time.

Here's Mr. Potential, about 7 months old. Yes, he really is that big

 

[ColtHandorf]

Wow! That Lavender cockerel is huuuuge! The Silver-laced is a nice looking rooster too. I got the yard mowed today and all the birds looked so good on the green grass. I didn't grab any pictures of them because I was running around feeding, filling water up, and making new nest boxes and stuff. I did move the Orpington chicks outside into a cage with a heat lamp. They are of course horrified. They got to keep their stuffed animals and I'll check on them once it's dark to see how they look. I did grab some pictures and I'll post them in a few minutes from my phone.

If I didn't mention I moved Odette into the bantam pen with Amanda's "toy chickens". The little d'Uccle is enamored with her. She tolerates him but enjoys tormenting all the other babies. I've enjoyed watching her grow a spine. lol

I candled again and pulled another five eggs. So I've got 30 fertile in all. I'm so excited for everyone to be hatching in two weeks.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Group Shot:

Little Blue, who is already getting some silver tips coming in on the wings...

Silver-laced baby:

Abomination number one...lol This is Dahlia and Caspian's chick. There's some leakage going on there. I suspect it's a cockerel.

Abomination number 2, aka Mumble (like from Happy Feet). A friend was over when he hatched and he has little eyebrows.

The gold/chocolate baby that is feathering in Silver-lace per the pattern established last year.

Silver-laced babies:

White chick:

Feel free to guess on genders.

 

[Faraday40]

@ColtHandorf
I still can't believe how the choc is turning out to be laced.

I've had a few look like your 'abominations' as chicks. In fact the 1st one I thought was a mottled & that I had accidentally got the wrong egg in my order. He turned out stunning, but was an ugly chick. Usually those chicks have thicker lacing as an adult.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I still can't believe how the choc is turning out to be laced.

I've had a few look like your 'abominations' as chicks. In fact the 1st one I thought was a mottled & that I had accidentally got the wrong egg in my order. He turned out stunning, but was an ugly chick. Usually those chicks have thicker lacing as an adult.

Yep, it's super weird. The genetic buffs on here haven't been able to figure it out. There are other Silver-laced breeders that get the odd colored chicks. I just wish I could figure out what genes were at play.

I jokingly call the crosses abominations. lol I can bet they are going to be huge. I'm not sure that they'll be pretty, but we'll see. I thought maybe I'd get some partially laced birds but I wasn't expecting the leakage.

 

[flgardengirl]

Do you guys start your baby turkeys on gamebird starter? Last time I had poults I did but I am having a hard time finding it in my area right now. Shipping stuff is really slow right now too.
I read you can just give the chick starter 24% and give them boiled egg yolks for xtra protein. I suppose you could also give them mealworms for xtra protein?
I am trying to get everything ready lol.

Smudge is such a beauty! Wish I had her for my black/split lav English roo. He hurt his leg and I had to seperate him frm the flock for awhile.
He's better now and now I am debating putting my Lav hen in w him or w the Lav Roo. The Black is so much prettier and more typey. The Lav is nice, for Lav but has some raggedy feathers like many of the Lavs do.

Another question...do some of these heavy Eng Orp roos have a hard time getting up on the perches? I am thinking of lowering some of mine. I think my black roo might of hurt himself jumping down. My Isabel Cuckoo roo never even attempts to get up on his perch. I think they are about 2 1/2 ft off the ground. Should I lower them?