Turkey books

[Thebirdwisperr]

My family and I are getting some turkeys this spring and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a book on raising them.

Thanks, Thebirdwisperr
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[chooks4life]

Juliette de Bairacli Levy wrote some good general books on animal care done naturally, but she does wander off into referencing mythology etc sometimes... Nevertheless I have used her information to save many lives, completely avoid any losses to coccidiosis, cure advanced parvo-virus in dogs, and while she didn't have too much info on turkeys I did discover a cure for advanced blackhead by accident.

You might not believe it and I wouldn't blame you, but once they're down and not eating, you give them whole raw cow's milk, one cupful with the fat skimmed off the surface, with a flat tablespoon or teaspoon of honey mixed in. Fixes almost all of them right up and they're acting normal within 24 hours. Most will drink it eagerly but with some you need to dip the beak in first so they taste it, then instincts will do the rest.

If you ever wind up in some people's situations, battling terminal blackhead for years in every single batch of turkeys, why not try this when the drugs fail. It may sound far fetched but in a good few generations I bred a family line of blackhead immune or highly resistant turkeys using this method. Vaccines and man made medications can only help you so far, and sometimes not at all. Using hydrated agricultural lime semi-regularly on the grounds they inhabit will control most diseases and parasites, and feeding them cayenne pepper will break the cycles of blackhead by damaging the oocysts that carry it.

Turkeys are mainly green feeders and mine did very well on mostly pasture with some grains and seeds. I originally got some very weak stock from someone who inbred badly, and when you have very weak turkey poults hard boiled egg with dandelion will take care of it, and prevent TB in most cases. They need to be able to keep their feet dry at most times, they love the millet family, and do better on a mostly vegan diet once adults, but there's a lot of ways you could keep them, so finding something that suits you is best. If your preferred method isn't working though it's worth trying others of course.

Best wishes.

 

[Thebirdwisperr]

Thanks.

 

[ivan3]

Some material from the generic to the esoteric:.. Depends on whether you are looking for a brief acquaintance on the way to Thanksgiving/Christmas, in which case feedstore Commercial Broad Breasted lines might be your best bet (care and feeding differs between these and the heritage varieties only in the amount of feed over time, and making sure the BB's always have clean bedding - they get big and loiter - are prone to breast blisters). The info in the following ref/video are applicable to all turks (to a great extent). Online and free: American Livestock Breed Conservancy - Raising Heritage varieties on pasture (right to the size of grit for various ages) can be downloaded in full or by chapter: http://albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/turkeys.html Storeys Guide To Turkeys (some folks find it useful): http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Turkeys-Edition/dp/1612121497 Now, Behavior and Anatomy? Schorger's book is excellent with an outstanding bibliography, but difficult to find at a reasonable price (check with library). Hutto's book, Illuminations In The Flatwoods, is available on Amazon. However, PBS recreated Hutto's experience in the vid: My Life As A Turkey. You can watch it, here: http://video.pbs.org/video/2168110328/ To delve even further, to the little lower layer, there is Kaiser & Rosenberg's Atlas Of The Domestic Turkey (Myology & Osteology) - yeah, pretty much the purview of aspiring paleontologists, but, hey, there it is (follow link out of thread and download): https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/156131/atomic-turkeys If you go with the heritage, be prepared... ed:format

 

[chooks4life]

That second last picture is interesting, it looks like the neck and wattle of the turkey are mottled with dark pigment. I thought feathers but the wattle wouldn't have that. I haven't seen that before. The feathers, yeah, but not the mottling on the wattle.

 

[Thebirdwisperr]

Thanks a million!

 

[ivan3]

That second last picture is interesting, it looks like the neck and wattle of the turkey are mottled with dark pigment. I thought feathers but the wattle wouldn't have that. I haven't seen that before. The feathers, yeah, but not the mottling on the wattle.

If you are ref. Hutto's photo on the cover of his book, I suspect some of that is the lighting of the shot. Believe his `experiment' was conducted with Meleagris Gallopavo Osceola (only found in Florida). Below is another shot of same turk that appears on Hutto's book cover (book is better than the recreation that PBS's Nature did - imo - but for those unfamiliar with turkeys - and particularly those considering Heritage Varieties it is pretty good instructional video).

 

[chooks4life]

Oh, thanks for clarifying. It did look weird.

 

[Redbow]

Thanks for posting all this great info on turkeys.

 

[ivan3]

Thanks for posting all this great info on turkeys.

Here is some more info.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/92240/give-me-the-dirt-on-turkeys
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-turkeys-what-do-i-need-to-know#post_11309891
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-posting-questions-about-your-poult-or-turkey

Kevin Porter's site is very useful (nearly all heritage varieties with hx/genetics): http://www.porterturkeys.com/

BYC's Advanced Search Function is very good (just remember to use SEARCH button at the bottom of the page after defining parameters): https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch/advanced/?search=